July 23 - Pacific Coast in Oregon and California; Redwood National Park; Tall Trees Grove

The pictures at the top are some of my favorite from the Oregon Coast and driving into the Northern California Coast.  I finished the Oregon Coast that morning, and got into California and into the Redwood Forest that afternoon.

How much can you actually say about the Redwood trees.  They are tall.  I mean REALLY tall.  There is no way a picture can capture the size of these trees ... but of course, I have included several pics here so that you can try to imagine.  There are also the obligatory pictures with other objects for the sake of perspective.  The Tall Trees Grove is a section of the park that you need to register to enter (it's padlocked shut and you need a combination from the ranger station to get in.)  It contains the world's tallest trees.  There is quite a hike to get in there (I'm huffing and puffing just thinking about it), but it's very much worth it.

Finally, on my way from the Redwood National Forest to the hotel that I chose to stay in that night, I stopped by a wayside and watched the sun set over the Pacific Ocean.  :-)

[Note - the film got off center in the camera, and although the prints from this roll have come out fine, the CD has some half pictures.]
 

	Me ... with my hair blowin' in the wind!  :-)
The pictures below are from the Redwood National Forest.  The hike to see the Tall Trees grove is down a steep path, and back up the same path.  The upward climb will probably take you more than twice as long as the downhill. The first few pictures are of the tall trees themselves.  The bottom few pictures are of other pretty things (in my humble opinion) from along the path.  :-)
	This picture is of THE Tall Tree.  That's my bookbag (full of cameras) with Charley on top of it.
The next two pictures are my poor attempts at self-portraits ... thanks to that automatic shutter button on my point-and-shoot camera.  Both times, I was trying to set the camera on my bookbag, and it slipped (obviously).
	The next few pictures are of different things that I saw along the path.  EVERYTHING is much bigger than the pictures make them look.
And, last but not least, I found a beautiful wayside at a few minutes before sunset, and joined a whole BUNCH of people sitting in their cars watching the sun set over the California beach.