For this weekend’s hike, I visited the southern sections of the West Ridge and Karl Knapp trails, starting at the parking area near Zig Zag Trail #1, heading west, climbing up the ridge, then following the West Ridge trail south, towards the visitor center. Then taking the Karl Knapp trail north back to the parking area. Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Humboldt County, California, July 9th, 2023.
Climbing up Zig Zag trail #1, I found a few lingering rhododendrons in bloom 😁
The day started off overcast and gloomy
These flowers are the latest wave to bloom in the redwoods 🤩, encountered several of them
There were a few Stellar’s Jay’s flitting around, I haven’t seen them in a while in the redwoods. Only managed to capture this one blurry photo…
As I reached the end of the West Ridge trail, the sun started to emerge in spots. I really love speckled lighting like this in the redwoods 😍
Heading back north, the Karl Knapp trail parallels Prairie Creek, creating some beautiful riparian scenes 😄
The Karl Knapp trail also provides many beautiful shots of the ridge rising west up to the West Ridge trail
This other type of tree grows along the water, I love the effect of light shining through they’re spindly branches and bright green leaves 💚
This trail passes the Corkscrew tree, a very unusually shaped tree, seen here from a distance. (For a close up of the Corkscrew Tree, see this earlier post: Elk and New Green Growth)
A few more flowers
And a snail! Such an interesting texture 😁
Another photo of a redwood in the sun with a person to show scale 😲, and a full vertical panoramic of a redwood that turned out decently well ☺️
And one shot of Stone Lagoon, from the beautiful drive home along Highway 101 😃
That’s it for this lovely hike!
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Guided by Light Photography 