Blogs from Humboldt Redwoods State Park, California, United States, North America

After a week chilling out and recharging the batteries we hit the road again; this time hiring a car for a month so we can try to cover as much ground as possible. We headed north into Redwood country, home of some of the oldest and biggest trees in the world. We drove through Napa Valley – the famous wine growing region although we did not stop due to our decision to detox for a while after SF and anyway we will hopefully be going to Walla Walla in Washington – an up and coming wine region. We headed to the coast by the Navarro River and stopped at a beautiful state beach. After a relaxing afternoon we set up camp in the forest campsite…and then the paranoia of bears kicked in for the first time!! ... read more

Today we were heading towards Portland. We weren’t too sure where we would end up as we had the next few days to get there. After brekkie we jumped in the car and headed towards the worlds crookedest street which is not too far from the Hotel. Lombard Street is the world’s crookedest street and it is famous for the sharp turns and being very steep. We drove down and took a few pics before heading north over the Golden Gate Bridge. Today the weather was not the best and very foggy. You couldn’t even see the tops of the towers on the bridge. When we got over the other side we headed towards the Muir Woods National Monument which is one of the last stands of old-growth Redwood forests on Earth. It has trees that ... read more

Today I have been surrounded by massive read wood trees. They are huge. I've had another easier day today and have been chilling amongst the trees which has been great. The mornings are getting colder, I had to put gloves on to start with today. I had to take them off again after not very long tho as I had to fix another flat tyre, that’s three now. After I was back on my way again I had about 50km of highway riding before getting onto the avenue of the giants. A road that runs parallel to the freeway but goes through red wood groves. There is also an interp trail with stops every few miles which has been really interesting. I went for a walk through one of the glades and you really get a ... read more

In 2006, a team of intrepid researchers in California discovered 3 trees taller than the Stratosphere Giant of Humboldt Redwoods State Park. The tallest living thing in the world is now a Coast Redwood called Hyperion, and it stands an incredible 115.2 meters (378.1 feet) tall! Redwoods have grown and prospered in many areas of Europe, Asia and North America since the warm Paleozoic Era over 160 million years ago. Changes in climate have restricted their natural range and eliminated all but three genera of redwood. Dawn Redwood, (Metasequoia glyptostroboides), is native to a remote area of central China. The Giant Sequoia, (Sequoiadendron giganteum), is native to the western slope of the southern Sierra Nevada mountain range in California. The Coast Redwood, (Sequoia sempervirens), is native to the Pacific Coast from southern Oregon to central California, ... read more

June 26, Friday On southbound along Route 101 the Oregon coast is full of huge rocks, water just cascading in, over and around the sea stacks (huge rocks sticking up out of the water just offshore) it's beautiful. The road meanders from right along the edge of the ocean cliffs to a bit inland making hairpin turns deep inside the ravines that lead the streams to the ocean. The only trouble is occasional slow moving "tourists" that refuse to utilize the many "pull-outs". Not that I'd EVER pass on a double yellow .... but..... We crossed into California and at the Humboldt Redwoods State Park we pulled off highway 101 to follow the Giant Tree Avenue for many miles, mostly because I had no idea where the campgrounds were located in this park. Eventually, quite by ... read more