The Avenue of the Giants
Day 8 – Corey’s Entry – April 20 – 6:19am - Humboldt Redwoods National Forest - Avenue of the Giants, California
Yesterday we woke up on the Sonoma Coast. The morning coast was quiet and smothered in fog. I saw ocean waves thumping against rocks. The salty sea air washing over the shore created a sense of peace and mystery. We sat on a driftwood couch staring out into the foggy Pacific Ocean when a group of Pelicans flew by. They moved together like a ribbon waving elegantly.
Last night was just what I needed. First, we had nice, hot showers. It has been four days since a shower. Then, we met our cool neighbors, Heath and Megan from Montana. Get this: Heath actually grew up on Signal Mountain, TN where I’m from. It's a small world in the Avenue of the Giants.
We stayed up late drinking, swapping stories, and just relaxing by a campfire. Emily and I needed that. We had a small tiff earlier about directions and we never get mad at each other. We were just hungry, tired, and grungy.
We drove though a giant Redwood tree yesterday! After paying $5 to enter the small park, we arrived upon a drive thru tree. I wasn’t sure our car would fit, but then I said, “I paid five dollars to drive through a tree, I’m gonna drive though a tree!” We did.
It’s our first full day in the Redwood Forest. Time to shoot.
DAY 8 – COREY’S ENTRY – APRIL 20 – 3:56pM - HUMBOLDT REDWOODS NATIONAL FOREST - AVENUE OF THE GIANTS, California
Here I really felt like a kid again. Early in the morning I went to shoot the sunrise. I held my tripod in my arms like a soldier holds a rifle. And then I grinned and started running. Jumping over fallen trees and hiding from imaginary enemies. Later in the afternoon, after playing in the woods, we hung our hammocks and relaxed under the canopy of redwoods. We laid back, kicked off our shoes and called it home.
Day 8 - Emily’s Entry – April 20 – 3:58pm – Humboldt Redwoods National Forest - Avenue of the Giants, california
Yosemite was absolutely stunning. I am definitely going back there in my life. The park is so well maintained and breathtaking. We had a bear near our campsite the first night we were there, but it wasn’t after anything of ours. Corey spotted two coyotes at different times. I believe he has a spirit animal connection to them and that’s why he’s so great at finding them in the wild.
After Yosemite, we headed to the Sonoma Coast to Wright’s Beach for the night. Sea salt and ocean spray covered the car and tent. We left the coast early to reach the Redwoods. We had a bit of a tiff in the car about how to read directions from a road map because we didn’t have service on our phones to pull up GPS. Neither one of us are very experienced with paper road maps. It’s 2015 for goodness sake!
We drove silently into the Avenue of the Giants The AOTG took our breath away. It’s a narrow road surrounded by enormous Redwood trees in Northern California. The Redwoods seem to go up for miles. Imagine Ewok Forest meets the place where unicorns live. You can hear the tall trees creak when they sway in the wind. It has a magical feeling.
We have never traveled this far north as a couple before. Tomorrow we head northwest for the Oregon coast.
Lastly, I want to talk about water. Living in Los Angeles, we know water has been a hot issue in California. We aren't given water unless we ask at restaurants and we're asked to conserve when we can. I don't think I realized what a serious national issue we had until we drove 9 days north through California. We drove past hundreds of miles of farmland displaying signs with slogans such as "Pray For Rain", "Solve the Water Crisis", & "Food Grows Where Water Flows". According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, California is America's number 1 agricultural producing state (reference http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/California/Publications/California_Ag_Statistics/CA_Ag_Overview.pdf). Cali is the number 1 producer in America of many daily fruits, vegetables, nuts, and dairy products. I'm not quite sure what to do, but I know it's an issue. We were personally blown away by what we saw. Pray for rain.
Mirror Lake in Yosemite National Park, CA. You can see here where the lake used to be.