Saturday, July 15, 2017

Day 7.

Waking up in this magical place was such a gift. The birds were chirping, owls calling, woodpecker echoing through the valley. Fog set in, it was cool and humid. Due to the nature of acoustics the trees blocked all noise, no others were heard even though spots were close. It was just us. After breakfast, we drove into town to find the best lunch, best hike, and National Park passports stamp. The best hike was at the Old growth forest Jedidiah Smith day use area along the Smith River, across a footbridge to Stout Grove. The fog broke, and gave us sunshine and 74 degrees. We amongst others could not find it at first, then at last ditch effort walked the shoreline a but further. This. Place. Is. It. An International park, people all over the world come here, and we made it. As you stand at the base of these ancient towers you feel small, and young. Over 300 feet and 2500 years old, harboring their own ecosystem, they have endured so much. This place does something good to your soul. We found the perfect lunch spot at Chart Room off the harbor with fresh clam chowder, grilled crab sandwich and local beer. After lunch, we promised the kids to beach time. The fog had not lifted at the beach and it was 60 degrees. The kids swear the water as warm as a heated pool and convinced us they were fine to body surf for two hours. We watched Piper birds swarm, fly, swoop, all synchronized in their motions, eating what the waves were bringing in. Chris stood in the waves watching the kids, as I lay on the beach taking it all in. The tide was coming in quickly, as high tide was marked for 430pm. The kids reluctantly came in and we made our way back to camp. We did not want to leave this place. This was where dreams are made, or dreams are fulfilled, depending on how you look at it. We got invited to another ranger talk in which the kids were persuaded to become Junior Rangers. They fulfilled their duties and were sworn in. We're such proud parents. :-) Ranger Brad was funny, and spoke about his journey in Finding His Park. He shared the pictures and details from hiking from the southern most part of The Redwoods Forest to the Northern tip. He backpacked 80 miles in 9 days. He saw Elk, Black Bear, River Otter, Rough Skinned Newt, Stellar's Jay and much more wildlife in the park. He was changed by this adventure and after swimming in the Smith River visiting from Michigan became a permanent move. I could see why. I vow to return. I would hope anyone reading this is inspired to go. We must preserve the parks for future generations to be connected with the land.

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