Tall Trees & Tall Masts

Crescent City lies close to the northern end of the Redwoods - the tallest trees on earth!  Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park is about  3 miles from the marina.  While Dan and I had already biked into the park a few days ago, I felt a strong desire to bike in further.  My sister Marji and her husband David had hiked the Stout Grove Trail and loved it, thus it was to be my ultimate destination.  My new friend Barbara mentioned her favorite hike was to the Fern Falls which is off of a Boy Scout trail.  I packed a peanut butter and jam sandwich and off I went, leaving Dan on the boat with his long list of "boat projects".

The paved road turned to dirt and while I was on it once, it was still majestic.  The sun was beginning
 to come out - a welcome sight for this fogged in coast.  The suspense was building to get to the really tall trees as I pedaled up a few long hills that got my cardio working hard.

I passed the trail head to Fern Falls and while I was tempted to stop there to explore, I decided it was best to bike all the way to Stout Grove, which was my original destination.  The hard-packed, well travelled road wandered through towering Redwood Trees.  Being a Saturday, the car traffic was a little heavier than I would've liked, but people drove slow and were respectful.  On my return trip, while going up a hill, a couple from Chicago even stopped and generously offered me a water and juice!  They were so amazed that I was biking this! Little did they know, it is actually how I love to explore new places - on a bike.

The following pictures were taken at Stout Grove while on about a half mile walk on nice walking paths.

The Redwood trees are massive and very, very tall!

Some were extremely wide.  This one could have been 15+ feet in diameter.  It reminded me of elephant legs.  It was very grounded!

The tree roots were massive and had a flowery appearance without any color.

The trail led to a river - The Smith River  - and I believe there was a campground on the other side.   It is said to be a very clean river.  This was a perfect picnic spot for my peanut butter & jam sandwich!

I started biking back and in about 2 miles, I hit the Boy Scout sign and entrance to Fern Falls, which of course I needed to explore.  The following are some photos along that trail.  I was in awe!  I was getting tired, so I did not hike the complete trail.  I guess that will be for another time.  Here are some photos from that trail

It was a magnificent day on the bike.  Later that evening, these were the view over the Crescent City Harbor.

The following morning, I had the task of cleaning and sanding the main sail track.  So while one day I had "Tall Trees," the next day, I was climbing our "Tall Mast".  Dan hoisted me up the mast in the bosun's chair.  I took sandpaper and a dremel tool with me.  The goal was to clean, smooth and lubricate the sail track.  I spend 4 hours working on the mast track, but I do believe it will allow the sail slides to run more freely now.

That's the end of this post!