Billy goat climbs

When I was young, I use to love to climb trees. The taller the better. Weak branches, impossible hand holds, bring it on. I’m not quite sure when my attitude toward height and danger began to change. What I do know is that it has changed, and I’m not the crazy kid I was before.

Our day started with a leisurely walk around Founder’s Trail off the Avenue of the Giants. The park ranger told us that this trail is rated an “88”, which means that it is wheel chair accessible and elderly people can walk along the trail. We had a great time admiring the redwoods and just communing with nature. It’s our second day with the redwoods, and I’m still amazed by them. It’s hard to describe how impressive they are. I can give out facts and figures about their size and circumference – the largest around 380 feet tall and 60 feet around - but that only goes so far. Big is one thing, but to be noble and awe-inspiring is another. And these redwoods have all of that and more. They are well worth a visit.

We then started what we thought was our second leisurely activity of the day – a drive to Shelter Cove. It was only about 21 miles away, and the brochure (marketing devils) said such nice things about it. Our drive started with a few windy roads and quickly turned into a Billy goat climb. I’m talking about ascents that felt as if the car would not make it. After our final monstrous climb up what should have been a mountain, we began our descent through switch back hell. This was all punctuated by sheer drop-offs that were only a few feet away from the car, and obviously no guard rails.

An hour and a half later, we arrived at Shelter Cove. I knew that this drive was pretty special because the smell of burning rubber was in the air. In other words, I had ridden the brakes for so long that they were getting hot and starting to burn up. I wouldn’t recommend this drive, and Shelter Cove has little going for it besides the Black Sand beach. I wish we would have continued our walk along Founder’s Trail – crazy kids.