Just off spending two days in the Redwords State and National Parks, a veritable jigsaw puzzle of various protected federal and state lands, peppered throughout with memorial/family/personal grove dedications.
As far as I could tell, the redwoods here were pretty much the same as in Humboldt SP, but they can be explored in a wider variety of environments. Unlike Humboldt (the part I saw anyway) which is purely lowland groves, there's seems a more majestic presentation slightly north at Redwoods.
While I did tour the "Tall Trees" area (restricted/permit access, but not busy) and it did offer up The World's Tallest Tree, I found much more interesting the Lady Bird Johnson Grove. The trail is almost wheelchair accessible, but it is set on a plateau/ridge overlooking at parts some areas which had been previously logged. There's only about 10 big trees per acre so a Redwood grove is actually quite "open". So at many points your view is of all these towering trees, but with bright blue sky and "space" visible as you gaze outward.
I decided to finish off the day with more of a backcountry loop, which was I thought a quick ridgeline trip then back along the coast. It turns out I misread the map and there was an extra 3.7miles in there; anyway, I had to walk the last 3 miles with the headlamp. I had previously set up camp at the Gold Bluffs Beach site, where your tent it out in the open on some grassy dunes overlooking the Pacific. I was asleep by 10 and out by 8 the next day -- some people looked like they were set up for about a week.
So Wednesday I toured the Jedediah Smith Park portion of Redwoods. It's more of the same, really.. Once you're seen two days of big trees, another day is less impressive. I did hike the Boy Scout Tree trail which the guides highly recommended, but while nice it was not that special.
Now I'm up in Coos Bay, preparing for tomorrow's venture to Crater Lake. Also trying to process some photos for posting.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
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so what car did you get?
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Can't wait to see the pics. Just think...a real grue! ;)
ReplyDeleteThe car is a 2008 Mazda 6 (previous generation, not the new redesign) with 4cyl. Roomy and "sporty" but not very powerful (especially with AC on)
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