WALK IN THE REDWOODS

We perused the list of walks in the Redwoods National Park, decided on one that started at the Big Tree Wayside.  Once we found it (that took a u-turn) we stopped for a photo at the Big Tree.

There were lots of trails, we decided on one we thought was a loop trail, the Cathedral Trees trail, but turned out not to be.  It was a beautiful walk, plenty to see.  There were twists and turns, ups and downs, and lots of stepping over roots and rocks.  We saw not only Redwood trees, but lots of ferns and clover ( I was amazed at all of the clover ). 

Yes, that is Darrell standing at the base of that tree.

Plus we encountered a few Banana Slugs and Snails, too.

 

It was a lot of fun - until we got lost.  There was very little signage and we had no map and no internet service.  We encountered a runner and told him we were lost.  He had a map and gave us some directions.  We headed out that way and got lost again.  I got very frustrated and tired, and thirsty.  We eventually encountered the same runner again.  He gave us directions again, we even took a picture of his map.  And we got lost again.  We ended up back in the same spot where we first met the runner, which was near the road.  So, Darrell walked back to the pickup on the road (scarey, because there were no shoulders) and I walked to the Prairie Creek Visitors Center in hopes of water.  

I got a little worried that it took him so long to get back to me.  I began to think he'd been run over on the road.  But, he finally showed up, safe and sound (he had stopped to take pictures ! ).  We made our complaints to the staff there and they agreed the signage was horrible and they've been trying to get it fixed.  They gave us a complaint form.

I got my passport stamped, bought some stickers and then we were off, headed south again.

We love this park though.

TO LA AND BACK - DAY TWO

We spent the night in Crescent City, got up early and headed south on Hwy 101.  We stopped at the first pull out to get close to the ocean!  Lucy was cold and unimpressed.  We loved it.

 Next stop was Trees of Mystery.  It seems we always visit here before they open.  But we stopped for the obligatory pictures with Paul and Babe.

Trees of Mystery on Hwy 101 in northern California

Paul and Babe the Blue Ox

At Trees of Mystery

Next stop was Prairie Creek State Park, home of the Roosevelt Elk herd.

The herd asleep in the morning.

The big guy of the herd.

We took an 8 mile dirt road (easy does it - we have a van full of furniture) out to the coast so we could walk to Fern Canyon.  

Dirt road to Gold Coast

The dirt road seemed to go on and on...

But we made it, after crossing several creeks (with the van) we parked, left Lucy in the van because dogs are not welcome on the trails (??).  Darrell and I had a great time in Fern Canyon.  It is spectacular.

You could see it from the end, but the farther up the creek you went, the better it seemed.  The catch being that you had to cross and recross the creek using just the fallen limbs and logs and rocks that had been laid across the moving creek.

We had a couple of close calls, but we managed to not get our feet wet.

When we got back to the van, we tried going out to the coast to find a geocache.  Lucy was allowed on that trail.  Someone warned us to beware of the three big bucks hanging around very close.  We got unbelievably too near them.  Unfortnuately we couldn't find a way around the streams and ponds to get near the beach, so we headed back without finding a geocache.

 We got off Hwy 101, to drive on the Avenue of the Giants.  We stopped a few times to get close to the big trees.  We found a geocache, which was difficult under such big giants.

 We drove on further than we would have liked so we could make it to within striking distance of SF for the next day.  We spent the night in Ukiah.

Lucy waits patiently as we check-in to a motel.

Good night.