Today was spent driving...from Trinidad, California all the way to Olympia, Washington. Thanks to some accidents which resulted in my arriving at Portland during the height of rush hour, it took me 11 hours. But I made it to a hotel to rest and continue tomorrow to Vancouver Island!
As promised, here are pictures.
First Set: The Lady Bird Grove in Redwood National Park, where the former First Lady dedicated the park in 1969.
This grove also showed a number of trees that had been scarred by fire. The redwoods are incredibly resilient to fire: their sap is far less incendiary than other evergreens, and even when the core burns and rots away, the outer shell of the trunk stays alive. Thing is, these wonderful little tree caves -- perfect shelters for wild animals -- become irresistible to young kids in a national park. You can see how well-worn the ground is on the last two... That made me sad. As I read in one flier about treating the big trees well, "tree giants don't like their toes trampled anymore than you do." This felt like...a violation. Just another way that humans can be so clueless. I love it that little kids can find delight in these natural wonders, but can't we teach them respect?
Second Set: Lost Man Creek, where I found a nice sunny log to sit on and eat my lunch.
Third Set: Big Tree grove back in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park
These include the Big Tree itself (including a shot of me taken by a friendly guide who was waiting for the rest of his group to catch up), the giant that smashed to ground (the family I mentioned yesterday is there for scale), and assorted other pics (including one of my ear -- sometimes the accidental photos are the best ones!).
Last Set: A few shots of the Humbolt lagoons, socked in with fog that had been there most all day.
And now, onto the next chapter in my adventure!