Our first stop was Jedediah Smith State Park, a really godawful campsite, but with an amazing stand of redwoods nearby. The Stout Grove is about 44 acres of some of the largest, oldest redwoods in the world.
Looking Up--Waaay Up
As I stood there with my hand on the bark of a tree that was probably 1500 years old and 20 feet in diameter, I thought to myself, "I wonder what they think of mankind as a species. Have they even noticed us? Or do they wish we'd just go away?" Regardless of the answer, I quit feeling like mankind might be the pinnacle of creation, the neatest trick evolution had produced so far. I was nothing underneath those trees--merely a gnat, a speck.
Maybe it's my Anglo-Norse nature-worshipping legacy catching up with me, but I think I could get behind a religion that adored trees like these. None of this Judeo-Christian stuff for me: give me Gaia.
Matt dragged me out of the grove by the hand and made sure I didn't trip over anything on the way out. Looking up at redwoods gives you a real neck ache, and if you're like me you eat a lot of mosquitos because your jaw has dropped and you can't seem to regain control.
Our campsite was just down the road at Del Norte State Park. This was probably the best campsite of our trip. Each tent site is surrounded by high foliage and trees. Best of all, the place is practically overrun with banana slugs. They look a lot like their namesake. They're bright yellow, tube-like, and don't move very fast--all qualities commonly associated with bananas. We had at least four at our campsite, two of which we named Flash and Squiggy. We tried to get them to race, but didn't have very good results. Banana slug racing is a lot like watching paint dry and I don't think it's going to catch on.
We took an after dinner walk on the loop trail surrounding the campground. We were looking for Bigfoot, who has been rumored to frequent the area, but we were the only hairy bipeds to be found. It was just us and the banana slugs out there.