Waning Crescent Moon
Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park (not to be confused with Henry Coe State Park) is nestled along iconic Highway 9 near Felton, CA, seven miles inland from Santa Cruz. As its name suggests, the park's main feature is its gorgeous redwood forests, but there is also a campground, visitor center, nature store, and miles of hiking and riding trails next to and above the San Lorenzo River.
Just about everything along Highway 9 retains a little bit of flavor from the long-gone hippie era - it's kind of nostalgic now for anyone who spent time in the area 50 or more years ago. You can still find holdouts, wannabes, and grandchildren of hippies minding stores in Felton, Ben Lomond, and Boulder Creek if you hunt for them. Just look for establishments with the word Mystic on the street sign. In general, they sell plants, jewelry, and sandwiches.
Yesterday I cruised up Highway 1 through Santa Cruz, boomeranged around the crazy fishhook exit to River Street and snaked along 9 to the park for a loop hike through the forest. Conditions were warm and sunny with lots of folks buzzing around gaining energy from the big trees. The visitor center was closed but the nature store sold trail maps, one of which helped me figure out where I wanted to go. I eyeballed a route that would let me walk next to the river for a while, circle around to the centrally located observation deck, and wind my way back down to the river. Even though the map didn't include mileages for any of the trails, I judged the route to be about 7.5 miles by adding up the numbers on the trail signs and comparing that total to my map scale estimate. Worked out great! I had not visited this park since about 1975, so it was exciting to compare this trip with my fuzzy old memories. Walking through the trees will never get old.
There are many ways to do a loop hike through the park. I started at the visitor center and followed these paths: the River Trail past Cable Car Beach to the Eagle Creek Trail connector, up Pipeline Road for a snack at the Overlook Bench, continue on Pipeline Road, left on Powder Mill Fire Road, left on the Pine Trail to the very cool Observation Deck, continue down the Pine Trail to a left on the Eagle Creek Trail which loops around back down to a right on the River Trail to the visitor center.
I met a couple of friendly women on horseback, a few young couples, two families with kids from some European country I could not identify, and a gaggle of energetic college women who were happy to get a look at my map to decipher the way back from the Observation Deck. In between slices of my tangerine, I pointed out the route and suggested a pneumonic to help them remember. Unfazed by my absurd pneumonic, they bounded down the Pine Trail, happy to not be unfound in the wilderness, haha. I was equally happy to have performed a directional service other than making sure I myself had another pleasant day wandering around on planet Earth.
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| The ocean view was obscured by a marine layer when I was up there, but this northwest view from the Observation Deck was fine. |
The flow was predictably low, but I really liked winding my way along the River Trail in both directions. I have enjoyed hiking beside rivers and streams in so many locations for as long as I can remember. I hope I can keep doing that for eternity.
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