Day 31- a taste of nature’s music – Fall Creek

What Magic.  Isn’t it wild to think of the interconnectedness of the roots of the trees in a redwood forest?  The entire forest is actually one large organism.  As we look at the individual trees, it is easy to forget that what allows them to grow so tall and keeps them so stable is the vast network of roots.

Today’s First of the ‘one new thing a day’ New Years Resolution was much needed food for the soul.  I love how stepping into nature can instantly shift our thought patterns toward gratitude and simplify our mind’s dialogue.  The creek was roaring after all the rain.  Short out and back hike to the lime kilns in Fall Creek, Felton CA.  Info below all the pics.  Fellow hiker, Bonnie, was as loving as the trees.. can you believe she is 73?! My goodness, looking good, gal.

The earth has music for those who listen…

Here are the lime kilns..

There are many abandoned lime kilns in the Santa Cruz Mountains.  These ones are easily accessed off of felt empire grade road (head through the town of Felton, to the stop light at Felton Empire Road. Turn left and drive slowly or you’ll miss the small sign for Fall Creek in a half mile on your right.)

Lime kilns were made to heat marble or limestone to extract the lime, which was used in making mortar and later Portland cement and concrete. Usually the kilns had at least two chambers for efficiency, so that the next batch could be started before the multiple-day heating and cooling process was complete. Limestone was transported to the kilns and finished lime was transported from the kilns to major cities.

Mixing the caustic lime powder with sand and water makes plaster and the mortar used in the construction of brick and stone structures.

Santa Cruz was a major source for lime in the late 1800’s. Many of the kilns were tendered by only a few people. The lime was shipped to San Francisco in wooden barrels to fuel the rapid building of the city. Many of the lime kilns ended in the 1920’s through 1930’s. Some continued into the 1940’s. The last commercial lime maker in Santa Cruz County was the Cemex cement plant in Davenport. It closed in 2010.