With the Greyhound costing $120 to the closest town to Yosemite served by the company I did not only know where I was going to go next but how I was going to get there. I had considered renting a car and driving directly there, perhaps saving a little time and money but it was proving to be expensive. That was until I search on Budget and was amazed to discover that I could rent a car in Portland and drop it off in San Francisco a week later for $70! I calculated that even with gas (petrol for you folks back in the UK) this would be cheaper than taking public transport to Yosemite, to the park and then to San Francisco. Plus this would give me a week of freedom instead of sitting on a bus for nearly an entire day. When I went to collect the car the attendant was also surprised to see that I had managed to wangle a rate more than 10 times the normal cost – but the rate was legit and I was on my way.
I decided to start by heading south on Route 101 and drive on the road that I had wanted to drive ever since I heard about it’s existence. The road was one of the countries first highways and goes all the way from Los Angeles, CA to Olympia, WA passing hundreds of miles of jaw dropping costal views.
From Portland I took the 101 all the way to California and into the Redwood National Park – another place which has been high on my to-do list for quiet some time. After finding a motel in Cresecnt City I woke the next morning, grabbed some breakfast at a diner next to the harbour (which had a bunch of resident noisy seals lounging on the docks) and headed out to see some big trees.
And boy were they big! Hiking among these giants was humbling, their size giving me an insight into what the world would have been like without humans. Where left along, plants are allowed to reach their full potential. The photo of me above is in front of “Boy Scout Tree“.
morehawes
Yeah they really were impressive! I didn’t even see the biggest – the photos are unreal.
yay! I’m sooo glad you went! Cathedral grove will seems unimpressive after Redwood.