We wanted our final stop to position us for a short drive to Half Moon Bay, our temporary “home” south of San Francisco, and keep us close to the Redwood National & State Parks. Luckily we found a great park in Trinidad, California called the Emerald Forest, a lovely and peaceful place in a large grove of sheltering redwood trees. Our site gave us a great space for another day of road school, and recess was playing “fort” atop a giant redwood tree stump nearby.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our first two days there were spent relaxing and preparing for the autumn leg of our journey. On day three we rallied and headed north to Redwood National Park, where we picnicked beneath a 200’ tall redwood. The tree bore an old diagonal chainsaw scar across its bottom – you can see part of it behind Mark in the second photo below.

 

We hiked the Lady Bird Johnson Grove trail, a 1.5 mile loop through an area that President Nixon dedicated to her in recognition of the work she and her husband did for the National Park system. The grove is 1200’ above sea level, and usually such high groves have shorter, less dense and more competitive vegetation (shrubs and smaller trees) . The first part of the hike had impressive trees and ferns, but nothing as epic as on some other hikes we’ve taken. Then the trail descended and the trees opened up to create a vast forest chamber filled with ancient giants. Sunlight poured through the upper canopy. We lingered and enjoyed the quiet for nearly 30 minutes before another group of hikers passed through (the boys also found time to goof around and take obnoxious selfies).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In search of more natural wonder we visited Fern Canyon. The dirt road leading in had several creek bed crossings – a thrill for the boys. The canyon trailhead is a quarter mile from the ocean and on the walk in we passed a small herd of elk grazing along the wetlands created by freshwater streams flowing into the Pacific. A rickety wooden footbridge took us into the canyon, where 50-foot sheer walls are blanketed with moss and fern and groundwater trickles out everywhere. Scenes from Jurassic Park 2 were filmed in this lush gorge, and it definitely felt prehistoric. Our walk zigzagged across the creek a dozen times, over and under enormous fallen trees and past delicate waterfalls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our final day in Trinidad was low-key. We had a late breakfast and headed south toward Avenue of the Giants, another area of enormous redwoods. The Avenue was farther south than expected, so we switched gears and took Timber to the beach for a little off-leash play time instead. We scored dinner reservations at a restaurant nice enough to change out of hiking books for (except Mark, who instead wore a button-up shirt) – a nice treat for a crew used to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

 

 

 

 

 

Although we woke to a very wet coach (the moisture in a redwood grove will permeate everything), once we left the cool coast the weather quickly turned hot and dry. Our drive through the Avenue of the Giants pulling the coach meant going slower and not being able to stop for hikes or photos, but it was still nice and at least put us in the shade of the redwoods. Later we passed through the Lodge Lightning Complex fire near Ukiah. It was hot and windy, ideal conditions for a fire but tough on firefighters, and thick smoke reddened the sky. In nearby Willits where they were staging the battle, we saw at least 40 fire trucks, a dozen helicopters, and many bulldozers, water trucks, RVs and tents.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not long after, the road and surrounds turned familiar and we knew we were home again when we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge.