Day Two in Redwood National Park -- Hikes and Rain

I've been calling the park "Redwood National Park", but it's officially known as the "Redwoods National and State Parks". There are actually several parks here, jointly managed by the National Park Service and California State Parks. I've mostly been in the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park area of the collection of parks, which is at the northern end. There are more park areas several miles to the south.

I hiked on three trails today: the Simpson-Reed Trail, the Peterson Memorial Trail, and the Boy Scout Tree trail. The first two are short, flat, and connected to each other. The third is longer and includes going up and down a long hill.

Howland Hill Road is a scenic road through the north end of the park. It connects Highway 101, the trailheads to the Stout Grove and Grove of Titans trails I hiked yesterday, the Boy Scout Tree trail I hiked today, and others. It is a beautiful road through the redwoods, with pull-outs to let cars pass from the other direction.

Much of the scenery I saw today was similar to what I saw yesterday. Tall redwoods, fallen and decaying trees, ferns, moss, broad-leaf maples, and small streams. For the most part, the redwoods didn't appear to be as old and massive as the ones in the old growth groves I hiked through yesterday, but they were still huge and majestic. 

The young, the old, the fallen and decaying trees, and vegetation in various stages of life, made me think of the cycle of life. Some of the redwoods are 2,000+ years old! We all go through stages, and none of us live forever. However, like the nurse logs on the forest floor, we can help the next generations get a good start. One could spend a lot of time contemplating that.

The ferns have their cycle of new and old, too.

The third Trail I hiked today, the Boy Scout Tree trail, has a lot of surface roots on the trail. In many places, the upper side of the trail is mostly roots, and the lower side bypasses the roots.

When I started the hike, the weather was just drizzly, but after about an hour, it started raining hard and the puddles got larger. I saw very few people after that. The trail is an out and back trail, and I didn’t see anyone on the way back.

After I crested a small rise on the trail and started walking down through the roots pictured below, one of my feet got caught on a root and I fell forward onto the ground! Fortunately nothing broke, there was no blood, and my clothes didn’t rip, so it was all good. I picked myself up, brushed off my hands, and continued. For the rest of the hike, though, I was much more careful with my footing around roots!

I never saw a "Boy Scout Tree" along the trail, and the trail ended at a waterfall named Fern Falls. I don’t think the waterfall, pictured below, is very impressive, but the hike to it was pretty. I could have done without the rain, but the moisture and rain are why all the redwoods and ferns are here, so I can't complain. I've actually had pretty good weather this trip.

After the hikes, I drove to the beach. It was still raining, so I didn't walk down to the beach. I just took a few photos from the parking lot. Interestingly, a Subaru Outback parked next to me was getting its battery jumped! It reminded me of the battery issue I had this Summer in Atlanta after I went a week without driving my car.

There are more hikes I would like to do tomorrow, but I'll see what is happening with the weather in the morning. Rain is predicted again for tomorrow. If it rains tomorrow night, the Halloween trick-or-treaters won't be very happy. 🎃

I had no issues sleeping last night, so I plan to spend the night in the Safeway parking lot again tonight. It's 7:30 pm now, and it's already been dark for a while. It's too early for bed. I don’t think there's much to do in Crescent City at night, but I'll see what is can find.