Okay, readers. You know the drill by now. (Maybe?)
One photo a week with a challenge. The more effort put in, the more I learn and get out of doing this whole thing.
Well, guess what? I was traveling somewhere every single week in June. And I kept forgetting to go through my camera and actually pick the photos I thought I'd use when I had internet.
So eventually, I gave up, said screw it, and shot every single one of these with a cellphone.
I planned to get up early, catch the sunrise, and snap some pictures. (Oh, lord, what have I become!? Someone who does that!?)
I set an alarm for 6:30 AM. After lying in my sleeping bag, feeling the vibration of my phone and low volume beeping, I decided to stick with my plan and actually get out of bed.
One of the easiest ways that I've found to get myself out of a tent when I'd rather snooze is to open the deflate valve on the air mattress beneath me. When air rushes out, and soft comfort is replaced by cold, hard ground, it's easier to actually emerge into the light.
So, I did that. But an unpleasant surprise awaited me.
I walked to my car, electronic key in hand, and it did not open...
Given the amount of mileage I had hiked over the past two days, I was pretty beat.
My original plan was to spend the night just across the border into Oregon, but my original Airbnb booking cancelled on me. (No surprise given my track record with Airbnb.)
This meant that I was instead heading to a campground further north, and this decision also motivated my lack of a breather before starting out on one last Redwood Hike.
(Okay, okay, I did stop for a burger and peanut butter milkshake first, but that hardly restored my sappedstamina from the past two days.)
If some of these photos look a little blurry, it's because they are. But, they're also the best forest photos I've ever taken, so... (Dammit, camera shake!)
My location: Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, just east of Crescent City. And gosh, was it worth a visit!
It was home to some of the most idyllic sections of forest, where golden rays of light just hung in the air, between the big trees.
Despite taking in a lot of beauty, and taking my all-time favorite forest photos (so far) I also managed to miss the area's two star attractions: the boy scout tree itself, and the waterfall at the end of the trail.
The trail (not unlike myself) was worn, and I turned back early and skipped an all important unmarked side trail. (Alas!)
