Continuing to Oregon

Redwood Trees

More on our short trip over Labor Day Weekend…

Part of the reason for driving up 101 was to spend a little time in the redwoods, my favorite trees. There is something extraordinary about the coastal redwoods. They are the tallest trees (but not the biggest), and they’re my favorite. Perhaps it goes back to our days as kids visiting grandparents in Boulder Creek and playing amongst the redwood trees. Perhaps it’s just because they seem so majestic to me. I don’t know what it is, but I’m always awed by them.

Along highway 101 in Northern California there are numerous redwood parks and groves that can be explored. I’ve only been to a very few, so we picked one new to us, Prairie Creek Redwood State Park. It’s just off the freeway, has a visitor center, and an easy-to-walk trail as well as longer trails. It’s perfect for a quick break from traveling. We used the restrooms, stopped in the visitor center briefly, and walked the trail. Bob rested on the many benches along the way while I spent time trying to photograph the giants. Because very little light filters down through the trees, it’s really difficult to get good photographs without a wide-angle lens and a tripod. I had the wide-angle but no tripod with me. I compensated by opening the aperture up wide (gives a shallower focus depth) and using a higher ISO, which adds (ugly) noise to the photo. Some of the pictures are OK at the size they are on this blog, but they aren’t good enough for enlargements. Still, they’re a reminder of a beautiful place we visited.

Elk at Prairie Creek Redwood State Park

At the same location, there’s a large field where elk are often found and as we were about to leave we noticed a few of them, including this large buck. He was making his presence known to all. They were stopping traffic.

Lagoon south of Crescent City, CA

Just south of Crescent City, California is a roadside stop with a picturesque lagoon. I’ve stopped here before and have a few favorite photos of it. The fog was playing with the treetops and the place felt very serene.

Coast Sunset

Further up the road, probably in Oregon, we made one more stop so I could take a few quick shots of the setting sun. The sunset wasn’t much but the rocky coast is always interesting. Thanks to my camera time, we got to Bandon about an hour after we’d planned. Luckily, our “motel” was still open and ready for us!  🙂

Oregon Coast at Sunset