Muir Woods National Monument, Mill Valley, CA

When in Rome, right? I actually hadn't been to this national monument yet, and was very stoked to go. It's pretty simple if you can have someone shuttle you to the entrance (Thanks, Aunt Sherry). The walking is mild to medium difficulty. If you stay on the boardwalk, it's very easy. If you choose to try some of the trails, a good gym shoe or hiking shoe/boot wouldn't be a bad idea.

We were able to walk the full boardwalk and some of the Hillside Trail in about 1.5 hours. I think seeing both sides of the forest, from the valley floor and from some heights on the trail, is a great way to take it all in.

Part of the trail is called a "cathedral" and they ask patrons to be a bit more quiet here, take in the natural surroundings with your ears, and let the animals do what they do. The forest has ears, Man!

If you are in the area, and either make reservations or like to just wing it, give this place a shot.

Butano State Park, Pescadero, CA

[this location is actually up the road from Pescadero, but well worth seeking out some other spots along Highway 1]

Any ole Sunday is a good day for a new hike, right? I think that's true. This trip was to a smaller state park about 1.5 hours from my home, to a place that had designated trails and redwoods. We picked out some smaller loops and strung together what should have been about a 4-5 mile hike. Also note, much of the terrain by the coast here is up and down. There's not a ton of flat walking or topography to be had.

[I'm sure this idiot fell]

Love the ferns.

Only a small trickle of water through this stream, but nice to see none-the-less.

Those are horizontal spiderwebs all over this redwood. I'd never seen anything like it. No rhyme or reason to it that I'm aware of.

There are many felled redwoods along the trails as well. Some quite large, maybe 5-9' across at the root ball. Don't know why these are falling either, but we did come up with some hypotheses.

By far, this is THE largest slug I've seen to date. It's actually known as the Banana Slug, obviously!, and is easily 5-7" long as it slugs along the ground (that's my medium-sized hand above it for some context). I really had a hard time believing how big this was. I mean, it's the slug that eats like a meal, for sure.

All kinds of lichen and/or moss on many of the trees. I'm pretty sure every redwood area is inland from the ocean by one hill or mountain range. The weather then gets pretty cool and damp over the hill each day, and helps the redwoods take hold over centuries. I could easily be wrong, but I look forward to finding out on my on. Perhaps the California Academy of Sciences is next on the list? (https://www.calacademy.org/exhibits/giants-of-land-and-sea).

One note, we were not able to walk our planned route. Though I think my spidey-sense and general sense of direction is good, we did not follow the route we planned. I think this park could have better signs on their trails, but they may not have the funds to do so. We made it work regardless, but it's always nice to complete what you've planned.

Notes on Pescadero:
I'm pretty sure "pescadero" means "fisherman" in Spanish... which makes a lot of sense b/c this small, one stop sign town, is located about a mile or so from the Pacific ocean. It allows easy access to Butano and is also a cute little town in it's own right. We started with lunch here, but also found they offer coffee, shopping, and a local pub/bar too.

We visited Arcangeli Market for an excellent sandwich and then headed into the woods. The market takes debit/credit cards, has a real bakery offering, and was as busy as heck, for a small town Sunday. I grabbed their Chicken Club on foccochia, it was tasty.