So, today started off well enough. Ethan keeps getting Eleanor up way earlier than she's used to, but she's doing alright without her usual beauty sleep. I made a good, protein heavy breakfast of eggs, bacon, and peanut butter toast. I knew we would need the energy later, but I had no idea how much. We hit the road around 10:30 or so with a picnic lunch. Highway 101 took us south along the coast and deeper into the redwoods. There were some pretty dramatic views of the rocky coast along the way. We had to drive about an hour, and it was pretty curvy. All I can say is, thank goodness for Dramamine! Ethan, as long as he has his Dramamine, does just fine, as does Eleanor. I had a headache by the time we stopped but felt ok once we were out hiking.
Our first destination was the Lady Bird Johnson Grove trail. A friend of ours had recommended the hike, and it was a good one. It is the section of the forest that Lady Bird Johnson had dedicated in 1969, assuring it would not be destroyed. The redwoods are MASSIVE. Just incredible. We have tons of pictures of the kids up against the trees, being dwarfed by the absolute giants. And the trees are often hollowed out but still growing, making for very fun "caves" for the kids to explore. They loved it!
After that hike, we went back towards a visitor's center to eat our picnic lunch. Along the way, we stopped on the road to take pictures and admire a herd of elk, just chilling off the side of the road. We had our picnic in front of a big meadow (also known for elk sightings though we didn't see any) and then did a short trail called the Revelation Trail. Again, enormous trees - crazy big!
Next, Will wanted to do what he called a "short" trail recommended by someone in the visitor's center. Eleanor had been complaining in the last hike, and I knew she had very little steam left, but she had a second wind because she had collected at least 7 walking sticks and was enjoying carrying them all around with her. A short ways into the walk, I found out the particular trail Will wanted to do was 2.4 miles long. It was already after 3, and we had an hour drive to get home. My foot was bothering me, and I expressed concern for a fairly long hike with the kids. Will thought we were more than halfway; I was quite sure we absolutely were not, but I didn't fight hard enough to turn around. At a certain point down the trail, we came to a fork in the road. It was not at all obvious which way to go. But we picked a way (we went left...big surprise), and we were wrong. Oh so wrong.
At this point, I was good and cranky and getting a bit nervous. We had no food or water with us (or toilet paper!), as we had just eaten and it was a mild day. But the more we walked, the more it became obvious to me that we were not going the right way. I honestly thought we would have to hike up to the highway and wait for Will to find our car and then come get us. Either that or we were going to hitchhike.
Finally, we ran into a couple who had more sense than us. They were able to point out on a map where we were, which was way north of where we were supposed to be. According to a recent sign they had passed, we were about 2.5 miles away from where we started. So...after getting at least halfway on our hike and then extending it another mile or so, we had to do another 2.5. Not cool. Will started giving Eleanor piggy back rides every so often, and I gave Ethan a couple as well. He was a pretty big champ, though. Both kids walked at least 5 miles today. Eleanor rode a bit on Will, but she walked most of it. Ethan didn't even complain, though he was disappointed when he realized how far we were from our car. We did see some cool things like snails and banana slugs, though, so I guess that was fun. When we were back in the car at last, I tried to look on the bright side, saying, "Well, there are a lot uglier places to get lost." Ethan, without skipping a beat, deadpanned, "Yes. I can't think of any right now, but I'm sure there must be." Pretty hilarious.
An hour later, we were back at the cabin, making burgers for the grill. The kids watched a bit of Shrek and then fell asleep within seconds of the lights being turned out. I guess we found one more advantage of being lost in the Redwoods: it tires your kids out!
Will has assured me we will not drive far or hike anything significant tomorrow. We will likely stay local and explore a river nearby or possibly the Pacific.
1 comment:
OMG....don't get lost in the Redwoods. That sounds like a terrible idea. Glad the kids could keep up. I hope your back isn't bothering you too much.
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