Aaron Tyler Zybach: 16th Birthday Redwoods Trip Photo Album

The following photographs were taken on August 31 and September 1, 2006 by (Grandpa) Bob Zybach, Aaron T. Zybach, and two friendly strangers. The occasion was a 16th Birthday camping trip to SW Oregon and the Redwoods of NW California.

On August 27, 2006, Anthony James ("Tony") Zybach was born to Jessica Zybach in Redding, California. Jessie had predicted the baby's birthday at least two months ago, and he arrived less than five minutes before midnight. Three days later, on August 30, Aaron and I (Bob) went to Grants Pass . From there I went on a field trip from Grants Pass to Babyfoot Lake with several USDA foresters and scientists while Aaron stayed in Grants Pass, mostly spending time at Riverfront Park. I rode in a truck with four other people. The driver (District Ranger) said she had just turned 50 the previous week. I immediately brought up my new grand-nephew's recent birthday. The two men in the back seat with me were also born on August 27, and one of them (Judd Lehman) also had a father with the same birthday! I'm not sure what the odds are, but of the four total father-son birthday possibilities, three are on the exact same day (3 of 4, with 365 1/4 possible dates for each birthday). The only other person in the truck was the head scientist at the PNW Research Station in Corvallis, who was in the front passenger seat. He has three adult children in their late twenties, all unmarried, two of whom were born on August 27 (2 of 3; or 2 of 4, counting the father). I was the oldest member of the group, by a year.

The trip began Tuesday evening in Albany, Oregon, planning, making a checklist, and packing. Wednesday morning we took off for Grants Pass, picking up a hitch-hiking Rainbow Family woman along the way. That evening we went to California, reaching Jedediah Smith State Park at dark, where we walked to the Smith River and shined the flashlight on 10-foot wide trees, and drove slowly around the campground (totally empty, two days before Labor Day Weekend), so we could look at giant trees in the headlights. Then we drove to a rock road location that Grandpa Bob and Uncle Alistar discovered several years ago and has been used by Zybach family members since for camping and swimming. Aaron found bear, deer, and cougar prints in the sand, examined a pile of huckleberry-stained bear poop, and stalked and caught two toads for brother C.J. by flashlight. The old campsite had washed away during a flood that left driftwood and brush high in the trees, so we had to level a sand wash-out in order to sleep someplace without rocks or brush. In the morning the light was prefect for taking pictures of the redwoods, and we talked to some retired hikers who had lived nearby for many years. They told us we were camping near the "Early Hole"; so-called because it was the first place salmon gather and are fished after leaving the ocean and beginning upstream to spawn. We also saw more, much fresher, bear poop and accidentally brought some in the car; it smelled really terrible and we had to stop and clean it out almost immediately. The weather in Crescent City was warm and clear and we could see a remarkable distance toward the horizon. Huckleberries are ripe, but all bushes we see have been stripped clean, probably mostly by bears.

Klamath River Stories

On the trip we met and talked to a number of interesting people, including Paul Bunyan, who converses with people as they enter Trees of Mystery, where they have a wonderful display of museum-quality artifacts of North American Indian people. Kenneth E. Groves, a metal sculptor (dragonfever1@lycos.com) and photographer, invited us to visit his camp and get a brochure of his work. Aaron spotted fresh bear prints in the sand far below the surface of the old Klamath River bridge, and Ken verified he had encountered a sow bear nearby the previous day and thought she probably put them there. On the way back to Oregon later that day, we stopped at a drive-through tree in the town of Klamath and paid $4.00 to drive through and take photos. The last time Grandpa Bob went through it cost $2.50, and the same family has owned the same property since 1895.


Paul Bunyan. Trees of Mystery	Babe the Great Blue Ox & Oregon Teen	Ken Groves. Traveling Artist	California Bear. 1964 Christmas Flood	Pirate Ship. Groves' Dragon Creation

Zebra Truck	Hood Ornament. If Monsters Eat Trash	Groves Camp, Klamath River, California	Hi There. First-Time Visitor	Oregon Tourist

	Old Times. Family-Owned Since 1895	Oregon Tourists	Tour Thru Tree. August 31

The Big Tree is near Prairie Creek, between the towns of Klamath and Orick. Grandpa Bob has seen several large elk every time he has ever visited for more than 30 years, until this trip. We visited during late morning and the weather was laready hot. Everyone suspected the elk were in the deep shade of the surrounding forest, keeping cool. The herd is also much smaller than in the past, when it was more than 30 animals only a few years ago. A rival bull took some of the cows and calves with him, and we were told a Winnebago killed half the remaining herd. There are only about six elk now, and we didn't see any of them. Then we took the short hike to the Big Tree, which has lost a huge limb or old top since the last visit, crushing a big section of the fence in the process. We think this may be the same tree in an old colorized photograph from the 1930s that Grandma Pam bought in a South Dakota garage sale about 20 years ago. The brush has grown up very thickly around the tree since that time. It would look better if it were maintained with a clear forest floor, as in times past.

