redwoods national park — Nikon F: The Start

At this point in the trip, we were getting more than a little road weary. Getting into NorCal and off the coastal highway made things feel a little more relaxed, and we started planning a break day to sit around and do nothing. Today was not that day. The plan was to get from our hotel and at the very least get to Redwoods National Park. Of course, every road trip needs at least one stop for pictures at a tourist trap. I wasn’t watching for it, but I had to stop to see the Paul Bunyan and his friend, Babe, statues when we stumbled upon them. They are not significant in any real way, but one of my favorite YouTube photographers made this same stop and I literally only stopped so I could tag him on Instagram. I’m shameless and I don’t regret it. The parking lot at Trees of Mysteries was packed though, which makes me suspect it’s got at least a few things interesting enough to get people to stop and stay a while.

Redwoods NP was a nice stop, but not something I would have necessarily gone out of the way for. Of course, we had just spent a day recently in the other “big trees” park and I’m sure that played into it a lot. It was beautiful and the one hike we went on was relaxing and not very difficult. We went through Ladybird Johnson Grove. It was about 1.5 miles around the loop and the only accessibility issue I saw was the flight of stairs to get from the parking lot up to the bridge that leads to the trail. The density of the trees was incredible, but light has no trouble getting to the forest floor. Moss hangs from trees and little wildflowers grow on fallen branches everywhere. It was also peak season for the rhododendrons to be in bloom. The absolute coolest part of the hike is all the hollowed-out trunks of still live trees. Big enough for adults to walk into and cozy enough you could stay warm inside if you had to camp overnight and didn’t have anything to cover yourself. Our time in the park was shortened due to construction and the other hikes being a little further out than we wanted, but we made sure to spend plenty of time at Enderts Beach.

The beach is just a few miles from the main part of the park, and there is a 3-mile hike we had wanted to do but the trailheads are not clearly marked…so we ended up being at a parking lot right at the beach itself. When I think of a stereotypical California beach, this met every single bit of my list. The waves were coming in gently, the wind was persistent and cool, and the views were so incredible. It was a place full of activity and life, but I didn’t feel rushed or like I needed to do anything besides sit and let all of it wash over me. We collected rocks and driftwood for a couple of hours while watching families, dogs and even a horse just walking down the surf. Once we felt sufficiently replenished, it was time to hit the road again. This is also the time I remembered I needed to actually touch the Pacific Ocean.

The plan for the rest of the night was to check into our hotel and “tomorrow” we would go to Crater Lake. We were staying about 90 minutes away and it seemed like a good way to start the day. Once we got into town and checked in, we did a little more reading. Crater Lake has clouds covering the view approximately 50% of the year. The night we stopped it was clear and it was supposed to rain the next day, so we made the decision to be a little more tired at the end of the day and make sure we got to see it while we could. Late June is apparently still time for deep snowpack in the park. All but one spot on the south end was still closed. It was literally freezing there. I wore the one sweatshirt I brought with my rain jacket on top, a winter cap my wife insisted we would need at some point, and I was still cold. Getting to only see the views form one spot was a little disappointing, and I would really like to go back and take the hike down to the lake itself on the far side of the crater. Like all the other places closed while we were there, it all opened in full the week after we got home.

It was a nice relaxing drive back to town where I discovered my hands down favorite fast-food burger. I have heard for years In-N-Out Burger is better than anything we have in the Midwest. I got a Double Double (double burger, double cheese) “Animal Style”, which I think means everything plus grilled onions, and I can say in full honesty I have never had a better burger in a drive through. If you see a sign out west for one of these places, please take the time to try it.

The next day was our day of doing nothing around the hotel, recharging for the rest of the trip.

Travel Blog #8: Redwoods to Crater Lake