There is something weird and fun about taking your children to places you remember visiting as a child with your parents or grandparents. Instead of flying to see grandparents this year, we opted to drive. What we lost in drive time we gained by stopping to see Redwoods National Park and drive from Portland–where we got to hug cousins and spend the day with family–to San Francisco on Hwy 101. Here’s some of the highlights:
I don’t remember ever taking the walk at the Trees of Mystery as a kid. Paul Bunyan and Babe are a must-see though. No trip to the Redwoods seems complete without it.
We didn’t bother with the walk this time either. Sweet Bean and Lil Moose said they wanted to see the forest, not the tourist attraction–I grinned pretty wide at that comment.
They did want to see the gift shop though 🙂 And a picture with Sasquatch seemed like a good idea.
Yup, we told them no trip to the Redwoods was complete without taking the car through a drive-through tree. The response we got was, “OK, that’s cool but can we go check out the real trees now.”
One of our first stops was the Big Tree itself.
Big Tree, located on the Newton Drury Scenic Parkway. It has a circumference of 68 feet and is estimated to be 1500 years old.
We intended to take a short loop hike through the Cathedral trees and then head into Eureka for dinner.
The root balls were almost as amazing as the trees themselves. It’s one thing to stand next to a tree and see that it’s tall and wide. It’s another thing to walk within its roots and realize the enormity and scope of something that big.
After the first few minutes I got excited and bounded off down the trail…
and we were having so much fun staring at, climbing in, and taking pictures of trees that we missed the turn for the loop trail.
Or, more precisely, Lil’ Moose said “Let’s go this way,” and we all decided to take the other path instead because it seemed prettier. Lil’ Moose was right…oops. So what was supposed to be a 1.5 mile loop hike turned into a 5 mile hike and a late dinner.
The next morning we headed off to the Avenue of the Giants.
Both Mr. A and I remember walking through the Founder’s Grove as kids.
So often when you revisit things as an adult they seem smaller or not as magical as they did then. That was not the case for this trip. It was just as amazing as I remember it being when I was young.
This burned-out tree was amazing. It is still alive and thriving in spite of the slim bits of trunk holding it up.
Root ball of the Dyerville Giant. Mr. A and I both remember this tree when it was alive and standing. It was 362 feet, and considered one of the tallest in the park. It fell during a storm in 1991, and the impact registered on a local seismograph. Not surprising given that its weight is estimated at 500 tons–that’s 1,000,000 pounds!
This picture doesn’t even begin to capture the size of this tree. Let’s find some scale here: The tree Lil’ Moose is standing on off to the side is about 5 feet tall. It was a massive redwood in it’s own right. The Dyerville Giant pounded it into the ground so hard that 15 feet away from Lil’ Moose, that huge tree is level with the earth.
It was an amazing walk.
Overall, it was a fantastic trip filled with good sights, good times with family, and not too many meltdowns.
Having lunch in Grant’s Pass.
Coastline in Eureka, CA.
Mr. A and I even got a few moments to ourselves to stare out at the ocean 🙂
So many times all four of us wish we could have adventures like this year-round. There are so many amazing places we would love to explore. Mr. A and I keep hoping we’ll win the lottery…
Duck Duck Moose 