Lake Selmac Campground

Our original plan to backpack into Babyfoot Lake near Selma was changed because of salvage logging operations in the area. Most of the local rivers (Applegate, Chetco, Illinois, Rogue) are heavily regulated and water is low and warm, so we decided to camp at Lake Selmac and fish for bluegill (sure thing), bass (maybe), trout (possibly), and catfish (hopefully). The campground manager gave us an ideal camping spot, with lots of privacy and our own private entrance and boat dock, but no running water. In the evening we caught several small bluegill and released them, and kept one barely pan size; one we couldn't get a hook out of; and one that was killed removing the hook. In the morning we fed them to the yellow jackets (who ate them eyes first) and crows, who took them away as soon as we left camp. Crows and blue jays also got into a bag of chips, and yellow jackets and crows ate other leftover food. Lots of gray squirrels and dead wood and tender throughout the campsite. The next day a poisonous blue-green algae blew into our side of the lake, and it was too hot to fish. Bullfrogs and smaller frogs were seen. Lots of ducks and geese and the Oregon State record bigmouth bass (12+ lbs?) was supposed to have been caught here. Saw a nice dead brownhead catfish, maybe 9" long and plump, and found a new pole and reel someone had rigged up and left behind. We turned it into the campground manager, who seems like a very nice man. Aaron is 16 years old today. On September 1, 1852, Shadrach Powell, our direct ancestor, died while bringing his family over the Oregon Trail and was buried along the Burnt River, between Ontario and Baker City, Oregon..


Selmac Campsite, September 1, 2006	Selmac Reservoir, Lake Selmac, Selma, Oregon	Dead Fish #1	Dead Fish #2	Dead Fish #3

	Spider. Toads Won't Eat This One.		Spider. Yellow Jackets Will Eat Head, But Not Legs or Abdomen

The Ride Home

We bought individual 16th Birthday Abby's pizzas in Grants Pass on our way home (very good, unlimited drinks, and larger than expected), and Aaron predicted we would arrive at his home in Corvallis at 4:17 PM. As we entered the Willamette Valley we saw smoke moving westward across the Valley from a mass to the east, in the Cascades. It was about 3:00 PM, and the majority of the smoke seemed to be coming from the Three Sisters or Mount Jefferson area; ideal late afternoon conditions for a wildfire blow-up. I told Aaron to look for a mushroom cloud formation, and within minutes one began to form and went several miles into the air, with a perfect mushroom shape. Then the plume flattened out and began to fill in, until it was gone, having turned into a single huge cloud about 4:00 PM. We debated taking photos, but were in a hurry at that point, and decided against it. The following day (September 2) a picture of the fire's smoke plume was on the front page of the Albany Democat Herald and featured in a Forestry Blog by Mike Dubrasich. It had started near Green Peter Dam and has been named the Middle Fork Fire.

We pulled into Aaron's driveway at 4:18, about 10 seconds after the number changed. Despite the timeliness, we had slept in late that morning, had nice conversations with almost everyonbe we came across, and had plenty of time to fish, talk, take photos, feed a camp fire, and look at the sights.


Alistar Camp, Smith River, California	Early Hole, Smith River, California	Franklin Road Redwoods #1	Franklin Road Redwoods #2	Franklin Road Redwoods #3

Franklin Road Redwood Log	Franklin Road Redwood Stump	High Anxiety. Butt-cut, Redwood Log	Grandpa Bob. Stumped.	Burl Ives.

Franklin Road Split-Tree #1	Franklin Road Split-Tree #2	Scale Car of Local Hikers #1	Scale Car of Local Hikers #2	Bright Light & Heavy Shade

	Gnarly Trunk & Teen	View of Crescent City, California	Clear Skies & Pacific Ocean, August 31


Happy Trio. Posing for Photo	Grumpy Trio. 1,000 Years Ago No One Pruned	Deadfall	Scale	Taper

	Grandpa Bob. Treed.		Scales