Henry Cowell Redwood State Park

With the lovely weather, Sak and I ventured outdoors a bit recently.  Since we were going down to Mount Hermon (near Santa Cruz) to pick up my sister from summer camp, we stopped by Henry Cowell Redwoods state park.  It's in Felton, very close to both Mt. Hermon and the popular Roaring Camp train.

I was surprised that parking was $10 now! >.>"  But it had been a long time since I'd been to the park, and the state budget isn't so great, so it's understandable. 

The park is a simple loop trail, a little less than a mile long.  Wide dirt paths, so there were plenty of strollers and families around.  After checking out the small museum, we walked the trail, bathing in the warm weather and delicious redwood-scented air.

This tree is so burly!

And this tree was albino, getting it's nutrients from it's parent tree.

I love how the tree limbs on this tree grow straight up even though the branch is sideways.

Hello Sak!

The coolest part though is the Fremont tree.  It's a big tree with a hollow base.  You can go inside a small hole, and fit like, 15 people inside!  It was actually used as a honeymoon suite a long time ago.  It's that big! I tried to take a picture but since it's pitch dark inside it didn't come out so well.

I also learned about California bay leaves. I wonder if you can cook with these too?

After finishing our mini trek, we left to welcome my sister back from camp.  She caught (and released) this cute little guy along the way!