Our trip from Crater Lake NP to Redwoods State and National Park started off with us having to go a hundred miles out of our way because the Redwood Highway was shut down due to major fires. When we arrived at the Ramblin Redwoods campground in Crescent City CA, we learned that electricity had been shut off to the whole county because two fires were converging on the power lines. There was no estimated time for turning it back on, and the campground office just shut down since there was no phone or internet service.

We tried to make the best of it, but there was a gloomy feel to the town and even the park visitor center was closed. We spent one day driving further down the coast to another visitor center and at least we got to see some really big redwoods. One was estimated to be over 1500 years old.

We did enjoy a few parks along the coast and foraged a few quarts of wild blackberries which were amazing for pancake breakfasts.

At the end of the week we were happy to leave Crescent City and head toward Lassen Volcanic NP. I hope the rest of the month coming up in California is better than this first week in Cali!