Some photographs from a quick weekend trip to get away from it all (and try out my new digital camera) at the Humboldt Redwoods, about a four hour drive north of San Francisco. Each of the photographs below is a link to a larger photo. Our camp site. A flat spot to pitch the tent, a picnic table, fire ring, and a spacious food locker to keep the critters out of the grub - what more could anyone ask for? The water faucet was right at the road, and flush toilets and hot (coin-operated) showers were a short walk down the road. The new tent. My previous tent was a 1970-something hand-me-down White Stag pup tent. During the last trip out I noticed it was getting really musty and starting to show some real signs of wear. The new tent is also a two person tent, but it is much quicker to set up. Two long aluminum poles are fastened at opposing corners forming large hoops that cross at the center. The tent fabric attaches to the hoops to give the tent its shape and a third pole forms a third hoop around the tent's mid-section and helps to further pull the sides out. The tent has a large wedge-shaped section that zips back for ventilation; it's more of a skylight than a window. In inclimate or damp weather a rain fly keeps the tent dry and forms a small vestibule at the entrance for boots and gear. Leslie takes the empty wood cart back to the ranger station after we hauled a load of fire wood up to the camp site. Saturday we took a short hike over to the Eel River for a picnic lunch on one of the gravel bars. After lunch I spent some time playing with my new camera. One of the first things I happened across was this little frog hopping along the rocks. I set the camera to macro, but every time I stepped closer to the frog he hopped a little further away. Worse yet: as he slowly hopped away the shot was of his backside. I finally managed to get close enough to snap this shot. By that time I failed to notice that I was shooting into the sun and could have used a fill flash. Shooting these tadpoles was much easier. They were trapped in a pool and didn't seem quite so skittish. The path back to the campsite... When good plants go bad.... Avenue of the Giants.... © 2000 - Thomas Brightbill