This year, much like every year, we avoided the black friday crowds – I just don’t get it – and joined REI by deciding to #optoutside. We took the opportunity to visit a park that we hadn’t been to before, Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park in Felton, CA.

It really isn’t far away, but we just hadn’t visited it before now, and it was a wonderful day out among the redwoods. (It also features a steam railway….. we are definitely going to try that out sometime!)

Route: Pipeline Road > right on River Trail > left on Eagle Creek Trail > left on Pine Trail > right on Graham Hill Trail > right on Pine Trail > straight on Pine Trail > Observation Deck > right on to Ridge Fire Road > right on Pipeline Road. You can find the trail map here.

We packed some Thanksgiving leftovers (nut roast pie), and stopped for half an hour for lunch on top of the observation deck. From this vantage point, you can see the sea over the tops of the trees, and on a clear day, like we had, all the way to Monterey and beyond to Big Sur:

The weather had cooled off, so was ideal hiking weather, even in the middle of the day, complete with clear blue skies as far as the eye could see.

Wonderful.

..and when a fallen tree blocks your path, time to find a new path around these obstacles, such it is in hiking as well as life…

I am thankful for good health, friends and family. I am not thankful for Black Friday sales. They can go take a hike.