Big Basin Redwoods

From Big Basin Redwoods 2007

For our fifth backpacking trip last summer, Michael and I hiked the Skyline to the Sea trail from Big Basin Redwoods State Park to Waddell Beach, on the weekend of September 14-16, 2007. We drove down Friday afternoon and arrived at the park just after dark. Finding our reserved camp site and getting set up was a little challenging in the dark. In the morning, I had to wonder, "is this really a camp site?" :)

On Saturday morning, we hiked through the tall redwoods and stopped to admire the Berry Creek Falls (photo above). We continued on to our reserved camp site at the Twin Redwoods site, about 2.2 miles from the beach and 11 miles from the Big Basin headquarters. After setting up our camp site, we hiked down to the beach and hung out there for a while in the afternoon, soaking our feet and watching about three dozen people para-surfing with bright, colorful sails. Unfortunately, I neglected to bring the camera to the beach.

On Sunday morning, we hiked back to our car by another route, going up an equestrian trail where mountain bikes were not allowed, and horses were recommended. I concur with the recommendation. Hiking up the trail with backpacks was strenuous. In all, I think we logged about 25 miles on this trip, most of it with packs on.

The terrain changed a lot from the redwood forest to the ocean, and it was really quite beautiful. I particularly like the tall trees!