Redwood National Park

Yesterday Barbara, Toby and I explored Redwood National Park.  We started out by heading south to the visitors center.  However, when we arrived the gate was closed.  So while we waited for the visitor’s center to open we took Toby down to the nearby coastal beach.  This was likely Toby’s first visit to the ocean.  Barbara walked Toby toward the beach but he stopped just short and wouldn’t go any further.  So I picked him up and took him out on the beach so that he could do some exploring.  He wanted nothing to do with that.  He took off and ran straight back to Barbara.  Wow!  We have never seen him run that fast, especially in sand.  We figure the size and sound of the surf was a little intimidating to him.

The visitor’s center never opened so we headed to another one.  This is such a large park that they have several visitor centers.  On the way there Barbara spotted some elk along the side of the road so I stopped and took some photos.  At the visitors center the nice gentleman gave us some suggestions of places to explore the trees, see the coast and maybe see more elk.  From the visitors center I took off on a hike to enjoy the nearby redwood trees.  These gentle giants really show us how really small we are.  They are amazing.  I find it interesting how the trees here can survive as densely packed as they are.  You won’t find too many stressed trees here.  This is due to the amount of annual precipitation this area receives.  This part of the state gets more precipitation than any other area in the state, including the Sierra’s. This is also the only area in the state where you won’t find rattlesnakes. They don’t like the moisture.      

After my hike, Barbara suggested another hike to a nearby waterfall.  Unfortunately, as most of you know, Barbara has bad knees so she can no longer go hiking but she doesn’t mind waiting for me while I hike and take photos.  She does enjoy my photos and the stories that I have to tell of my adventures when I return.  On our way to the waterfall we came across some more elk.  After taking a few photos of the elk we continued on to towards the waterfall, Trillium Falls.  This is a short but beautiful hike. 

In my photos, below, I included a few photos of the Oregon coast as we traveled from Newport to northern California.