The Land Of The Giant Trees In Redwood National Forest

I am in awe of this forest.  I specifically wanted to come to the coast to beat the heat and that I did.  It is hard to describe in words what the trees feel like in this forest.  Without sounding corny, this redwood forest is truly magical.

I wanted to take a scenic drive through the trees but the road was closed so Max and I took a walk down the drive.  If you have seen the movie Avitar, this would be the closest thing to actually being in the movie.  The trees, ferns and all plants seem to have taken a mass amount of miracle grow and make you feel pretty insignificant standing next to them.  It was hard to actually capture the feeling I had in pictures but here are a few from our walk.  The day started out foggy when we hiked out of our campsite, but to me it was so beautiful.

We left our site, walked on the beach to watch a coyote, met the Muffin Man while I stopped for coffee and then toured the forest.  I don't plan what I am going to do far in advance but I am so glad I took the turn to the coast to see this forest.  It's been a little under 30 years since I've been to this place and these trees have been there much longer than any of us have been on this earth.  I am glad that we decided to protect this part of the forest for all to see.

Along the way, we also stopped to take a picture of Paul Bunyan and his Ox, Babe.  Beware, Paul will talk to you.  He said, "hello young lady in the blue shirt."  Such a charmer.

If you've never been to this forest, I would recommend it.  I love Yellowstone, Yosemite, and all of the national parks but there is something about this one that holds a place in my heart.  Next we are going to see where the coastline takes us.

A Trip To The Coast To Beat The Heat

Max and I decided to take a break from the heat and headed towards the coast.  I haven't been this far up Northern California since I took a trip with my family in our wood paneled station wagon when I was 10 years old.  It was my mom, brother, grandmother, grandfather, and father all packed into a car and headed to Canada.  My mother and I sat in the reverse seat in the back and looked out the window to where we've been.

Since the temperatures were over 100 where we were, the coast temperatures are a welcome site.  We left pretty late in the afternoon so we finally arrived to the Redwood Forest visitor center after hours.  The nice ranger saw me and decided to come out and give me a map only to tell me that all sites were filled.  He wished me luck in my search and gave me a tip that some hike in sites along the coastal dirt road might be available.

Max and I decided to take his advice and try to find the free hike in sites.  We drove North and turned at the bridge before Klamath, just as the ranger said and came upon an unpaved road.  We continued on the coastal trail and stopped when we saw a few cars parked outside.  We arrived at the Flint Ridge campsite. There were a few campers having dinner by their car so I talked to them about the availability at the site.  They weren't sure so we decided to get everything out of the car and haul it up about a half a mile to the campsites.  Lucky for us, there was a space available.  It was a nice hike but the best part about it was that it's FREE!

We set up camp and headed down the hill to watch the sunset.  It was a beautiful foggy sunset.  After that, we called it a night.

 Tomorrow we will be on the hunt for some tall trees.