Deep within the wet and wonderful Redwood Forest lies one of California's most recognizable landmarks; a strange/ludicrous spectacle that truly deserves the moniker of classic roadside attraction. Behold! the giant wooden statues of Paul Bunyan and his trustworthy blue ox, Babe, at the 'Trees of Mystery' exhibit in Klamath.
Icons of both our great golden state-- which seems to have a very unnatural obsession with the big man and his big hands-- and the forest itself, Pauly B and Babe have been greeting visitors, scaring small children, scaring adults, scaring old people and confusing tourists for 50+ years.
But to fully understand the complexity of this dynamic duo, you'll need to embrace the aura of their unique surroundings: the magnificent Redwood Forest of Northern CA. Clear air, minimal cell phone service, and those epic, legendary trees-- this is lumberjack territory, and seeing these two in all of their wooden glory puts everything into perspective.
They're adorable. Buddies forever, best friends till the end, homies 4 life. There's a shared love and respect for each other that no cold-hearted human will ever understand.
However, every good relationship needs an alpha and Paul, with his mighty axe, badass overalls and hipster beard, is clearly the bigger attraction here.
He reigns supreme over the parking lot with the confidence of an A-list Hollywood superstar, radiating the sort of big dick energy that only a 30+ foot wooden statue could produce. That cocky smile and unkempt plaid shirt screams: "This is my turf! This is Bunyon Country. I put you on the map. I get your mortgages paid. Obey".
However, I wouldn't count out Babe. He also holds her own in these parts.
Stoic and very much blue as advertised, Babe is comfortable being Robin to Paul's Batman.
And yes, he has balls. Giant wooden balls. Enormous balls that are bigger than your balls. And think about this for a second-- somebody spent years painfully carving this mighty steed, so a nice chunk of that time went into carving those balls. A solid way to make a living.
Truly, Babe and Paul are two peas in a pod and I think Hollywood owes them some kind of a buddy cop movie (a '48 hours' reboot, perhaps?). There's a real bromance going on here.
And just when you thought the Paul/Babe combo were the only draw, you'll quickly realize the real method behind the madness here-- to hawk pricey redwood forest swag from the gift shop.
That's right, Babe and Paul are simply marketing pawns to get tourists to shell out those hard-earned dollars on life's really important necessities: Bigfoot statues, forest postcards and tiny replicas of trees. The Redwood Forest has mouths to feed as well, ya know?
And while my focus has mainly been on the statues, the aforementioned 'Trees of Mystery' ride is apparently a fun thing to do around these parts. While I didn't get a chance to go on it during my visit (rain shut it down for the day) it apparently consists of a mile long gondola ride through the redwoods.
