Redwoods National Park

From Crater Lake National Park, we drove about four hours south to Redwoods National and State Parks in northwestern California. 

Highway 101 runs through the park, so we stopped along the way to eat lunch at the Klamath River Overlook. The view was gorgeous, but my favorite thing about this place was the gray whales feeding just off the coast. Nothing like eating a picnic while watching a group of ~6 young gray whales feed with a few adult gray whales a little further out. This was a huge surprise and delight! And yes, for those of you wondering, I did put down my binoculars long enough to eat. 

When we reached Praire Creek State Park, there were some Roosevelt Elk resting in Elk Prairie. Apparently, Matt really wanted a picture of them so he hopped on top of the rental car, and Nick captured it in action.

Adam planned a great hike. The Miners' Ridge and James Irvin Trails (~12 miles) led us through old-growth redwood forest, past Fern Canyon and along Gold Bluffs beach.

The sheer size of the Redwoods was unbelievable. We found ourselves looking straight up most of the time to try and take it all in. More often than not, all we could see was the bottoms of the trees because they were so tall and impressive. You cannot help but feel small here.

Jeremiah 17:7-9

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,

whose trust is the Lord.

He is like a tree planted by water,

that sends out its roots by the stream,

and does not fear when heat comes,

for its leaves remain green, 

and is not anxious in the year of drought, 

for it does not cease to bear fruit.

Eventually the trail flattened out, and we reached the halfway point of the hike at Gold Bluffs Beach. 

Then we hiked up and over Miners' Ridge for the next six miles, admiring all of the trees along the way. 

For dinner, we parked the car and enjoyed another picnic along the Pacific coast. When we came to a stop, I immediately spotted ANOTHER gray whale just off-shore, this time much closer than the others were at lunch. It came up to breath every so often and made for an awesome view. 

Between the sun, sand, avocado veggie wraps/salads and company, it was a great way to end an already awesome day spent outside.

And after eating and packing up the groceries once again, we drove through the mountains towards Redding, CA, the gateway to the next national park.