Our First Road Trip: Redwood National and State Parks

          This morning, we hear about Ebola in Texas as a couple talk about it over breakfast.  Not too worried about that, we eat our baked goods, yogurt, and waffle, pack up, and head to Shelton's to get our oil changed.  We make it just in time before they take a lunch break, lucky.  The drive into the park is full of all sorts of coniferous trees, so much green.  D picks out the places to see today.  The park is too large for me to narrow down the options; I just want to see some big trees. 

          Our first stop is the visitor center to pick up a map.  Behind the center lies a beach with large logs washed ashore and tsunami and sneaker wave warnings.  We skip some rocks into the ocean, take pictures of the amazing off-shore rocks, and head to our first trail. 

          The Lady Bird Johnson Trail is a short loop among the redwoods.  Trees over 100 feet tall tower above us.  They are so abundant that most of the trail is in complete shadow due to their massive trunks blocking the afternoon sun.  Several redwoods have been burned hollow but continue to live and grow.  Dead stumps stand taller than most of the trees in my backyard.  We feel as though Jurassic Park should have been filmed here.  After a happy walk and pictures of us hugging a very large redwood we move on to the next trail to see Trillium Falls. 

          Elk are napping beside the road as we drive to the trail head at Elk Meadow.  At a safe spot off the road and away from the elk we stop to watch as the stragglers catch up and cautiously cross the road, stopping traffic.  A fed up semi driver decides to inch through the road when the elk look like they're stuck trying to decide whether or not to cross.  Finally the last three or four cross and traffic can move again.  We turn into the meadow and aren't surprised to find it empty since all the elk just left.

          Tall yellow-leafed birch surround the parking lot and behind them hide an ancient world.  A rabbit crosses our path just as we turn right off the gravel path and onto a path no wider than a deer run.  Once engulfed in the redwood forest the path widens again.  We half expect to see velociraptors stalking us from behind the fallen trunks.  Ferns complete the scene of towering trees, moss hanging from branches, shadows rarely letting a ray of sunlight through, and a rich smell of pine everywhere.

          It is a short hike to the Trillium Falls, and it looks a lot like what we're used to seeing in Illinois, except of course for being surrounded by giant redwoods in a prehistoric setting.   We admire the view and our surroundings a while before continuing up the path.

          We walk quietly as I think about our luck at seeing bears at both the other parks and now elk at this park when something darts from my feet onto a stump.  A red-orange-brown frog the size of my palm keeps and eye on us and pretends we can't see it as we bend closer for a better look.  We've never seen a frog like this guy before, and it is beautiful.  It is very patient as I take my pictures inching closer and closer, but when I put the camera over his head, that's the last straw, and it hops further away.  Excited to find a frog we move on.

          It isn't long before more movement catches my eye, but this time it is a small green frog trying to avoid being tread upon.  This one also poses for photos, hoping I'm a National Geographic photographer and that it'll end up on a magazine cover.  Sorry little guy, but I'll put you in my blog instead!  Not quite as far-reaching or prestigious.

          The trail continues winding up and down the sides of the mountain, sometimes following the path made by fallen trunks wider than we are tall.  We get to study the root systems of several downed trees and give up on counting rings of split trunks.  These trees are very old, and we'd love to know more.  When did this dead tree start to grow, when and how did it die and fall, how long has it been rotting here?  Redwoods can be thousands of years old, so if you find a dead one that was thousands of years old and has been lying here for a while, just how long has this organism been on Earth total?

          The hike has been going on for longer than we expected now and rustling noises are starting to spook us.  It is around four in the afternoon and the trees make it seem like seven with all the excessive shadow.  We see a few more frogs but some rustling noises don't have a clear owner.  I start hoping we won't see any bears today.  The sound of traffic excites us because that means we're getting closer to civilization but more and more bends take us further from their sounds.  It is when I smell elk as strongly as you smell the animals in a petting zoo that we both get really nervous.  Elk poo is all over the path, too.  D takes the lead and speeds up our pace with the hopes of getting out of here safely.

          Right now is breeding season for elk and the males are rather dangerous as they defend their harem from outsiders.  The last thing we want to do is run into a defensive elk.  The smell begins to fade as we find a grassy drive that must be for the park rangers and we are so glad to be out of the woods and to have a better view of our surroundings.  We make it back to the car and glad to be done.  That was a fantastic hike and we would definitely do it again, but when you don't know where the end of the path is and you start fearing for your safety, even the most beautiful hike can become a haunted trail.

          The elk are now in their meadow and the male sounds his high-pitched trumpet to let others know that this is his territory and these are his girls.  I wonder if our trail lead behind that section of the meadow and that is why the smell was so strong.  With other trails being on our "To See When We Return" list we make our last stop at a lily pond and take a short hike to a lookout with an ocean view. 

          Two kids chase a young goose as D and I head to the trail.  It is a short hike with lots of trees, birds, and flowers.  The ocean opens up before us and once again we're treated with a sunset over the ocean.  A beach lies to the north and we both want one last chance to play in the water before we head inland.

          The waves here are the largest we've seen and they go high up on the beach as they crash in.  A lone surfer is trying to catch some waves while we chase the water down the beach and sprint away from the waves back up the beach.  More often than not they catch us this time and our legs are dotted with sand up to our shorts.  The sand here sinks a few inches beneath our feet which slows our run, but maybe we also want to get caught by the cold waves.

          After we've had our fill and the sun has set we dry our legs off and start our route north to Eugene, OR.  Our last stop in California is Perlita's Mexican Food for dinner.  D gets a burrito and I get the enchilada/tamale plate with rice and beans.  The chips and salsa they brought us were gone before our food arrived and that is a first.  Despite the spice our hungry tummies continue through our plates until all the food is gone.  The food is all fantastic and we're sure the price was right for that satisfaction.  Another perfect end to a very fun day.