Big-Ass Trees: Part 1

This was the first big redwood that I saw near a spot to pull off the road so I could take a picture. I was very excited. I had no idea how it would feel to actually hike among these huge guys, but I was about to find out. And thanks to the magic of a camera timer and a tripod, you'll actually get some sense of scale here (I'm 5' 2.5", for the record). If you've never been, go. If you've been, go back when there's not so many damn people around. Hiking weather was perfect for a few lightweight trail-running jackets, neck and ear coverage. Reminded me of hiking in the Smokey Mountains in late March.

Somewhere along US Hwy 199 in the National Redwood Forest

Because it's the off-season, I had to drive into Crescent City to obtain park information and hiking suggestions for this stretch of forest. And I'm glad I didn't just wing it, because the park ranger there directed me to "the most beautiful drive through a stand of old growth redwood in the country." Having since been through Avenue of the Giants, and more on that later, I agree. There is a third scenic/alternate drive between Crescent City and Avenue of the Giants, but I don't remember what it's called and I skipped it anyway. So, if you want to do this drive, it's Howland Hill Rd, which makes a nice loop with 199; coincidentally, the road that takes you from Howland Hill back to 199 when you take the forest road from south to north is exactly where I stopped to take this picture and climb around on some rocks just a a few hours earlier.

So, the drive. A country road, mostly dirt, but well maintained, 15 mph tops. If I could have taken my car's roof off, I would have. I was driving near 5 mph most of the time because I was gawking at the trees, pulling over to take pictures, and looking for the signs to Stout Grove, a section with a great easy loop hike of 0.5 mile with the option to add on another mile if you go out and back on a trail following the Smith River. I hiked the whole 1.5, and stopped to take lots of pictures. The majority will end up on flickr eventually, but here's a decent sampling. I guess I just don't have much more to say than there's nothing comparable to hiking through a sunlight-splattered forest, sound dampened by fallen pine needles, surrounded by big-ass trees.