"Endor"

A winter scene from my first coast redwood adventure of 2017

by Mario Vaden

 

After all the areas I explored over the years, I finally found Endor !!

I drove down late New Year's night 2017, and was greeted with the most intense hailstorm I can remember. The next morning, I arranged some prints at the Crescent Harbor Art Gallery, then headed south on Hy. 101 for some winter adventure. There was snow and hail practically everywhere between Crescent City down to Orick, with light accumulation in low elevations. A cold beginning for 2017.

Aside from the common landmarks, I returned north to a nook where I practiced with portraits in years past. But bushwhacked an extra 1/2 hour across a tiny valley, spotted a lovely coast redwood, beautiful and wounded.

It stirred imagination of Star Wars Empire Walkers unleashing fury in the Endor Ewok grove. The charred cave up the trunk was huge.

The giant cavity in the image is about 40 feet top to bottom. And in spite of this, the redwood is spectacular.

Listening to the echo of the creek nearby, I moved from redwood to redwood, noticing small caves in the base of several of them. There were several in close proximity, as if they had been little Ewok homes from another era.

As as I entered .. "Endor" was the first thing that came to mind as I explored this area . And so shall this redwood be called. Undoubtedly, this will be where I return on my next adventure. To go one step farther and see what surprises are hidden beyond Endor's ridge.