Redwoods, ferns, and moochdocking

Since we had a half day to go do something before arriving at Aunt Claudia’s, Kerri set us out to hike another trail – the third in two days – at Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. I will admit that none were long or difficult, but I have been feeling a serious physical ability decline recently, so a few miles yesterday and a few more this day, well that’s a lot for me lately. Plus, this sea-level elevation is so hard. The air is so thick, and I must weigh more down here too! I tramped along nonetheless.

Before going out though, we had an eight-mile gravel road to navigate, complete with a cool stream crossing or two along the way. Half way out was access to the beach, so we stopped there to tire the dogs out a bit. It totally worked too. Another 4 miles of driving, we found a spot in the over crowded parking lot (one would think 8 miles of gravel and rivers would prevent a few people from coming out… but nooooo!) and set out on a few more miles of trail among the Redwoods.

At the end of our hike, right before getting back to the van, we dropping in to see the actual Fern Canyon, which is literally a half-mile long (give or take) canyon with thousands and thousands of ferns growing up the walls. The bottom of the canyon is a shallow river, with fallen trees and a few rocks large enough to stay dry making up the trail. It took all that we had to stay dry, and as it turns out we succeeded in that task in the end. It’s been real nice to hang out in the Redwoods area for these past few days. Enjoying the sea-breeze and dense jungle-like forests have been fantastic.

Unfortunately, the work week had arrived. Luckily we got to do a bit of moochdocking in Aunt Claudia’s driveway for that week. That included showers (we needed it badly), an actual flushing toilet (bonus!), and many family meals (no wonder I’m feeling old and fat).