Blogs from Redwood National Park, California, United States, North America - page 2

We're up and ready for some hiking today. I spent a bit of time researching the trails in the multitude of hiking guides before flying out and realized that there are so many trails here that two days are only enough to barely scratch the surface so I have to pick carefully. I'm screening for distance (the kids aren't babies anymore and we've hiked enough in the past that I'm figuring about 7 miles in a day is a good target), difficulty (we've done some pretty tough hikes, up an active volcano in Guatemala and a mountain in Chile but moderate is about what I'm aiming for) and scenery (we're here for redwoods so I want to see old-growth forest, the oldest, biggest, tallest trees that escaped the lumberjack's axe and the developer's bulldozer). I've imported ... read more

We spent the night in Minden, Nevada surrounded by courteous, friendly folks who welcomed us into their community with open arms. The kind of thing that I thought had disappeared in America but here it was. And in a place called Minden. As we got ready to pull out, an older guy remarked on our Florida tags and asked about our trip. His name is Miguel. He's a Basque shepherd who came to Nevada in 1953 to make his fortune and return to his home in the Pyrenees. After suddenly discovering himself in Nevada with six children and a loving wife he now finds himself inseparably tied to his new country and loving it. 'Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you.' Satchel Paige We headed North through Carson City till we caught I-80 heading ... read more

A couple of hours North out of San Francisco, we stopped in a little town called Gerberville as we thought we were pretty close to the Redwood area and wanted to get some tourist info and local maps. Gerberville was a bit of a surprise. Along the way we had noticed a lot of dreadlock types and organic food places (bit of a difference from out around Nevada!), but Gerberville was a complete Nimbin! On getting out of the car we had to walk through a cloud of sweet smelling smoke while a group of stoned guys rambled on at each other sounding like a cheech and chong movie, and then we noticed hemp stores, the "smoking caterpillar store" and the large number of rasta images around. It was pretty funny to find this scene in ... read more

KLAMATH RIVER, CA REDWOOD NATIONAL PARK They are a wonder and it is great to see that they have not all been cut down. Although some have really been modified. How can a tree survive that much cutting out? We have been inside one huge Redwood that was burned out in 1914 and has a room with a natural chimmey going all the way out the top. Another one we drove thru and the tree is alive and seems to be doing fine. Miles and miles of beautiful Redwoods line Highway 101 as we drove North along the scenic Pacific Coast in Northern California. The landscape is rugged and mountainous and then you glide through a shady calm glen that is populated by hundreds of the huge giants. Jane put on the soundtrack from the Disney ... read more

Life is based on a series of relative occurrences. Let me give you an example. In the month of March in New England, people will wear shorts when the temperature hits a balmy 45 degrees. (Most) people in New England are not crazy. They realize that 45 degrees is not the appropriate time to wear shorts. But when you have just sat through an often dreary three months of below freezing temperatures, all it takes is a sunny 45 degree day for you to bust out those white thighs. Give those babies some sunlight! So when Lexi asked me in the middle of the Redwood Forest, "how much taller are these trees then the regular trees where we live?" The obvious answer was way freaking taller, but ultimately I settled on 4. These trees that we ... read more