Forever
I stand alone in the darkness
the winter of my life came so fast
memories go back to childhood
to days I still recall
Oh how happy I was then
there was no sorrow there was no pain
walking through the green fields
sunshine in my eyes
I'm still there everywhere
I'm the dust in the wind
I'm the star in the northern sky
I never stayed anywhere
I'm the wind in the trees
would you wait for me forever?
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Volleyball and badminton
Too much exercise recently. I'm sore everywhere now. I just got membership from a badminton club near by last week. And I've been playing badminton nonstop since last Tuesday. My badminton gets improved a lot now comparing to last year when I just started, and I like the sports.
Last week, we were having a pre-cruise party. I brought the volleyball set with me, and we had a good game. W thinks that we should play volleyball often since it's summer time now, so we decided to play every other weekend.
We played again over the past Sunday. But since lots of us are beginners, the game was so so, we only had a few good shots. During break, J was helping me practicing smashing, that's pretty fun and good exercise. After about 2 hours' volleyball game, most of us felt like not enough exercise, so after dinner we went to play badminton again. I had some good workout there. I played one double game with 3 very good guys who I don't know and ran a lot. That's a very good game, I stayed in the front, close to net, to return all the drops, and surprisingly I returned a lot I would have never got before. I feel more confident in my badminton skill now. :)
Fog, Qingdao, China
Last week, we were having a pre-cruise party. I brought the volleyball set with me, and we had a good game. W thinks that we should play volleyball often since it's summer time now, so we decided to play every other weekend.
We played again over the past Sunday. But since lots of us are beginners, the game was so so, we only had a few good shots. During break, J was helping me practicing smashing, that's pretty fun and good exercise. After about 2 hours' volleyball game, most of us felt like not enough exercise, so after dinner we went to play badminton again. I had some good workout there. I played one double game with 3 very good guys who I don't know and ran a lot. That's a very good game, I stayed in the front, close to net, to return all the drops, and surprisingly I returned a lot I would have never got before. I feel more confident in my badminton skill now. :)
Fog, Qingdao, China
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Biking @ Golden Gate Park
I organized a biking event on Saturday. Since I am the organizer, and I have been biking here before, so I planed out the biking route and what to look during the trip. It was a good activity and everyone was having fun! :)
We rented 6 mountain bikes and biked from stow lake all the way to the beach. Originally my idea was to rent those kinds of bikes for 4 people or 6 people, so that I can be lazy and don't have to paddle myself all the time. :P Maybe my intention is too easy to tell by my friends, so we had to rent one bike each person. Going toward the beach was pretty easy, almost all the way downhill. But it is very hard coming back. My legs were sore, and the worst, my butt really hurts. The bike seat definitely needs some better padding. But thanks for all the badminton practice, I have a lot better stamina than I had last time, (which was about 5 years ago), I biked almost all the way back. Not too bad!
Afterwards we went to Cha Cha Cha -- a restaurant on Height Street. I like Height Street; it's different, a lot like telegraph ave in Berkeley. And Cha Cha Cha is one of my favorite restaurants; it has the best Sangria. Since it doesn't take reservation, we had to wait in line. After over two hours’ waiting, we finally got our seats and everyone was starving. Apparently we had a wonderful dinner there.
Fish Net, Qingdao, China
We rented 6 mountain bikes and biked from stow lake all the way to the beach. Originally my idea was to rent those kinds of bikes for 4 people or 6 people, so that I can be lazy and don't have to paddle myself all the time. :P Maybe my intention is too easy to tell by my friends, so we had to rent one bike each person. Going toward the beach was pretty easy, almost all the way downhill. But it is very hard coming back. My legs were sore, and the worst, my butt really hurts. The bike seat definitely needs some better padding. But thanks for all the badminton practice, I have a lot better stamina than I had last time, (which was about 5 years ago), I biked almost all the way back. Not too bad!
Afterwards we went to Cha Cha Cha -- a restaurant on Height Street. I like Height Street; it's different, a lot like telegraph ave in Berkeley. And Cha Cha Cha is one of my favorite restaurants; it has the best Sangria. Since it doesn't take reservation, we had to wait in line. After over two hours’ waiting, we finally got our seats and everyone was starving. Apparently we had a wonderful dinner there.
