The Redwoods

"One of my most unforgettable memories of the past year is walking through 

the Redwoods last November -- seeing the lovely shafts of light filtering though the trees 

so far above, feeling the majesty and silence of that forest, and watching a salmon 

rise in one of those swift streams -- all our problems seemed to fall into 

perspective and I think every one of us walked out more serene and happier." 

Lady Bird Johnson

July 30, 1969

After our attempt at climbing Mount Shasta, we took a couple days to rest our sore legs and did some short hikes and a driving loop through the scenic Shasta-Trinity National Forest and out to the coast before heading back to Jacksonville and the hope for more paragliding. 

We stopped first at Castle Crags State Park which, in addition to hiking, has some great rock climbing. Sadly, the parking lot near the climbing, the high vista point and most of the hikes, is small and was completely packed on a Saturday. We ended up doing a short hike right near the park entrance but still very nice and we were the only ones on it. 

The next day we stopped at Redwood National Park and did the Lady Bird Johnson Grove hike through the old growth redwoods. Beautiful! It's only a mile and a half long but meandering and taking photos takes time! :-) 

Looking straight up at the redwoods.

A stream in Castle Crags State Park.

Castle Crags

View from our lunch stop at Shasta Lake, north of Redding, CA.

Moss in Redwood Park.

Look up . . . look waaaay up.

Funky branches and moss.

A bit of height perspective.

Just one of many lovely flowers.

Cross section of an old tree.

A piece of the sky.

The coast near Klamath, CA.

After getting back to Jacksonville, we made plans with a fellow paragliding pilot, Steven, to try Herd Peak again. Unfortunately, despite the forecast being favourable and not much wind on the ground, the winds at the launch site were quite high. Certainly more than we were comfortable with at our level of experience. Hopefully we'll get there again some day and maybe third time will be the charm.

The wind sock at the Herd Peak launch; Mount Shasta in the background.