Redwood National Forest

     After Crater Lake, we set out for Northern California to the Redwood Forest.  The Redwood Forest has been on my bucket list since my dad told me about them when I was a kid, so you can imagine my excitement about visiting there on this trip.  Redwood seeds are about the size of a tomato, but the trees can grow to be taller than the Statue of Liberty and weigh 500 tons!  It is the tallest living thing on EARTH! These trees only grow in one area of the world: Southwest Oregon and Northwest California.  All of the land that they inhabit is protected because they are so rare.  
      Oddly, Redwood trees have no tap root.  When I learned this, I knew they must have some other adaptation that helps them survive, otherwise they would blow over with strong coastal winds.  I later found out that their roots go only 10-15 feet deep (though they can grow to 380 ft. tall) but the roots spread out 60 to 80 feet wide.  

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          While in California, we also hiked along the ocean at Patrick's Point.  In the bottom picture, we hiked up the cliff on the far left and then on the summit straight ahead.  Just a little rock climbing to get our blood flowing.  The view overlooking the Pacific was pretty stunning.  There is sort of this perpetual fog over the coast, which is really good for the redwood trees, as they soak up the moisture in their needles.  They get about 30% of the water they need from the foggy air.  The coast line is pretty rugged, but the cliffs are beautiful.  We looked for whales and seals, but didn't see any.  Maybe next time.  
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     My absolute favorite hike of the entire trip was Fern Canyon.  You can only get to the canyon by dirt road through the redwoods.  Literally you look out one window and you are staring at uprooted trees taller than your car, and out the other window all you see is a valley below and sunlight trickling in through the openings in the tree canopy above.  Even in the middle of the day, you need to use your headlights because the shadows are so intense.  This 8 mile drive on a dirt path through the wilderness is pretty amazing- though often we were unsure where the road would eventually lead us.  Horrific scenes flashed through my mind: "Teacher lost in the forest,"  "Two friends get car stuck in Redwood Forest," "Vacationers misread map and fall off cliff."  Alas, none of these headlines were printed in the local papers.  Finally, the shadows opened up and we were driving with the ocean/beach along our left side and a wall of tall trees on our right side.  We had to drive over/through some streams, which scared me... but Erin assured me that they were shallow enough to drive over.  Yikes!!  When we finally were able to get out to hike... we saw a wonderland of greenery.  

         A large creek runs through the middle of the canyon.  This water is runoff of melted snow and so it is ice cold, but crystal clear.  There are no fish swimming in this creek, because its depth and speed depend on snow and rain water.  ALTHOUGH, Erin did see a snake about 1 foot away from me while I was trying to cross the river.  Thankfully I kept my balance and was able to cross over without falling in.  The ferns in the canyon grow on the sides of everything, which gives every surface a textured look.  

         There are many redwoods that have fallen over time.  They lay undisturbed in the forest and provide homes to insects, moss, squirrels and birds.  Most of the time when they fall, their roots pull out of the ground because they are so shallow.  This leaves exposed roots up in the air, which are so cool to look at.  More than that, they are fun to climb on!  

             Take a look at this cool berry.  It looks like a raspberry, other than the color obviously.  I didn't eat it because I've read WAAAAYYY too many stories about characters who eat fruit in the woods that ends up being poisonous and then they turn into a wicked witch or a bald gnome or a TEACHER... so I didn't dare try.  I also saw hundreds of banana slugs.  If you spread out your hand into a giant 5, they are about the size from your thumb to your pinkie.   Even though I was hungry on our hike... I didn't eat one :)


But... I did make this on the campfire:














Veggie Pizza!

  And....Chocolate Chip Pancakes!

Trailhead: Crater Lake

Do you know what a bucket list is?  I feel very strongly about them, and I feel that everyone should have one.  A bucket list is a list of things you want to do during your life.  They can be big things or small things.  My bucket list is ever growing and ever changing as I cross things out and add new items to the list.  One of the things on my bucket list is to visit all 50 states.  I'm about 1/2 way there... and when I was making my summer plans, I wanted to be sure to visit some states I've never been to before.   That is why I started my summer travels in Oregon.

Take a look at the map to see my path!

I usually am a very light packer, but since I was going camping... I had to bring along a lot of random items (hot pads, tin foil, sleeping bag, pillow, etc.).  

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      Our first stop was Crater Lake, Oregon.  Crater Lake has a pretty cool history.  About 8,000 years ago, a huge volcano erupted and caused a mountain to collapse.  When the land collapsed, it made a big sunken land area called a caldera.  Thousands of years of rain and snow eventually filled up the the empty spots and made Crater Lake.  Actually, it is the deepest lake in the USA.  And, because it is fed only by rain and snow melt, it is also considered to be the world's cleanest body of water.  One of the spectacular things about Crater Lake is its color.  At almost any time of day, the lake is a beautiful, sapphire blue...which makes it photograph so well!  

       Interestingly enough, even though it is June, there is still a LOT of snow at Crater Lake.  The circumference of the lake is about 33 miles, though more than half is still snow covered, and thus you can't drive or hike (safely) around it.   C.L. is also one of the USA's snowiest places too with an average of 673 inches per year.  I can't even imagine that!   It was odd because the air temperature was 65 or 70, but there was still snow... and lots of it!  Notice my t shirt and flip flops... not your typical snow gear!

  

This is Erin- my BFF from San Diego.  She flew north from San Diego to Portland and I flew west from Milwaukee to Portland.  We met up at the airport to begin our adventure.  

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So, the lake was at the summit, but we camped down at the base of the mountains.  There was still snow there, but much less.  You can see snow to the left of our tent.  Also, even while camping... I still found time to READ!  That's me snuggling up with my book before bed.  What book are you reading?? :)  

 Food is very important to campers because it gives them the energy they need to hike, explore and set up camp.  I took a lot of food pictures, mostly because I was impressed with our creative meals.  Also, Erin is a vegetarian, which made our menu a bit more unique.  Night one in Crater Lake, we had grilled cheeses (see photo on left). Night two we had scrambled eggs and potatoes (right).  And of course... S'mores.  

 Now, while we didn't anticipate bears, we had to be cautious because we knew they were in the area.  Basically, we had to keep a very clean camp site, free from crumbs, food scraps or garbage.  Also, any time we weren't cooking, we had to keep our food safe in the trunk of the car where a bear couldn't smell it.  Thankfully we didn't have any run-ins... except for Yogi and Boo Boo.  

Though we were safe from bears, we were thick into deer and elk country.  This little guy was right next to our tent while we were making dinner.  He stopped to look back at me just long enough to snap his photo.   In addition to deer, we saw squirrels, lots of birds and wayyy too many mosquitos.