The Redwoods are definitely high on my list of the BEST places we have gotten to visit! The enormity and beauty of the trees was absolutely overwhelming, but our time in the park did not start off too smoothly...
We arrived into the Redwoods National Park in the evening after hours and hours of driving in the pouring rain from Portland. Our plan to quickly find a campsite and get to bed was fooled over and over again as each site we tried was either closed or required a permit (which we did not have and could not get at that late hour). Our frustrations were swiftly rising with each campsite failure and our opinion of the Redwoods park was going straight down! As we were driving down a windy, rainy road toward our last campsite option we saw a dark blur on the side of the road. I slammed on the breaks and looked at Taylor, who exclaimed simultaneously with me the one word that we have both been dreading and yet hoping to get to say..."BEAR"!!! I put us in reverse and crept back toward the dark blur, to find a lazy, wet black bear sitting on his butt, watching the traffic go by! We rolled down the windows and directed our flashlight on him and desperately tried to capture some pictures (which were not happening thanks to the rain) as he stared right back at us! It was a very neat moment and one that we had been hoping would happen when we were safe and sound in our car, so we were thrilled and thankful at the same time!
After the bear sighting we were felling a bit more optimistic. The last campsite that we went to turned out to be open, but due to the rain and the mud, setting up the tent just wasn't possible. So we did the next best thing....Slept in the car!! Taylor made us little beds on top of all of our junk and we slept cramped, but somewhat comfortable.
Thankful to see morning and the SUN, we left for some hiking in the Redwoods. This was when our experience really took a turn for the better! We heard of a tree in particular called the "Boy Scout Tree" that was one of the largest in the area, so we hiked out to find it. Our jaws were dropped the entire time as we slowly walked our way through the gigantic trees. The words "majestic" and "tranquil" kept floating through my mind as I looked in awe at the giants around us. Everything was so quiet and peaceful and the sight of looking up and up at the trees, like skyscrapers, was overpowering! We found the Boy Scout Tree and marveled at its 31' diameter size! Amazing!
Once we had taken in about as much tree as we could, we found our campsite for the night and set up. It was an amazing spot, right on a cliff that overlooked the ocean. Taylor even went for a quick dip in the water (very cold!) and we explored some awesome tide pools, finding all sorts of fun sea creatures. We made some friends with a German family who are cycling from Alaska to Mexico with their 16 month old (yep...crazy...that's what we thought too!) and another couple road tripping from Miami, and had a bonfire on the beach with all of them after sun set. Lot's of fun! Our only complaint from the whole experience would be the slugs....tons of slimy, yellow, monster slugs that ooze their way over everything! Yuck!
After our fun beach-side camping, we packed it all back in the car and headed south on the PCH to meet up with Gwen and Andrew and Evan! (and Penny of course) Our best friends just happened to be in San Diego, so we have the fun chance to get to spend a little time with them! I will write more on that next time but let's just say Napa and lots of laughter make for two very rejuvenated road-trippers!
by Motsenbocker
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