Every year we spend a week, including Christmas, in California with Eric’s family and extended family. I had never been to California until last year and was so swept up in family stuff I really didn’t get the chance to explore. This year, I made it a point to get a least one hike in. Thank goodness for Alltrails, I don’t know what we did before it.
On Christmas Eve we headed out around 645am and headed to the trail head. It was really easy to find using the app’s directions on GPS.
The trail was muddy due to the rain the previous day, but wasn’t unbearable. The morning was misty and beautiful. It gave the forest an enchanting and mystical feel. The trail was stunning as well. It is heavily shaded for the most part with lots of redwoods and ferns. Overall very green. As a non Californian I was actually really surprised by the amount of green. I felt more like I was in the Pacific Northwest than Northern California. And it was certainty like nothing we have in Colorado.
This trail is the perfect mix of incline and flat. It never felt unbearable, but had enough incline to still keep things interesting and feel like you were getting a workout. There are probably really beautiful views at the top, but it was so misty that we couldn’t see much.
The trail is well marked, with lots of signs at every junction. Although I do recommend taking a picture of the map at the beginning if you’re unfamiliar with this trail system. We took the trail and connected to a fire road that we followed back to the trail head in a big loop. It ended up being about 5.5 miles. It was such a great to start to Christmas Eve and we all agreed we needed to make it a yearly tradition. Next year I’m definitely going to try and get a couple more hikes in; it’s such a beautiful area!
