Well, this day did not go as planned. And in turn, tomorrow is already off the rails.
Our plan was to get to the Redwoods National Park visitors center when they opened at 9 to get a backpacking permit for tomorrow night. We were among the first in line and excitedly asked for the permit. The ranger opened her binder of rules and told us to read them. In bright red, bold letters that seemed to jump off the page we were asked to understand that car break-ins are very frequent, the park is not responsible, and we are to not leave anything of value in our car at any point. Among that minor rule were more typical ones that we’re used to agreeing to, like keep your food in bear canisters and pack out your poop. Zak and I made eye contact and I tried to casually ask how frequent is frequent with that whole car break-in point. She just nodded her head and said something that didn’t make us feel a bit more comfortable. We finished the paperwork to get the permit and walked out.
As soon as we were out of the building, we all acknowledged how uncomfortable this made us feel. Everything we bring with is valuable. We don’t pack any extras and if just one bag got stolen we’d have to really rework things. And we all were feeling a bit of stress from when our car DID get broken into not all that terribly far from here and all our gear got stolen and we had to go home. I started googling and found out on Trip Advisor and other sites, that, yes, car break-ins and car thefts are not rare in Redwoods. This whole thing just didn’t sit well with us. It didn’t even take much of a discussion to agree that we could not leave our car unattended all night in a lot that has frequent break-ins while we were 8 to 10 miles away backpacking.
So we reworked some things and decided to do as much as we could today. Our first stop was a redwood grove and the parking lot reaffirmed our decision. There were signs that reminded everyone to lock their cars and not leave anything valuable. We had planned on doing a 1.5 mile loop and loaded up our day packs with our passports, just in case. The little hike was quite nice. The trees are in fact quite large and it was the first time I’ve seen ferns growing in the wild. I will admit that I like Sequoia trees much better, not that I’m into ranking plants.
Admittedly, we were all quite paranoid and felt satisfied with the amount of tall trees we saw, so decided to do the next best thing to hiking… brewery hopping. We hit three: Six Rivers, Humboldt Regeneration, and Humboldt Brews. All had good beer, good atmosphere, and we didn’t have to sign any waivers that said our car might get broken into or stolen.
We also stopped at the Safeway for more peanut butter, jelly, bread, and Cheetos and were shocked to find the world’s largest totem pole in their parking lot. See, that’s a little gem that we would not have found if our plans hadn’t diverted.
So that pretty much sums up our day. Not as exciting as other days, but at least you won’t be reading another devasting post like you did two years ago.
I am so glad you went with your gut. I remember the devastation you all went threw. Thanks for sharing what you did see. Keeping yourselves and your belongings safe. You had a beautiful day. I would definitely need more peanut butter too. Have a great day today. Marvelous travels.