River access from our cute little rental cabin.
The water is clear and cold!!
Aren't those trees and mist so cool?!! This is where our cabin is!
On the Damnation Creek Trail
A picture of the group (minus me) on Damnation Creek Trail... one of the few pictures with my mom before she twisted her ankle.
These trees on this trail are super cool.
Cami loved the big trees.
Wow!! Love this forest.
Travis took some time to chat with Gloria, we did have 4 miles.... might as well use the time wisely!
Sam and Gray were our two comedians on the trip!!
Everyone was in love with these trees on Damnation Creek Trail.
Gray kept trying to climb the trees....
The end of the trail.... it meets the ocean!
Here we are at the Ocean at the bottom of Damnation Creek Trail
Day 1.
We started out Thursday night and drove through the night (it is something that we ALWAYS do with kids... we try to travel during the day, but find that no matter how prepared we are, it always takes us about 30% longer to travel during the day due to traffic, potty breaks and car sickness). So, we headed out Thursday evening around 6 pm. Travis and I took turns driving and sleeping. We downloaded a good intense book (one that keeps you on the edge of your seat, it really helps to keep us awake) and arrived at our rented cabin at 6am.
Our cabin was simply wonderful!! We loved it! It was in Crescent City- right in the middle of the Redwoods! It had beds for 10 (we took a playpen for Max and only 1 sleeping bag). The cabin was so pretty!! The access to the river was perfect, it was in the back yard!! There was a water fall, too!! It was great to have a spot to just hang out.
So, Day 1!!
We got to the cabin around 6am. We set up beds, unloaded luggage and food and then checked out the river and water falls. All the kids were pretty wide awake, so Travis and I took turns napping until my parents and niece and nephew showed up around 2:00pm. At 2:00, we helped unload my parents car, then we ate a quick lunch and headed to Damnation Creek Trail in the Del Norte Redwoods State Park. We got there around 3:00. The trail is a 4 mile round trip hike... 2miles down and 2 miles up. I knew it would be the most difficult hike of the trip, so I wanted to do it on the first day while everyone had tons of energy and were still excited about everything. The hike was a hard one, and about 15 minutes in, my mom slipped and twisted here ankle!! She had to go to the car and wait for us and she was off her foot the rest of the trip! There were some points of this hike that were so difficult (steep, curvy, slippery and narrow) that we had to form single file lines and I would stand at the bottom holding on as much as possible to each child that came through. I slipped a few times and have bruised arms to show it. We had skinned knees and elbows and almost a black eye. There were some parts of the trail that were so overgrown that I had to pick up Olivia and put her on my shoulders so that she wouldn't get lost in all the weeds and greenery. The last half mile we could hear the Ocean, but you cannot see the Ocean until you literally step out of the trees and BOOM! You are feet away from the Ocean! But the trees are so think the whole hike that you keep thinking any second you will see the ocean, you wait and wait and wait until you think you might give up... and then, you step out of a tree and there it is!! It was pretty intense and the hardest part is that you hike DOWN to the ocean and UP to get back to your car. We finished our hike around 6:00.... and hour down, an hour at the ocean and an hour to get back up. I loved this hike. We were to thick into the forest with beautiful huge trees everywhere. It was a wonderful way to start the trip (minus my mom hurting her foot). After the hike, we headed to the grocery store to pick up some fresh fruits and veggies to go with my casserole for dinner. (on a side note, prior to the trip, I made up some casseroles, froze them, and then brought them up in a cooler for our dinners.... I will totally do this again!! We just picked up a few fresh sides and dinner was done, every day we put the casserole in the oven on low and it was done when we got back). We came home, ate and let the kids play games or play in the river. We were all pretty worn out from travelling and hiking, so we had an early bed (10:00) and woke up refreshed the next day!!
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