Prairie Creek Redwoods, Day 2

Today we woke up early and had a good breakfast.  Once I started calculating the mileage on our hike, I realized it was going to be more like an 11-mile hike.  The kids were less than enthusiastic about that.

We packed up our Camelbaks so we would have water, snacks, and lunch with us on the trail.  We left at about 9:40 am, and we were hoping to be back to camp by 4 pm.

We took the James Irvine trail out.  It was absolutely amazing.  Scenes from Return of the Jedi were filmed here, and you can tell.  It looks exactly like the forest moon of Endor.

It was so green!  The redwoods are just as impressive as the sequoias.  We were in awe of the beauty around us.  Most of the time, the kids were quiet and contemplative.

Quiet is not usually a word we use to describe hiking with Tate, so it was an odd experience--very relaxing.  The scenery kept us distracted, and we hardly felt the mileage.

We passed cool bridges and giant redwoods.  There was so much to see, we didn't take many breaks.  At the end of the James Irvine trail, we came to the trailhead for Fern Canyon.  Fern Canyon is breathtaking.

The walls of the canyon are completely lined with ferns.  It is so green.  I know I keep saying that, but these Arizona kids just cannot get used to all this plant life!

We meandered through the canyon before we took the Coastal Trail to Gold Bluffs Beach.

Gold Bluffs Beach was the perfect spot to eat lunch and watch the pelicans.  The weather was perfect, the food was good, and these girls couldn't have been happier...

Then we put our shoes back on, packed up, and headed back to camp.  We walked down a short dirt road before we came to the Miner's Ridge Trail.

The kids thought this evacuation sign was funny.  We noticed how different the scenery was here on the Miner's Ridge trail at first.  There weren't many redwoods.  Eventually, though, our trail wound down through old growth forest.  I think parts of this trail were even more spectacular than James Irvine.

By this point, we were really starting to feel fatigued.  The last few miles really hurt.  Our feet were sore, and we were just really exhausted.

I think the only reason why the kids didn't mutiny was that they were awestruck by the surroundings.  By the time we finished our hike, though, the GPS told us that we had gone 14.2 miles that day, and we made it back to camp by 4:30 pm!  Whew!  These kids were beat!

We were able to herd them to the showers and get them some dinner.  At 6:30 pm, they were begging for bed.  Justin told them they couldn't go to bed until 9 pm.  So they curled up in blankets around the fire and played their instruments for a few hours.

I'm happy to report that they made a few more hours before crashing out.  They were all in bed with the lights out by 8:30 pm, though.  What an awesome day!  Tomorrow is one of our longest drives, so we'll check in when we get to Big Sur.  Goodnight!