gone for a few days...

Took a few days off recently to get out of the area and out of the heat for a while. So, my girlfriend Lori and I packed up the car and headed north to the lush and green forests of Oregon and Northern California. It was a much needed getaway that encompassed 1,700 miles in 6 days. First stop in Oregon was the Umpqua natural hot springs shown below. This travertine springs formed originally when trees in the area grew old, died, and upon falling over, created a hole in the ground that the springs would form in. A perfect area to soak... that is if you can stand 112 degree heat.

Of course the water flowing from the source pool above has to go somewhere and flows into other pools, some natural, and some formed with the help of human hands, before trickling all the way down to the rushing, frigid, Umpqua river below.Such a beautiful, relaxing, place it was, very hard to leave. Lori and I hiked in about 3.5 miles with our overnight backpacks, and after staying a night at a nearby free campsite, were back on the trail through the Oregon Cascades.

There's Lori cooling down in a portion of Cougar reservoir. While the water was a little cold for me, it was just perfect for her. She swam over to the waterfall and back and contemplated some cliff diving. We camped there for two nights, relaxed at the Cougar hot springs (photographed at the top of the page) where natural hot water flows from the little fern covered cave at the bottom right of the picture.
After a few days in Oregon, we cut over to the Oregon coastline, stopping here and there to take in the scenery.

By the time the sun began to set, we had re-entered California and began to think about where we might camp for the night. Pulling off of hwy 101 we drove through the old growth forests of the Humboldt Redwoods State Park (also on Gov. Arnold's list of park closures). We found many open campsites and in the morning began to explore the many thousands of acres of old growth redwood forests.
I love how the sun peeks through the canopy of the tall redwood forests. Since the sun is always moving, there is always different types of lighting that shine through onto the forest floors. The light in its varying intensities, can really set the mood of a photograph, however you have to be quite quick in composing and taking your photograph due to the fact that in a few moments, the sun would be shining on something else.
Below, frequenters to the park beat the heat in the Eel River, which runs right through the Humboldt-Redwoods State Park.

Well, it was an amazing trip full of sights to see. Can't wait 'til my next stint of time off coming here in a few weeks, I think I might head down south to the desert, see some of my family that lives down there, and share some of their 117 degree heat that I miss so much. It definitely is a different part of the state, but still just as beautiful and deserves just as much attention in conservation and preservation efforts that the old growth Humboldt-Redwoods forests receive.