Just about a mile east from Loeb State Park along the river road is the Redwood Nature Trail. This 12 mile hike, I mean 1.2 mile hike (it just felt 12 miles to me) takes you up 2,000 feet (make that 200 feet, just felt like 2,000 feet) into a forest of myrtle woods, ponderosa pines, ferns and other underbrush, and a small grove of Coastal Redwoods. Some say this is the northernmost grove of 
Redwoods in the United States…but there are reports of other small groves just a few miles north of here, but I can’t find out if they were spared from last year’s fire or not. The National Forest website says that the trail is “More Difficult”, but I am sure that is a mistake…it should be listed as Very Very Very Strenuous! The map to the right shows the route, which is easy to follow, just don’t go down the few less used paths, they will probably just lead you into poison oak. There is SUPPOSE to be a brochure telling you about what to look for at all the numbered locations…but alas, no brochures available, could not even find one on the Internet.
So I had hiked about 1/3 of the trail…stopping a few times to admire all the trees in the forest (huffing and puffing) and one time I even laid down to get this picture (took a quick nap and caught my breath)…then this lady comes jogging down the trail in front me headed the other way. As she passed, I asked if I was near the halfway point…she chuckles, looks back behind her (which is the direction I was headed) and says, “Well…getting close to halfway I guess.”, but I could tell she was just trying to be nice.
Every good hiker knows to take water along…I ain’t no good hiker. I was so thirsty after my first hour I wanted to jump into this stream, but figured I was so tired I might drown in the two to three inches of water passing by.
As I got closer to the end of the hike, I heard some talking behind me. After the humiliating conversations with the “jogger”, I wasn’t about to be humiliated again, so I tried to find me a hole to hide in…this burned out Redwood would do just fine, but they caught up to me before I could slither in on all fours, and I struck up a conversation with this younger couple. They live in Brookings, but the male had lived in St. Pete and in Clearwater, just down the road from where we live in Florida. I asked if this misery, I mean wonderful hike would ever end, and they assured me that it was all downhill, and that noise I heard was indeed cars passing along the road just down the ridge. Well, they were correct, and I made it back to the car, turned on the car’s AC and sat there a bit.
Looking back, it was a wonderful hike, yes, a bit tiring for this ole 300 pound boy (would have never made it a few years ago), and no…Marcia could not go because it is no where near being accessible. Picture to the left is a part of the trail…going down a rocky slope. At times I appreciated the tree roots in the trail as I climbed up and when climbing down…it made for sure footholds. I only saw the three people, I was gone for 2 hours (It is a long 2 minute drive to the trailhead), and, of course, I had to pick the hottest day of the year to do this hike (camp host told me it was upper 80’s in the park today, maybe even 90). As Redwoods go, I have seen bigger, seen better, but have never been along such an isolated trail, having the forest to myself…which was appreciated, that way I know people weren’t counting how many times I stopped, how many huffing and puffings it took to catch my breath, nor was anyone around to complain about the trail of sweat I left behind me. Was able to get a signal now and then to let Marcia know how I was doing, and called her up on my drive back and asked her put a beverage by the door so I could sit outside and cool off. After that, I headed to showers….what a wonderful Father’s Day it has been.
