Finding My True North Now: 2014

Our vacation in California was magical and...too short. We spent the first part of the week driving north through the Redwood Forest, stopping at wineries, breweries and a few detours along the coast as we made our way to Humboldt County. My favorite day was spent hiking in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. We left our cabin outside of Eureka about 9:00 in the morning, stopped in a quaint seaside town for coffee, chocolate and a bag of ice, and arrived at the state park turn-off around 11:00 am. We spent the next hour navigating five long miles on an unpaved, extremely dusty and dark road, forged a few 'streams' in the rental car and finally arrived at a sandy parking lot which paralleled the deserted Pacific coast. The beauty of the parking lot surroundings alone was sufficient reward for the beating my full bladder had endured during the last 60 minutes. As luck would have it, the park rangers were working on replacing the door to the vault toilet. After locating a thirsty tree, we loaded up our pack and headed out to explore the famous fern covered canyon which is surrounded by massive Redwoods. Words cannot describe the natural beauty of this area. Various ferns blanket the steep canyon walls, water oozes from cracks and crevices, eventually making its way into a crystal clear stream and finally merging with the Pacific Ocean. The canyon floor is littered with fallen trees and polished wet rocks magically change colors as intermittent sunbeams dance their way across the canyon floor. It is as if you are walking in a fairyland world. You feel about two feet tall and insignificant. All the stress of the modern world seeps out of your pores as you soak up the natural beauty around you. Finally, we ascended a series of tree-root and rock-lined steps which led to the lip of the canyon and a rewarding bird's eye view. From here we continued to hike (and sometimes stumble) up, down, over, around and through massive groves of Redwood trees and although the sun was shining brightly somewhere overhead, we felt like Hansel and Gretel making our way through the dark enchanted forest. The first few hours along the trail we met a few friendly hikers and even some runners. Note, we did have enough common sense to travel with a map, a full day pack including lunch, snacks, lots of water and a compass--all things we would end up using throughout the day. Around 1:30 pm, we found a Redwood stump which doubled perfectly as a dining table, ate our tuna sandwiches, drank a beer (probably illegal to have glass in a state park) and continued blissfully along our journey. Each time we met a trail junction which led deeper into the forest, we glanced at the map, located north and continued blissfully onward with confidence and not much care. We were mesmerized with the vastness of these trees and the utter absence of any sound of living things, other than the gentle breezes that could be heard as the tree canopy above us slightly swayed, gently lulling us deeper into the forest. Without a watch, it would have been difficult to judge time because the forest was constantly bathed in eerie shadows. Eventually, we ran out of food and water and stopped bumping into the occasional hiker. We saw evidence of bear scat and began whistling and making extra noises which echoed back to us. At last the trees grew thin, we recognized bird calls and sunlight filtered down, illuminating the trail head as it dropped us at the beach head located three miles south of the parking lot. 'No problem!' we thought, 'It is only 4:00 in the afternoon. We have plenty of time. We will just walk north along the coast instead of hiking along this white, dusty drab road.' Big mistake! Every time we took a step in the sand, our feet sank about two inches. We tried walking along the shoreline and near the dunes, but no matter what path we chose, the effort to walk was monumental. Around 6:00 pm we spotted the parking lot. Between us and the car, a male elk stood rooting around for food. It took some careful planning to navigate through the underbrush, around this massive creature and locate the parking lot. Exhausted, we piled into the car and bounced down five miles of windy, dusty road for another hour until we reached the main highway. Right as the sun was setting, we returned to our secluded cabin in the Redwoods, cooked a delicious pasta dinner filled with fresh veggies from the owner's garden, built a campfire and relaxed under the stars in the outdoor bathtub. I think we were both asleep by 11:00 pm that night, exhausted but content from a full day's adventure. Thank you Redwood Forest. I miss YOU! Below are a few pictures from our adventure.