Wednesday:
I woke up kind of early and got some coffee and hit the road to California! I had no real plans, so I figured the earlier the start, the better. As I drove through the redwoods, I decided to head straight for a permit for the Tall Trees Grove from a specific visitor’s center in the southern end of the park. I showed up at about 9:15 and got a permit! The grove was kind of difficult to drive to, my poor car! But I made it and it was a lovely little 2 mile walk in. I had no clue what I was getting myself into, so I wandered very slowly. The hike was all downhill and was through the redwoods the entire way.
I made it to the base of the mountain and was SHOCKED by these huge trees at the bottom. The Tall Trees Grove is the tallest set of trees in the park and it was breathtaking. It was absolutely silent throughout the forest, maybe a few birds chirping but overall very quiet. There weren’t many people on the trail as it was a permitted trail, so it was extra quiet. I stood at bases of trees and stared up, which had a dizzying effect. The smell in the grove was wonderful, a deep foresty green that I had to keep taking deep breaths to get. I did have a couple take my picture, but it really doesn’t do anything justice. I couldn’t take a good photo of what I saw, which kind of made it a bit more magical.
After the hike, I headed south on the 101 to find a campsite. I stopped at a few campgrounds that just didn’t feel right, so I kept heading south. Eventually, I got on the Avenue of the Giants! This road takes you directly through the redwood forests and it is so incredible. I eventually made it to the Humboldt Redwoods State Park and found a great campsite within the redwoods at Burlington campground.
After unpacking, I hopped on my bike for a bikeride through the redwoods. It was such a different feeling to ride through these deep trees. You could really feel the forest, rather than inside your car. It could possibly be my favorite bikeride ever, we’ll see! Aftewards, I made a hot dinner at the campsite, read my book and went to bed.

Thursday:
I headed towards the Founders Grove for another hike in the redwoods that was recommended by a friend of mine from Asheville. He and his wife actually got engaged on this specific trail, so I figured it would be a good one. It meandered through a grove of redwoods that was saved for the founders of the national park, the conservationists who saved the redwoods. It was truly beautiful and very different from the Tall Trees Grove. There were a lot of fallen trees, which put them all into perspective for me. There were many moments of feeling extremely small and completely in awe of how these trees stand tall at all. Let alone for thousands of years.
I drove south on the 101 towards Mike Carroll’s house in Cloverdale. Mike is a friend of Jamie’s from the Appalachian Trail, so I’m going to stay with he and his partner Dani for the night. Supposedly there is a big bird migration coming through Cloverdale, so we’ll see what happens there. I’ll head even further south to San Francisico to pick up my mom and dad tomorrow morning!