Redwood National Park

On our way back home, we would be passing one last park: Redwood National Park. This park contains the tallest trees on the planet: coastal redwoods, which are of the same family as the giant sequoias. The largest specimen of them all stands in Tall Trees Grove, which was unfortunately closed without permit. Afraid that it would be difficult to obtain such a permit, we drove down to the visitor center, but it was no problem at all. And we were probably with the first ones to go ask for one – because there was no one down at the trail. The nice park ranger gave us lots of extra information and off we were to see the tallest tree in the world. 

The reason you need a permit is probably because it is quite a dangerous road and they want to keep track of who’s in there. A 6.5 mile unpaved road (happy Kevin) ended at the trailhead, which would be another 1.3 miles downhill to the actual stand. What an amazing place it was. Only seeing this part would have made our day. The trail goes down a mountain slope and winds along many enormous trees. There seemed to be no end of it. It was also a bit scary though, being there all alone in this enormous forest, knowing that bears and mountain lions live there, knowing that redwoods have shallow root systems and might just tip over … 

But it was totally worth it, and we got to see the three named The Tall Tree (very creative – rolling eyes). At a certain point, we heard a loud squeaking noise, like wood bending, and we got totally scared. Afraid that a tree of more than a ton would fall on our head, we rushed further and ended up in a fairytale place, with lots of oaks and birches totally covered in moss (the actual scene of Endor in Star Wars). Magic and again scary! 

The park ranger had also told us about a scenic through Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park (adjacent to the redwood park), called ‘Howland Hill Road’, which he thought to be the ‘most beautiful drive ever’. A bit skeptic we took the drive but boy was he right. This drive winds on a narrow, unpaved road through a gigantic stand of hundreds of redwood trees. Impossible to put in words how beyond our expectations this sight was. 

The visit to this park was a nice closure of our time here in the USA. But not quite yet. We still were missing one essential American experience: getting pulled over by the cops. Luckily for us, today was the day. Ann had broken the law! Apparently there is a (state) law that forces you to switch to the left lane when a law-enforcement vehicle is pulled over on the shoulder lane… But thanks to us being foreigners and Ann’s puppy eyes, we got off with a warning. Just the way it is supposed to go =) Experience complete!

For more photo's, check picasa