Muir Woods

"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." - John Muir

I took a walk in the woods with my wonderful friend Laura about a week ago. Muir Woods is a national monument north of San Francisco. Neither of us had actually been in this park before so we took a little drive to enjoy the outdoors and look up into the tall redwoods grove.

A few photos I snapped...

Beautiful place to visit, and if you're staying in San Francisco this is well worth the trip over the Golden Gate to spend some time in the early afternoon. I imagine this would be an awesome place for pictures in the foggy morning hours.

Big Basin Redwoods State Park

Nothing is better for the soul than hiking through a forest with giant trees. Solitude, endless beauty, pine tree smell, birds chirping, shaded forest floor, and quiet. The sound of trickling water streams as you make your way down a twisting forest valley and wind rustling through the leaves above you. On Labor Day we decided to put on our hiking boots and spend part of the day in Big Basin Redwoods State Park. This was California's very first state park, and after hiking through its gorgeous forest, I can see why. 

Here are a few photos if you'd like to see...

Mission Peak photos

Mission Peak is a popular (too popular if you ask me) hike in Fremont. It is better for its workout aspect since it is steep, as opposed to its "nature" aspect. There are much prettier areas to hike in the Santa Cruz mountains, and people tend to crowd this one, mark graffiti on trees, and play music out loud on their phones. Even still, there are fantastic views from up top, and the rolling hills make for pretty scenery. You will also always see cows. This time we took the back route instead of hiking the face, and it offered more shade from trees, fewer people, and had a gentler slope. The sun started baking at 8 o'clock in the morning. I will still continue to do this hike purely for the butt-kicking, and sore legs the next day, since this is guaranteed to make me hurt more than the gym.

P.S. On our way back down a cow had given birth to a calf only moments before we walked by. It was all wobbly and wet, looking for its first drink of milk, and mama cow was licking her baby clean. I sure wish we could have seen it because that would have been awesome.