"Jabba" coast redwood
by Mario Vaden
The photo below shows Chris Atkins in front of an unusual coast redwood in Redwood National Park. I call this redwood "Jabba" after Jabba the Hutt, in Star Wars.
See the root growing to the right on top of the ground? It's about 7 feet thick (tall) near the trunk and extends about 35 feet to the right outside the picture. The root diameter is roughly half of the 13 foot trunk diameter. A surface root this size is exceptionally rare. Actually, I've never seen another like this. In its own way, Jabba is like the Super Colossus redwood in that they are virtually one of a kind.
This coast redwood is on a remote hillside in Redwood National Park east of McArthur Creek, just beyond the Twin Towers of Humboldt. This is quintessential old growth Coast Redwood forest.