Northern California (June 2024)

[wsp_scott]

Not sure how it happened, but I decided that we should do a family trip to see the redwoods in northern CA, so that is what we did.

We flew into SFO and then spent 4 nights in the Mendocino area, 3 nights in Redway, and then 4 nights in Trinidad, and then two nights in Red Bluff to see a tiny bit of Lassen NP. This allowed us to see pieces of
Hendy Woods State Park & Montgomery Woods State Nature Preserve
Caspar Headlands State Nature Preserve
Glass Beach outside of Fort Bragg
MacKerricher State Park
JugHandle State Preserve
Mendocino Headlands State Park
Point Cabrillo Lighthouse
Humboldt Redwoods State Park
Redwoods NP
Prairie Creek State Park
Sue-Meg State Park
Lassen NP


Here are some of the highlights

Giant trees

Banana Slug

Glass Beach

Sea Urchin

Hermit Crab

Looks uncomfortable

Point Cabrillo Lighthouse

Weird sign

Fern Canyon (interesting but overrated given the crowds)

Trinidad Beach was a short walk from our Airbnb

Early morning low tide in Trinidad harbor with my youngest

Sea Urchin out of the water

Patterns in the sand

Sue-Meg SP

Beach down the road from Trinidad

Trinidad beach

Lassen

And then my oldest and I dropped everyone off and SFO and went south to Sequoia NP for a short backpacking trip

lots more photos here (no ads) - https://backpackandbeer.blogspot.com/2025/06/california-2024.html

 

[Kmatjhwy]

Now I was up in the Redwoods last fall as I biked down the coast. Camped at Jedediah Smith Redwoods, Prairie Creek, Sue-Meg SP, and other places. Loved It! At Jedediah Smith SP, the hiker biker sites were in a stand of some immense Redwoods ... Fabulous! Loved your photos! Best to You!

 

[Titans]

Lovely classic combo of giant Redwoods and the ocean! Great photos. What did your kids enjoy the most?

 

[anti.tech.enthusiast]

Really nice photos. What camera?

 

[wsp_scott]

Now I was up in the Redwoods last fall as I biked down the coast. Camped at Jedediah Smith Redwoods, Prairie Creek, Sue-Meg SP, and other places. Loved It! At Jedediah Smith SP, the hiker biker sites were in a stand of some immense Redwoods ... Fabulous! Loved your photos! Best to You!

I would love to spend a lot of time on a bike in that area, some of the hills might kill me, but it would be worth it. I definitely would like to get all the way to the Oregon border.

Lovely classic combo of giant Redwoods and the ocean! Great photos. What did your kids enjoy the most?

They all liked the coast a lot, hard to argue with digging holes on the beach for my son and my youngest really liked the tide pools. With that said, they all liked the red woods, but not as many as I dragged them to see

Really nice photos. What camera?

Sony A7CR and a Tamron 28-200 lens and then Capture One to edit

 

[scatman]

That slug shot is almost as good as the bison shot you took in Hayden Valley a few years ago. Almost!

 

[wsp_scott]

That slug shot is almost as good as the bison shot you took in Hayden Valley a few years ago. Almost!

My youngest found that for me by accident. She was climbing up on to a downed tree and put her hand on it. Totally freaked her out, but she found my first banana slug. She still hates them.