Fish Net, Qingdao, China
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Redwood National Park 后记 -- 吃
这次出游National Park，除了观赏美景之外，给偶留下印象深刻就是吃的巨腐败了！以前去National Park，中午都是吃sandwich，最多最多条件好的时候加点午餐肉或鱼罐头还有榨菜什么的，诸如上次去犹他，大冷的天，每天中午也就这么过的，只有晚上才会去附近的小镇大撮一顿。这次可就奢侈了，偶们顿顿都是热食啊！以下就是本次的行程及就餐表，留下为日后的National Park游作参考。
5月26日 中午两点出发，因为是星期五，中途有些堵车。路经麦当劳，稍停，W吃苹果派两个，偶吃冰淇淋一只，DD口口声声说不吃，最后还是忍不住分了偶的冰淇淋。晚上大约八九点，路过一小城镇，忘记名字了，有一条主街，只看到两家餐馆。选了一家热闹cafe的坐下就餐，cafe里顾客济济，还有真人吉他show，生意不错。W要了burger，DD要了pasta，偶要了half sandwich, half salad又加a cup of clam chowder，一人还要一瓶啤酒。food味道不错，酒足饭饱继续赶路，于当天晚11点check in motel super 8，大家都累了，没时间闲聊，睡觉，计划第二天一早7点15出发好赶早拿“Tall Tree Trails”的permit。
5月27日 偶6点20被闹钟叫醒，洗漱完毕，7点打电话叫男生起床，谁知都还在睡觉，被偶揪起。好在男生没有特别讲究，不是非要洗了澡才可出门，于是下楼吃了motel的continental breakfast，（偶好像吃的是橙汁和muffin），大约7点半上路。上午拿了permit hike了“Tall Tree Trails”之后，正好是午饭时间。偶因为早餐吃的是冷的，很想吃顿暖的热热身子。（偶的身体体温调节一定有问题，只要是露在空气中的身体部分，空气是什么温度，偶那部分皮肤也一定是同一温度，因此偶的手几乎是常年冰冷的。在此也要感谢W同志和DD同志时不时地发扬人道主义精神以其热手来温暖偶冻僵了的冰手！）Anyway，在偶的大力提倡下，偶门决定在一风光无限美好的Vista Point用火锅炉煮方便面吃。为了增加营养以为下午的Fern Canyon hiking做准备，偶门奢侈的往方便面里加入了一整罐午餐肉，3个鸡蛋和n个小西红柿。怕味道不足，偶还开了一包榨菜。一时间，无论眼前多莫美丽的风景都没有偶门面前的那一锅面来的吸引人，不一伙儿，寂静的山林里除了偶尔的鸟叫声，就是偶门三人吞咽面条的唏嘘声了。偶的结论，方便面加午餐肉，真是没得说！
偶门hike完Fern Canyon，约傍晚6点到camping site，把帐篷，桌椅什么的一切安置好，就开始准备晚餐--火锅。这一顿火锅可是偶门出发前就详细计划好的，要吃什么都是经过自己讨论并一起去采购的，因此是丰盛无比啊！有羊肉，虾，各种蘑菇，油豆腐，鹌鹑蛋，蔬菜，粉丝，等等，现在想来偶都馋，也可能是写饿了吧！火锅调料是DD亲手做好的，香气扑鼻啊！偶门还很小资的带了两瓶红酒，并将车里的音乐开响。边听音乐，便就着火锅喝红酒，真是会享受啊。这也算是偶门此次行程中吃得最奢侈的一顿了，当然，只是从气氛上讲而不是从价钱上讲。
5月28日 也可能是喝了红酒的关系，也可能是前一天hiking一天的关系，总之，偶在车里睡得十分扎实，一觉睡到天亮。7点来钟起床，感觉精神充沛。DD也早已起床，趁着偶在洗漱的时候已煮了热水，并将偶们带去的巧克豆奶放在水里热着，因此即使是早餐，偶门也能就着热牛奶吃面包加cheese。上午开着车转悠了几圈，于11点左右来到boy scout trail的头。因为trail比较长，来回约要4个小时，因此偶门决定先吃了再走。于是就在trail head架起了火锅，扔进了两包方便面，又将前一天晚上没有吃完的火锅剩料，什么虾呀，蘑菇呀，油豆腐呀统统扔了进去，还又加了鸡蛋和番茄，总之又是一大锅，让偶门连汤带水的一扫而光。汤足面饱，开始hiking。
