Day Sixteen - Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park and the Pacific Ocean

We started off our second full day in Santa Cruz with a hike through Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, where we visited thousand-year-old sequoia kin: the Coast Redwood...

...hid out in the Fremont Tree - a partially hollow, yet very much alive, tree where explorer John Fremont and his crew supposedly camped out while traveling through these parts in the 1840s...

... and saved Evelyn from the vicious Redwood tree crab

We stopped at all 15(?) placards, where we read about the history of the park, attributes of redwoods (including the small, yet rare albino redwood), and the wildlife we should expect to find in this park (although we never caught a glimpse of the famous banana slugs). For me, most memorable was my introduction to and then experiential understanding of what are called Fairy Rings or Redwood Family Circles. This incredible phenomena occurs due to one of the ways Coast Redwoods propagate. Over time, small redwood saplings will sprout out of the roots surrounding the trunk of a mature redwood. Eventually, the original redwood will fall, leaving a perfect circle of tall redwood standing in its place with a vacancy where the 'mother' tree toppled. The remaining trees seem to be gathering together, quietly discussing some far-out topic and enjoying each other's presence. It is a strange and beautiful sight to experience.

After Henry Cowell State Park, we tramped around, visiting some local sites, eating some delicious food, then found ourselves standing on the breezy shores of the Pacific Ocean.

Kelp forests dotting the waterscape, we watched pelicans skim the water, then loop around to their staging area on a corner of this rock:

Sea lions occupied sunniest regions of the rock, basking in the unfettered sun and cool winds. We ventured out to a small peninsula for a family photo...

...then gathered my favorite ladies together for a timely picture - timely because within a few minutes, Evelyn was downed by the errant path of a small terrier (who immediately recognized his misstep and huddled at Evelyn's feet while she cried and brushed herself off):

On our way home, we headed to the grocery store to stock up for the final, cherry on top of our trip: Yosemite!