Redwoods National Park
After much planning aimed at hitting the rhododendron peak bloom, we headed out to Redwoods National Park in Northern California over the Memorial Day long weekend. Quick flight to SFO, and then a small propeller plane ride up to the Arcata airport in beautiful Humboldt County, CA. Always amazes me how easy it is to get places from Denver...in only 6 hours, we left the high, dry climate of Denver and found ourselves in a virtual rainforest full of trees, green, and ocean coastline. We spent the next 3 days camping at Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. It was great to camp, relax, and learn about a new park (we'd previously only camped at Jed Smith State Park)...we went down to Gold Bluffs Beach and Fern Canyon twice, and really enjoyed hanging out on a long, desserted beach with a few cold beers. On the last morning, the weather cooperated with some rain/fog so I decided to wake up early (5am) and head North towards Del Norte State Park which is higher up and often sits in the clouds. That's where most of the below photos were taken...for some reason, the rhodies are very late to bloom this year, so I was only able to find a handful of flowers...but still, I couldn't have asked for a better trip and as always, the Redwoods never disappoint. Only 3% of all old growth Redwoods still exist...and of that 3%, only 50% is protected...I saw Redwoods logged and hauled down the highway as I was taking pictures along the highway...not sure why we need to continue taking from this unique and amazing place...
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