Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park

August 28, 2014

I spent the day on the Smith River and in the Stout Grove at Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park with my brother and his family.  It was a beautiful sunny day, the perfect kind of day for swimming, kayaking and hiking in the big trees.   It was also a nice day to resume my battles to get a decent picture of the redwoods.

Smith River, Redwood National Park, CA

Yellow-legged Frog

Tiny frogs were all over the rocks on the shore of the river.  I'm pretty sure they were juvenile yellow-legged frogs.  We also saw some tadpoles.  The girls were good at catching the little frogs.

Yellow-legged Frog -- Smith River, Redwood National Park, CA

I did a lot of experimenting in the Stout Grove with camera settings, searching for a way to capture the essence of the redwood forest.  No such luck this time.  I got a few pictures that at best I don't hate, but nothing outright pleasing.

There's a bend in the river near the campground where the water runs deep and the current comes to a standstill.  There are some large boulders that are a short swim from the shore.  While my brother and his family spent the afternoon swimming, I paddled around in my kayak.

We had a hot dog pancake cook-off after dinner.  Sadly, mine was the least imaginative.  Cassy won with a Mrs. Butterworth's syrup-glazed fire-roasted bacon-wrapped hot dog pancake sushi roll.  How do you beat that?

Stout Grove, Redwood National Park, CA

Stout Grove, Redwood National Park, CA

Redwood National Park, CA