She arrived the night before my father had to fly back to VA and from the moment she stepped off the plane we had quite a trip planned! I had to work the first couple days of the week, so we dipped out of San Francisco as quick as possible. Madison was downtown spending time with friends and so I swooped in the coup and scooped her up. Leaving the downtown area, I stumbled upon a nice view.
We didn't arrive in Arcata until late that night, it was a many hours drive, but not without sneaking in a quick peep of the redwoods along "Avenue of The Giants". In the morning we met with Madison's potential adviser at Humboldt State University, which is amazingly serene and beautiful. It is an older hippie town with a long history for environmental consciousness, sort of reminded me of Burlington, Vermont. Leaving from Arcata, we traveled further north, into the Redwoods State Parks area to stop at the Ladybird Grove.
A whole family could fit in this redwood! After following the wonderful loop trail dedicated by Ladybird Johnson in the 60's and justly introduced to a world of dinosaur trees we continued a bit further north to Prarie Creek Redwood State Park. This park is home to quite a few of the world's tallest trees and hosts a really unique redwood ecosystem. Along the trail, we paused for a quick self-portrait:
The trail we took left the ranger headquarters and finished at the Pacific ocean, since it was late in the evening and we wanted to see the sunset, we knew we had to hustle! Even so, you cannot rush the subtle magnificence of the forests out here:
We made it in time!
I know I always wax poetic about California sunsets, but anyone who has been here can vouch for me, they're just always beautiful. Just before the above sunset photo was taken, I took this photo below to show both the ruggedness of the land as it meets the ocean as well as the gentle beach that straddles both:
The next morning we slept in nicely and lounged around, I had not camped on the beach in some years, it is easy to forget how cool it is:
Late in the morning we embarked for "Fern Canyon", which is an area famous for its prehistoric collection of ferns. This place must be seen to be believed! I think "Fern Gully" might be a better name though, but thats a movie.
Before that though, this old, giant log near the little ponds served as a great spot for eating/lounging/sleeping, and perch for a little person with a big pack!
Clearly we had come to Prairie Creek at the right time of year, all the trilliums were in bloom! Madison enjoyed them because they are endemic to West Virginia, her home. We joked that they were like little faces with eyes, the eyes of the forest- watching us as we wandered about:
Our second night at Prairie Creek we made camp in the shadow of some real giants. Surrounded by tree-like ferns and the dense under story vegetation, it was absolute bliss:
The tent was set up, the sleeping bags lain out to fluff up, and I caught
We were so reluctant to leave this magical, prehistoric forest, a real place of the "Land Before Time." The last few miles we tried to make last a while, which meant time for a few Kodak moments. The scale of these trees is difficult to imagine without a human comparison, it simply blows my mind how astonishingly well redwoods grow in their native habitat. The trail was always so quaint, just meandering amongst the redwoods, allowing us to greet each giant as they came near.
As sad as it was to leave the redwoods behind, it was of course nice to know they won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. I sure would like my kids to see one of the great natural wonders of the world.
Of course our portrait shot was taken too. It was super nice to have my girlfriend around. When everyone is thousands of miles away and then a slice of lovely familiarity comes to see you, it is really touching. I was quite sad to see her go, now I look forward to our next embrace (-: Miss you Muffly!
1 comment:
Miss you too!
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