Hello all! Wow, I can’t believe that the month of May is coming to an end in just a few days. Time sure does fly when you’re having fun! I plan on moving north to Oregon next on June 1 and I’m super excited about that. But before I leave this area, I wanted to share some thoughts and photos from this past month.
I knew I was going to be seeing some amazing places in Northern California, but I didn’t know what Humboldt County had to offer since I’ve never actually spent any time there. Typically, I try not to do much research on specific destinations ahead of time to keep things fun and spontaneous. Last week when Mark and I were at Bowling Ball Beach in Point Arena, we talked to another photographer on the beach about our travels. We mentioned we’d be driving further up north and visiting the redwood forests and he suggested we check out Fern Canyon. His eyes lit up as he described a place so beautiful he could hardly believe it was real. So, of course I had to look it up. From the first photo I clicked on, I knew we had to go see it for ourselves.
It turned out to be very windy the day we decided to drive up to see it. We reached Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park and asked for information on the four mile hiking trail that led to the canyon. Unfortunately, due to the high wind advisory posted that day, we were told it was too dangerous to take the trail (didn’t want tree branches falling on our heads) but we could get there by automobile. Now, driving a gigantic truck that measures at least 24 feet in length and 8 feet wide (or something, I don’t know the exact numbers!), Mark was hesitant to take this route. Everyone we spoke to said the roads were rough, bumpy, and muddy with some blind curves – but we would be fine and we weren’t too big. So, we decided to go for it. The road wasn’t that bad and I only had to jump out of the truck once to direct traffic, ha. Anyway, we were glad we did it because once we got to the canyon, we were in awe.
Here are some photos taken from the short, easy walk through the canyon. This place is just beautiful. I felt like I was in another world. There were quite a few other people there, which was a bit distracting, but once we got past the main areas and further back into where the large fallen tree trunks sort of block the pathway, things quieted down and we were able to enjoy the surroundings. Honestly, pictures don’t do this place justice. Sometimes it’s hard to capture the feeling of a place. I’d really love to go back and do one of the longer trails before I leave this area. I’m thinking the James Irvine Trail would be nice!
