Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller
Date: July 6, 7, 8, 2022
From Oregon we entered coastal northwestern California. We were greeted immediately with gas prices of $6.65 per gallon and rest area unisex restrooms. We were relieved when we eventually left this liberal state. Redwoods NP is jointly managed as a National Park and a California State Park since the 133,000 acres is one contiguous redwood parkland. The park, established in 1968, is home to the world’s tallest trees and old-growth redwood forests. Many of the trees are over 300 feet tall and over 2,000 years old. If you travel inland more than 25 miles, the redwood trees thin out. This is because the trees get 40% of its water from the coastal fogs that roll in each night. The worlds tallest tree, a Redwood named “Hyperion”, is 379 feet tall and over 700 years old.
In addition to the redwood trees, the park protects prairies, oak woodlands, wild rivers and 40 miles of rugged coastline. We drove and hiked seven trails in the upper and lower parts of the park and along the coastline ever mindful that we were in tsunami and earthquake country. We visited a haunted lighthouse on the coast, eating lunch at a picnic table watching the tide rise which, if you hadn’t left the lighthouse on time, you would be stuck there until low tide came. One clear evening we bought dinner at the Good Harvest Café and had dinner on the beach, watching the Pacific Ocean waves come crashing in. I enjoyed fish tacos and clam chowder while Rosie enjoyed fish and chips. The other two evenings where we camped at the KOA campground amid giant trees, the eerie fog blocked out the night stars.
