Capturing the majesty of the redwoods with a camera -- much like capturing the Grand Canyon with a camera -- is truly an impossible task. Yet, the photographer in me is driven to try, always.I never did find the little cabin in the redwoods this morning, although I found the road and followed the directions I never saw the place. It wasn't in the redwoods anyway, and I didn't feel too comfortable in the little community, so I didn't search too long.
Much like yesterday, this morning's trip was a symphony of nature at its finest. I was tooling along Hwy 199 peacefully en route to the cabin when I found myself at the edge of a deep gorge to the right and far into the distance, at the bottom of which roared an incredible green river whipped with the froth of whitewater. I could have killed for a photo of this, but there was no place -- absolutely no place -- to stop so I had to continue onward and let my heartbeat return to normal. A little further down a lovely old bridge lured me to the right, across the river and down to its side. Beautiful, but without the spectacle of drama of the entire gorge seen at once.
I was frustrated that I couldn't capture all that, but I did get right down to the water's edge and this photo at least shows the pure green color and the incredible clarity of the water. It is, of course, the Smith River, which happens to be the last major free-flowing river in California. If I'd had more time, I could have followed this road way back into the Jedediah Smith State Park and probably better views of the river, but alas -- I had an appointment to see the cabin so off I went. Another time.
A little further down the highway I found another gorge -- smaller and less spectacular, but filled with the green and white water nonetheless. Much like the redwoods, I found the camera and its operator not up to the task of capturing the fullness of this scenery. First of all, you'd need sound -- the rushing roar of all that water tumbling through the narrow sluice, churning and rumbling and echoing off the rocks. And then, a little motion might help. One of these days I'll figure out how to use the video feature on that little camera of mine.
After I gave up on finding the cabin, I drove back down 199 to the Jedediah Smith Redwood Park and stopped a couple of times because I just had to. First of all, I was driven to stop -- and secondly, there was no way I was going to get my body into redwood country without getting my feet on the ground and my hands on at least one redwood.
At my first stop I was greeted with masses of Trilliums, which are always a welcome sight. Such a simple flower, yet so beautiful in its simplicity.
Since there's no way to photograph an entire tree, I find myself drawn to the bark and breadth of beauties such as this -- which is actually rather small by redwood standards but still impressive.
As you can probably tell, the area was still shrouded in the morning fog that is the norm, and which is what helps these big boys grow and survive on this north coast of California. They love this weather.
I love these uprooted monsters, fallen in place, nurturing new generations, the shallow root network exposed to all the world and much taller than I am.
I didn't go in search of the really big trees, nor take any long trails. This was a simple 1-mile path right off the highway that satisfied the need for the time being. I touched a few, sat in the still quiet and just absorbed it all for a bit. Lovely. And a long way from Eugene so I had to hit the road north once more. The good news is that this state park is about a 25 minute drive from Brookings.
Aside from dropping off my rental application in Brookings, and stopping for gas in Coos Bay, this walk in the redwoods was the last time I was out of my car until I got home about an hour ago. Only took about 4.5 hours this time -- because I wasn't stopping every few moments to take a photo! I'm a little pooped again, but it was a lovely trip and a very worthwhile trip.
I don't think Georgia is on my mind any longer.
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