Redwoods: Great Sages of the West, according to John

Oh wow, it's been a little while since the last post.  In that time we've encountered the some of the largest and oldest beings on the planet, worshipped with one of the oldest traditions of Christianity and cursed the name of San Francisco.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.  The Redwoods are the first place to start.  Our time with these ancient beings began along the coast near Crescent City.  Just south of the city is a small beach called Crecent Beach and there is a nearby trail that lead into a nice old growth area.  Because the trail is not dog friendly, this worked very well for us because while one of us took the trail, the other could beach-bum it with Seymour all day.  The first day was Amber's, and I'll let her tell you about that.  My first day was on the beach and it was the picture of relaxation.  I spent my time wandering the beach with Seymour, taking in beauty and basking in the sun.  Throw in a nice book and a shady van to escape the sun and I was happy as a clam.  I met Amber at the trailhead at around 6:30 and we had a nice dinner looking out across the ocean.  By the look in Amber's eye and the tired limbs she had, I knew I was in for a treat the next day.

(a smaller Redwood)

And a treat I got!  After a bit of an uphill climb along the coast, with it's wind shaped trees and vast community of spiders I made my way to a little bit of a wider path and all around me were giant trees.  It is hard to describe the effect seeing these trees has and pictures certainly don't do it justice.  Suffice it to say that when I entered this magical place, all I could think to do was sing every sacred song that I knew (and being that I was a Catholic seminarian, I know a few ;) ).  These great trees, who have lived longer than my human mind can really imagine give a sense of endurance and security in life unlike anything I've experienced.  They fill the heart with song and the still the wandering mind with their stability and incredible stillness.

The next day was spent relaxing and making our way down to our second trailhead.  We had meant to go to Gold Bluff Beach, because we had read that it was another haven for the puchums dog, but found that the road leading there was very steep and that the park charged an eight dollar entry fee.  We would have none of that so we settled on the nearby Elk Meadow.  And what a fortunate choice that was!  Unlike the Crescent Beach Trail, the Trillium Falls Trail heading out from Elk Meadow did not require an arduous hike through spiders and dense growth to get the wowing effect of the Redwoods.  The wow started right away.  As soon as you enter the trail you are faced with a gorgeous waterfall and many Redwoods.  The trail had recently been renovated by a local youth group, so it was very cleared of overgrowth and freshly paved with new dirt.  Along it were several benches dedicated to various contributors to the park overlooking stunning groves of Redwoods similarly dedicated.  Although the trail is only about 2 1/2 miles, one can easily spend several hours meandering through in amazement.  And that's just what I did.  I made sure to take full advantage of the benches so as to take in the beauty as fully as possible. Again, it is hard to describe, but if you take the time to still yourself, the trees can speak to your heart and open it in ways that were perhaps scary or inaccessible before.  Their patient endurance and persistent growth throughout the ages are truely inspiring.  I felt a joy on this trail unlike anything I had experience prior.  The next day was Amber's turn and as you will see in her account, the Redwoods are truely great.

Our next stop was Mount Tabor Monastery near Ukiah, CA.  This had been a place of retreat and much spiritual growth for my mother before she passed away in 2007.  Hidden away down a long dirt road, I found it to be just as I remembered.  We were greeted heartily by my mother's friends Dorris and Dave who live in a house just outside the monastery.  Dave immediately fed us a fresh salad and corn on the cob (yum!) and Brother Andrew (the smiliest man you'll every see) set us up with a couple of rooms in the retreat house.  The next day we attended Matins and Divine Liturgy early in the morning with the monks.  Although a long service, it was very refreshing to encounter the mysteries with the forms and symbols which had been so close to my mother's heart.  After a modest breakfast, Father Joseph, my mother's best friend in her last days took us around the monastery, catching us up on old times and gave me a copy of my the book my mother had written on death and dying he had editted and gotten published.  That evening we were treated by Dorris and Dave to a feast of barbequed chicken, salad, potato salad and french bread (a welcome change of pace from our trail mixes and ramen noodles!).  Being that everyone was so hospitible, we decided to stay another night and after attending Sunday Liturgy and eating so many berries we thought we'd explode we headed out on the road again.

(After driving in circles through confusing detours, the only place we seemed to find to see the bridge from was this cemetary. Given the negative experience we had, it seems appropriate.)

This is where things took wayward turn.  Amber will tell a fuller telling the nightmare that was San Francisco, but I will give some highlights.  For one, we had many difficulties with our map and the actual streets and rest areas which seemed nonsensical and sometimes nonexistent.  Add to that the psychological shock of suddenly being surrounded by thousands of busy people and busy noises after weeks of silent contemplation of nature and already I had a bad taste in my mouth.  But it did not stop there! Soon we had bits of Seymour poop all over the van, a rest stop that wouldn't work, and a seemingly endless drive down Hwy 130, a ridiculously winding road about as wide as my forearm  along steeply dropping hills I have dubbed "The Road of Butt Clenching Terror". 

Yet, we made it out alive and after getting some In and Out in our bellies, we finally made it to our rest stop and got to sleep surrounded by bunny rabbits. 

Today is a new day and we are making some final preparations for Yosemite.  We should be there by the end of the day if all goes well!

-John