Hiking in the redwoods

Joel and I have been talking about going on a long hike for a very long time. We even went out and bought a book (60 Hikes Within 60 Miles by: Jane Huber) that showed us all of the good hiking trails in the Bay Area. We have several pages bookmarked but we just haven't been in sync lately to make such a trip happen.

So, on this day we drove down to Portola Redwoods State Park to venture out on a 7.4 mile trail through the woods. The book said it was a moderate hike which should take about 3.5 hours. Not too bad, as long as we could find the trailhead. (We've tried this before with another hike and after driving south for 1.5 hours and then driving aimlessly in circles for another half hour, we turned around and went back home frustrated)

We found this one with relatively little trouble, parked the car, paid the $6 entrance fee and enthusiastically began our hike. We brought the book along with us so we could follow the directions and map that the book has so we wouldn't get lost. However, we learned VERY quickly that the book was a little outdated.

Right after leaving the ranger's station we were supposed to come to a bridge that led us over a river. We found the river, but there was no bridge.

So, of course Joel being the former Marine, he finds a path of small, wobbly rocks and makes his way across the river with no problems leaving me on the other side. And me, being the chicken, I made him cross back over and help me across. This would NOT have been a good day if I fell in the river.

Anyway, after risking our lives by crossing the raging river rapids, we headed into the woods towards "Tiptoe Falls." The pathway was easy to follow and although it got steep in some areas, the hike was definitely moderate. And it was a plus that the sun wasn't beating down on us. "Tiptoe Falls" was very small and was located at a dead end, so when we reached it we had to fall back and retrace our steps back to the river (but thankfully, we didn't have to cross it again).

The redwoods were huge and impressive to see up close. We took a few photos to try to show how big they were but I'm not sure if you can really tell by looking at the photos.

Another neat thing we saw during the hike was this cool slug. I had no idea what it was but Joel said it's a banana slug. The thing was huge and slimy and gross. They were all over the trail.

This was a nice hike and we were out there longer than 3.5 hours. Maybe because we stopped and ate a snack? Also, we decided it would have been a good idea to go into the woods prepared with some items that luckily we didn't need on this trip, like a first aid kit, a knife, and a flashlight for starters.