Coastal Excursion 2

Twenty or so miles north of Fort Bragg is an area known as The Lost Coast. It is too rugged for normal travel, so Highway 1 turns east and reconnects with 101. The beach was no longer visible, but now I was among the redwoods. Driving through one redwood park after another, I stayed focused and kept driving until I reached the start of The Avenue of the Giants, a scenic byway that parallels 101.

This was the view through my moon roof.

The redwood trees were magnificent.
I was very glad to have that new wide angle lens.

After a few wrong turns and missed exits, it had taken me much longer to drive to the park than I had anticipated. By the time I found the area I wanted to photograph, the sky had cleared and the sun was shinning brightly. With shadows and sun, the range of light was just too great. I gave up on photography for the day, sat down on an ancient log, and ate my lunch. I listened to the silence, felt the warmth of the sun, and just savored my surroundings. I knew I would be visiting other redwood parks, so I wasn't too concerned about the lack of photos. I sent out an intent for future fog and/or overcast skies.

Next stop was Eureka and the
Humboldt Bay Wildlife Refuge.

After spending the morning along the shores of the slough, I explored Eureka. It has a 52 acre redwood grove right in the middle of town. This is not an "Old Growth" forest. The trees here are only a century old. The sky was overcast all day which gave me a chance to wander around the grove and photograph at my leisure. These were insurance shots. I was after much bigger, older trees.

I stayed two nights in Eureka, so I had time to
visit the marina on Woodly Island