Day 138, Monday, October 31

What a great first day of “the rest of my trip.” This morning, laying in bed, I was waked by a super loud sound coming from inches away from my head just outside my tent. It sounded like someone was grinding rocks together. Turns out it was two bull elk grazing just inches from my head. How cool! Today started very cold and foggy but the fog quickly burned off, the temps warmed up and the sky turned out to be perfectly clear. Beautiful. I rode over to Ladybird Johnson grove and did the 1-mile hike through that grove. The trees blew my mind with their size. Hiking around living organisms which are thousands of times larger then you is really humbling. I think I remember reading somewhere that the Redwoods are actually the largest single living entities on the face of the planet. After that walk, I rode back to visitor center at Prairie Creek and did the 11 mile roundtrip hike out the ocean through the forest, Fern Canyon, and then coastal grasslands. Once again, the trees were incromprehensibly big and left me feeling remarkably hunble. Fern canyon was incredibly cool. It looked like a scene perfectly set for a movie about prehistoric creatures. It was eerie. The floor of the creek was flat bottomed and covered with river rocks but the winding walls of the canyon were absolutely vertical and covered with ferns. It was a great hike!
Weather sucked tonight…started drizzling just after I got back to my tent. Cold and rainy. Perfect night to turn in early and read for a while.