Hiking出来满身的泥，看看时间也差不多快5点钟了，偶门计划晚上是要去crescent city打牙祭的。因为是要去city，所以不能显得太脏，所以偶门打道回了camping site，洗澡更衣，香喷喷的前往crescent city。因时间还早，又顺道看了pier和light house，这在前面也有所提过。W在旅游书上查了好几处顶级饭店，结果因为是星期天，最后发现只有一家开门，到也省了偶门挑餐馆的劲儿。这一家就坐落在beach上，有海景view。偶门点了starter还有3个带salad和soup的main entrees，并要了一瓶白酒。本来觉得都前胸贴后胸了，可吃了一伙儿就觉得饱了，可能还是老毛病--餐前面包吃多了。谁叫偶就是一穷人的吃性，放着美味的海鲜吃不下，总是先叫面包给打倒了！
5月29日 今天是要启程回家的。一早起来，又下了两包方便面，除了例行的鸡蛋，番茄和蔬菜，还下了前一天晚上剩下打包带回的鱼，偶门就着面包吃方便面。早餐完毕，收拾帐篷，10点出发回家。途中又drop by一picnic area，将剩下的冬冬吃得差不多了，还开了大西瓜让偶过了过西瓜瘾。继续向回开，路经加油站，偶又忍不住买了dreyer's dibbs冰淇淋来吃，真好吃，意尤未尽阿！晚上8点终于开过了San Francisco，有经过了几番电话闻讯，终于找到了偶已馋了很久的顺风，一家在richmond的海鲜馆。偶门又大撮一顿，以圆滚的肚皮为此次行程画上了完美的句点。
注，这次带去的marshmallow都没有吃，因为DD点不着camp fire，可以留作以后写DD生火记的素材吧。
Sunset @ Pier
5月26日 中午两点出发，因为是星期五，中途有些堵车。路经麦当劳，稍停，W吃苹果派两个，偶吃冰淇淋一只，DD口口声声说不吃，最后还是忍不住分了偶的冰淇淋。晚上大约八九点，路过一小城镇，忘记名字了，有一条主街，只看到两家餐馆。选了一家热闹cafe的坐下就餐，cafe里顾客济济，还有真人吉他show，生意不错。W要了burger，DD要了pasta，偶要了half sandwich, half salad又加a cup of clam chowder，一人还要一瓶啤酒。food味道不错，酒足饭饱继续赶路，于当天晚11点check in motel super 8，大家都累了，没时间闲聊，睡觉，计划第二天一早7点15出发好赶早拿“Tall Tree Trails”的permit。
5月27日 偶6点20被闹钟叫醒，洗漱完毕，7点打电话叫男生起床，谁知都还在睡觉，被偶揪起。好在男生没有特别讲究，不是非要洗了澡才可出门，于是下楼吃了motel的continental breakfast，（偶好像吃的是橙汁和muffin），大约7点半上路。上午拿了permit hike了“Tall Tree Trails”之后，正好是午饭时间。偶因为早餐吃的是冷的，很想吃顿暖的热热身子。（偶的身体体温调节一定有问题，只要是露在空气中的身体部分，空气是什么温度，偶那部分皮肤也一定是同一温度，因此偶的手几乎是常年冰冷的。在此也要感谢W同志和DD同志时不时地发扬人道主义精神以其热手来温暖偶冻僵了的冰手！）Anyway，在偶的大力提倡下，偶门决定在一风光无限美好的Vista Point用火锅炉煮方便面吃。为了增加营养以为下午的Fern Canyon hiking做准备，偶门奢侈的往方便面里加入了一整罐午餐肉，3个鸡蛋和n个小西红柿。怕味道不足，偶还开了一包榨菜。一时间，无论眼前多莫美丽的风景都没有偶门面前的那一锅面来的吸引人，不一伙儿，寂静的山林里除了偶尔的鸟叫声，就是偶门三人吞咽面条的唏嘘声了。偶的结论，方便面加午餐肉，真是没得说！
偶门hike完Fern Canyon，约傍晚6点到camping site，把帐篷，桌椅什么的一切安置好，就开始准备晚餐--火锅。这一顿火锅可是偶门出发前就详细计划好的，要吃什么都是经过自己讨论并一起去采购的，因此是丰盛无比啊！有羊肉，虾，各种蘑菇，油豆腐，鹌鹑蛋，蔬菜，粉丝，等等，现在想来偶都馋，也可能是写饿了吧！火锅调料是DD亲手做好的，香气扑鼻啊！偶门还很小资的带了两瓶红酒，并将车里的音乐开响。边听音乐，便就着火锅喝红酒，真是会享受啊。这也算是偶门此次行程中吃得最奢侈的一顿了，当然，只是从气氛上讲而不是从价钱上讲。
