At the end of the third day out, one made longer by all of the stops along the Oregon coast, we arrived in Crescent City California about a half hour south of the Oregon border. This is where the Redwoods begin.
The next morning there was a big storm off the Pacific which made some amazing scenes near the Battery Point Lighthouse, the tide was in so we weren’t able to walk out to the lighthouse, but it was a great way to spend the morning waiting for the light in the Redwoods up the road.
Our first stop was about 15 minutes outside Crescent City in the Jedediah Smith State Park, the rain was steady, but the light was magical if a little on the dark side. To deal with the challenging light conditions we were shooting Ilford Delta 3200, and still we needed tripods.
After a morning out in the rain we had delicious cheeseburgers at the Historic Hiouchi Café which is an old time diner in the little town of Hiouchi on our way to Stout Grove for the afternoon.
The rain had let up by the time we reached Stout Grove, the clouds were still low but the sun tried to break through a few times. We had thought topping the Jedediah Smith National Forest, our first stop, was going to be impossible. The Stout Grove did not disappoint. It was dead quiet except for the squirrels and a few birds, the light was pretty amazing, so the 30 minute drive down a sketchy dirt road in Ansel, the 10 year old Honda Civic, was definitely worth it. So ended our first full day in the Redwoods.
The next morning we proceeded to begin the journey south towards Eureka and the Avenue of the Giants. Highway 101 is kind of a freeway south of Crescent City so we elected to take one of the scenic byways, the Newton B Drury Scenic Parkway, to tour the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. There’s not a ton of traffic and yes, there are big giant trees, right beside the road, lots of them. So amazing, the weather was still cloudy with rain, but that kind of suited the landscape we were traveling through.
We were nearing the halfway point of our time in the Redwoods, I’ve included a small collection of photographs shot on film from our first days in the Redwoods. There is a second post I’m working on that documents our time in the Ladybird Johnson Grove and the Avenue of the Giants.
Until then, enjoy these!
Dean.
