Postcards From the West: Northern California’s redwood country

John Stephenson is almost as tall as the drive-through opening in the ancient coastal redwood known as the Chandelier Tree that he and his family have owned and maintained since 1921 in Leggett, Calif.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Storm clouds drift over the trees along the Redwood Highway, near the border of Mendocino and Humboldt counties.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The historic Benbow Inn glows in the early evening light in redwood country.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The stone arch of the old bridge behind the Benbow Inn frames some of the surrounding forest and a fork of the Eel River.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Roosevelt elk are easily viewed off Highway 101 in Trinidad, Calif. The elk also populate the Elk Prairie Campground in the redwoods.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Beauty is found on the floor of the forest as well as in the canopies of the surrounding Humboldt redwoods and other trees.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Moss-covered maples prove that redwoods are not the only tree in the forest on the Avenue of the Giants near Myers Flat in Humboldt County.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Surrounded by ferns, redwoods, Douglas fir and lush ground cover, photographer Chris Driscoll with Redwood Photo Tours takes a picture in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The mouth of the Klamath River is framed by wildflowers and other spring foliage from the Klamath River Overlook in Requa, Calif.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The Historic Requa Inn is perched on a hill overlooking the Klamath River. There are no phones and no TVs in the 100-year-old hotel.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

If these walls could talk, think of the tales they could tell at the Historic Requa Inn.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The morning sun warms customers breakfasting in the dining room of the Historic Requa Inn, which features a great view of the Klamath River and the surrounding redwood forest.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The Historic Requa Inn serves gourmet meals in the dining room, including four-course dinners six nights a week.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The view from the High Bluff Overlook along Coastal Drive in Klamath looks down on a rocky shoreline adjacent to the mouth of the Klamath River.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

A couple takes pictures of their encounter with the Chandelier Tree, after carefully backing their Volkswagen van into the opening at its base.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The town of Garberville is reflected in the window of the Eel River Cafe, just off Highway 101 in the heart of redwood country.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Life along the Avenue of the Giants lives up to its name with towering redwoods dwarfing motor homes and cars traveling north through the Humboldt Redwoods.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Hollowed-out in 1941 from a single redwood log believed to be 2,100 years old, the Famous One-Log House is a tourist curiosity off Highway 101, south of Garberville, Calif.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The Shrine Drive-Thru Tree on the Avenue of the Giants near Myers Flat in Humboldt County is a redwood forest tourist attraction that is leaning on better times and staying upright thanks to steel cables.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

For upscale dining in a Mid-Century Modern redwood barn, and antler chandeliers, Springville Steak in Fortuna is the place.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The menu and price chart at the Samoa Cookhouse near Eureka is basic and the food is abundant at the establishment, which has been serving loggers and forest workers for years.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

A flowering currant frames a portion of Houda Point Beach in Trinidad, which the locals call Camel Rock.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Giant Roosevelt elk graze in the tall grass next to an old red schoolhouse on the grounds of the Elk Country RV Resort in Trinidad, Calif.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The elk roam throughout the region in the coast redwoods and are easily viewed in several small prairie settings.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

A giant, talking Paul Bunyan statue and his famous blue ox, “Babe,” is a perfect photo opportunity at the Trees of Mystery attraction off Highway 101 in Klamath.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

$15 will buy a pass to ride the Sky Trail aerial tram and a walk through a redwood forest at the Trees of Mystery attraction.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)