I Visited Endor

I went on a family vacation in the California Redwoods along the coast this week. Due to some poor planning on my part, it kind of ruined the update schedule, so there’s no page this week. I will share some of my favorite photos from the trip, since I’ve got nothing else to show! I also played a lot of Monster Hunter Stories during the trip. I randomly decided to download the demo just before the plane trip, fell in love with it, and ended up buying the full game. It’s super cool.

Seeing the Redwood (sequoia sempervirens) forest is a surreal experience. It’s the forest that you see over and over again in movies because it looks so alien and prehistoric. Our tour guide pointed out areas that appeared in Jurassic Park: Lost World, which I found highly entertaining, because, if you think about it, redwoods wouldn’t have even been possible on Isla Sorna due to the overly warm and humid climate (the redwood forest maintains a temperature range of roughly 40 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit year round), and because all the wildlife put on the island to accommodate the dinosaurs wouldn’t have had enough time to grow into something that looked like a centuries old giant tree. But maybe I’m over thinking Lost World.

I did have a lot of Endor nostalgia while walking through the forest. In fact, I went on the trip with the simple goal of locating an Ewok. Despite my best efforts, though, I was unable to find a single Ewok reference in any local shop or building we visited, which was very disappointing (but I’m sure the Ewoks are out there somewhere). Apparently it’s scientifically impossible to determine the exact age of a redwood, because they grow genetic clones of themselves off of the shallow roots at their base, so a 1000 year old redwood tree may actually be a continuation of a previous 1000 year old rewood tree, but still technically the same organism. Even when a rewood falls over, it doesn’t die, but instead will sprout new vertically growing trunks from its horizontal position. As long as their in their preferred habitat, redwoods are surprisingly hard to kill. I only bring this up because it sounds wild enough to actually be Star Wars lore, but it’s the REAL DEAL.

 

Published on by | 18 Comments on I Visited Endor

  • Mayora13

    Nice pictures! But Jesus, 40-60°C? You probably meant Fahrenheit, right?

    • http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai

      Derp, that might’ve been what I meant.

  • Major Tom

    Quaking aspens a little further east in the Rockies also behave the same way when it comes to propagation. You can enter what appears to be acres and acres of aspen trees and they really might be all just one tree if you traced the roots underground.

    And there’s an old Indian saying about the redwoods “the forest holds each other up”. The redwoods’ roots intertwine together thus if one of them falls say in a winter storm, a lot of them have a tendency to fall alongside it. The roots are very shallow and wide, one lone tree is easily blown over by the wind, but ten thousand of them all packed together in one canyon or valley can withstand a mighty hurricane.

  • ShadeTail

    I recommend putting some kind of note about the lack of comic this week at the *top* of the page. Maybe something like: “9/18 – No comic this week, explanation below.” Because as it is, I’d bet a lot of people haven’t scrolled down far enough to find this news posting.

  • IDPounder

    Beautiful pictures, Alex! Glad you’re enjoying your trip.

  • KungFuKlobber

    Oh, man. I’ve lived in northern California most of my life, but never realized the Endor scenes were shot here. Dishonor on my cow.

    My favorite fact about California redwoods is that the canopy form an entire ecosystem on its own, with smaller plants and frogs and stuff living hundreds of feet in the air, supported by pools formed from years of rainwater.

  • clogboy

    I’m going out on a limb, and say that they might as well have filmed The Last Jedi at this beach (haven’t seen it yet, but it gives a similar vibe to the island in TFA, minus the temple). Then they wouldn’t need to include the Porgs as an explanation for the indigenous (protected) birds on the island.

    • Nos Rin aka CTCO

      porgs weren’t that bad to be honest.

  • Rose Marie

    Nice pics. I intend to go out there someday, sooner rather than later. I did see baby redwoods at a botanical garden in Scotland. They were only about 100 years old, but still impressive. I want to plant one here in Illinois. Don’t know if it will grow until I try.

  • fantastory

    Out of matter.
    Can we find first noneed for budhido movie?
    I mean the very old one, with 2D pictures.

  • animalia555

    Oathbringer IS awesome. Speaking of the Stormlight Archive, you haven’t skipped Edgedancer, have you?

    • http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai

      nope, I read through Arcanum Unbounded. I’m a Sanderson addict.

      • animalia555

        I take it then that you are familiar with the Wax and Wayne novels?

        • http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai

          yeah. I think I’m caught up on almost everything Sanderson’s published, except maybe some of his short stories that haven’t been published in larger collections…

          • animalia555

            I bring it up because one of my reasons for loving Bands Of Mourning so much was how it developed Steris’s character. It wasn’t until reading it that I realized that she had Asperger’s Syndrome. But as someone else with said Syndrome she had several moments I could relate to. This knowledge also helps to recontextualize several moments from earlier in the series. Suddenly that Multiple Page Prenup makes WAY more sense.

          • http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai

            Oh yeah, Bands of Mourning fleshed out Steris wonderfully! I went from being somewhat indifferent to her to finding her one of the strongest characters in the series. I love the Wax and Wane books, probably more than the first Mistborn trilogy at this point. Eager to see how the fourth book concludes.

  • animalia555

    I mentioned a while back that I wondered if there was a term for a Shogun’s wife. Well according to this https://wiki.samurai-archives.com/index.php?title=Atsu-hime (assuming I’m reading it correctly) it’s Midaidokoro

  • Archangel

    The properties you describe suggest the Wroshyr trees of Kashyyyk (the Wookie homeworld) much more than Endor. Maybe ‘bigfoot’ is just a candid of a Wookie who was on vacation to earth.