El Palo Alto!

[thoreau]

David and I hit the trail this morning before breakfast for a walk to "El Palo Alto" - the tree that started it all - a large redwood tree which gave Palo Alto it's name as a city. Miss Kate was in award-winning sniff mode - last night's rains bringing out every conceivable sniff and smell for the entire walk. Fall is definitely in the air here with beautiful leaves and the smell of fresh rain in the air.

From Wikipedia:
El Palo Alto is a coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) tree located in El Palo Alto Park on the banks of San Francisquito Creek in Palo Alto, California, United States. El Palo Alto means the tall stick in Spanish.

El Palo Alto is 110 feet (33.5 meters) in height (compared to 134.6 feet or 41 meters in 1951), 90 inches (2.3 meters) in diameter, and has a crown spread of 40 feet (12 meters).

The tree is California Historical Landmark No. 2 (number 1 is the custom house in Monterey). It is recognized by the National Arborist Association and International Society of Arboriculture for its historical significance as "a campsite for the Portola Expedition Party of 1769"; being frequented by the Costanoan/Ohlone Indians; and for its use as a sighting tree by surveyors plotting out El Camino Real. The tree is depicted on the city of Palo Alto's official seal and on the seal of Stanford University.

We then had breakfast at Stacks in Menlo Park (David being very interested in comparing it to it's sister restaurant in my neighborhood back in the city) and now we're back at the house reading and relaxing.

Comments

[paterson-si.livejournal.com]

And there was also some beauty in the air. :)

[major7.livejournal.com]

very cool

[designerotter.livejournal.com]

Hey, neat photos all - including the ones of the two handsome guys (Congrats on you new beau...obviously I'm just catching up). I had no idea that Palo Alto was actually a high tree ... and very impressive it is too. Thanks for sharing !