The GIANT redwoods--Oh my!

3 August 2010
Tuesday

Today we could see our breath while eating breakfast! Time to move on. We backtrack our way to California. Saw a couple of black-tailed deer. Passed through the fruit and vegetable inspection with flying colors and only one potato and one onion. Guess those don't count.

The Redwoods at last. And they are so worth the wait. At the first Visitor Center we read signage and saw living examples of the three types of redwoods in the world: the Coastal Redwood, the Giant sequoia and the Dawn Redwood [this one is only found in China today].

We opted for a Scenic Drive: the Howland Hill Road. It was a very narrow one lane road with traffic going both directions. Did we mention that it was a DIRT road? The trees are immense -- well, as big as a redwood! It's hard to adequately describe them. Walking among them is one very humbling experience. So is trying to hug one.

The Redwoods National Park is actually a collection of State Parks and forest service lands.

We hiked a short portion in the area called the Stout Grove in order to get up close and personal. I tried to measure one by walking around it: 41 of my red Crocs is the circumference and it was by no means the biggest one.

After 10 miles of dust we found ourselves in Crescent City where we reconnect with the 101 and the sea fog. The next Scenic Drive is called the Coastal Drive and it was worse than the last scenic drive with zero viewing due to the brush and thick fog.

The next Scenic Drive is the Newton B. Drury Memorial Drive. It was a little more inland so it was sunny plus it was an actual two-lane paved road with shoulders. Next hike was a stop to see the BIG TREE. Yes, people, it is BIG.

Next stop: the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park: the Visitor Center is no longer functioning and a huge resident Roosevelt elk herd was posing for photographs.

Finally we land in a Humboldt County Park campground where we are dwarfed by giant trees and close to an off-shore lagoon. The crashing surf beyond the breaker is a great way to fall asleep.

Because we are seniors [62+] and veteran [Jim] we get a discount. The only discount we didn't qualify for is the handicapped one.

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