Photo: Sun through the fog

With an East coaster and a Texan visiting me in Oregon, I couldn't help but take them to my favorite park on the West Coast: Redwoods National Park. The giant trees do their best to make you realize you've got nothing on what mother nature can create. Since we only had a short time to enjoy the Redwoods, I took my friends to the place where we could get the most bang for our buck. The best trail I've traveled is the steep Damnation Creek Trail just off Hwy 101. It's a beautiful yet strenuous 4 1/2 mile trail that eventually spits you out to the ocean shore. My friends were in awe (OK I was too) the whole time to be wandering through the ancient forest. After spending sometime striking various poses for pictures (Who can resist hugging a redwood?), playing on the awesome pebbled beach, and catching our breath we headed back up the precipitous trail. The overwhelmingly thick fog that had been upon us earlier was starting to break up and patches of sunlight began to filter through. We turned a corner on the trail and I stopped dead in my tracks staring up at the trees. The sun poured through the fog and foliage like spotlights on a stage. We took it all in for a few moments before pressing on. Before we knew it though we were back to the car, wishing the trail was just a little longer.