Stubborn Like a Redwood

I am obsessed by two things in nature, tall coastal Redwoods and feisty yet calm Pacific Ocean. Even my landing page has the phrase which I coined while talking with someone special in my life . So this first blog entry is a tribute to Towering Redwood. Standing the tests of time and reminding us what it means to endure and stay strong through rain and shine. This week , I took a much needed break from the rat race at work to recuperate and energize myself. My initial plan of traveling to Vancouver didn't pan out, so I stayed local instead. Thought of using this week to do local hikes and spend time with nature. Scouted AllTrails to find moderate hikes around here that had ample amount of shade.

For anyone that knows me well, knows how much I hate the heat . Ended up doing two hikes in last couple of days and thought of jotting down my experience

Day 1 - 7.5 miles , Elevation Gain : 1414 ft

Loved the silence of the redwoods, the trail had one or two hikers that I passed eńroute. Most of the hike was easy with some portions having a steep climb. It was a perfect day to hike, misty at the top with moss all around. The Redwoods shrouded in a mystery that they cannot share yet welcoming everyone to come.

Moss hugging trees to protect the secret, mist turning into raindrops and making you feel you are in a dream.

Thoughts were racing through my mind, some existential, some more practical. It's when you are in the court of these majestic redwoods, one tends to feel so tiny and non existent. Redwoods have this effect on me. They have stood through so much, yet stand tall through it all. Fire cannot burn them, wind cannot down them (sometimes old one might fall but then it was their time) and rain cannot damage them.

I love the mist and redwoods is because it makes me think. I have always been a thinker but deep in the woods is when I think philosophically, get a sense of belonging and peace. Its this mystery that connects me to the world yet takes me far away from it. Its mystical and ethereal on how these trees shrouded in mystery are welcoming to their world

Day 2 - 7.0 miles , Elevation Gain : 1230 ft

Redwoods are great but you know an icing on the cake; a creek beside the trail following you around as you go deep. The soft burbles of the creek as it ripples and drips through the floor of the forest is calming in its own way.

There was no one in the trail for the most part.

Passed by a group of mountain bikers and one off hikers but most of the 7 miles was me, my music and my thoughts

The first half of the hike is a gradual climb with some portions being steep. Nature combines these steep portions so that one can pause and think.

Think how they have climbed this hurdle in the hike and look forward to more such hurdles and wins. Any steep climb in a hike grounds me to the ups and downs of life. How hard it seems when it's a steep climb and how free you feel when you are going downhill after a steep climb. Life is also similar in many ways. Every steep climb we do, feels hard but if we can remember there is freedom ahead, it might take away the pain of the climb.

All in all, couple of good hikes, doing what I love doing; think and admire the redwoods.

Until next time, stay peaceful and admire nature