5月28日 也可能是喝了红酒的关系，也可能是前一天hiking一天的关系，总之，偶在车里睡得十分扎实，一觉睡到天亮。7点来钟起床，感觉精神充沛。DD也早已起床，趁着偶在洗漱的时候已煮了热水，并将偶们带去的巧克豆奶放在水里热着，因此即使是早餐，偶门也能就着热牛奶吃面包加cheese。上午开着车转悠了几圈，于11点左右来到boy scout trail的头。因为trail比较长，来回约要4个小时，因此偶门决定先吃了再走。于是就在trail head架起了火锅，扔进了两包方便面，又将前一天晚上没有吃完的火锅剩料，什么虾呀，蘑菇呀，油豆腐呀统统扔了进去，还又加了鸡蛋和番茄，总之又是一大锅，让偶门连汤带水的一扫而光。汤足面饱，开始hiking。
Hiking出来满身的泥，看看时间也差不多快5点钟了，偶门计划晚上是要去crescent city打牙祭的。因为是要去city，所以不能显得太脏，所以偶门打道回了camping site，洗澡更衣，香喷喷的前往crescent city。因时间还早，又顺道看了pier和light house，这在前面也有所提过。W在旅游书上查了好几处顶级饭店，结果因为是星期天，最后发现只有一家开门，到也省了偶门挑餐馆的劲儿。这一家就坐落在beach上，有海景view。偶门点了starter还有3个带salad和soup的main entrees，并要了一瓶白酒。本来觉得都前胸贴后胸了，可吃了一伙儿就觉得饱了，可能还是老毛病--餐前面包吃多了。谁叫偶就是一穷人的吃性，放着美味的海鲜吃不下，总是先叫面包给打倒了！
5月29日 今天是要启程回家的。一早起来，又下了两包方便面，除了例行的鸡蛋，番茄和蔬菜，还下了前一天晚上剩下打包带回的鱼，偶门就着面包吃方便面。早餐完毕，收拾帐篷，10点出发回家。途中又drop by一picnic area，将剩下的冬冬吃得差不多了，还开了大西瓜让偶过了过西瓜瘾。继续向回开，路经加油站，偶又忍不住买了dreyer's dibbs冰淇淋来吃，真好吃，意尤未尽阿！晚上8点终于开过了San Francisco，有经过了几番电话闻讯，终于找到了偶已馋了很久的顺风，一家在richmond的海鲜馆。偶门又大撮一顿，以圆滚的肚皮为此次行程画上了完美的句点。
注，这次带去的marshmallow都没有吃，因为DD点不着camp fire，可以留作以后写DD生火记的素材吧。
Sunset @ Pier
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Redwood National Park -- Crescent City
Camping的第二天晚上我们计划在crescent city吃晚饭。因时间还早，我们顺便又转了转crescent city的pier和Battery Point Lighthouse。到的时候正值黄昏，也是一天中光线最美的时候，景色令人感动。我激动地拿着相机跑先跑后，照了不少照片。
Crescent City Pier
We are going to have dinner at crescent city the second night while we stayed at redwood NP. Since the time is still early that afternoon, we dropped by the pier and batter point light house. Sun was setting right at that moment when we got there, everything looked so beautiful. I walked around light house and pier, running back and forth just to catch the most beautiful moment.
这是Battery Point Lighthouse旁的一棵树，树上挂满了船上的浮标。我一直在想为什么人们会在这个树上挂满浮标？ 是像橡树上挂着的黄丝带--妻子们默默祈祷远航的丈夫平安归来，还是只是像圣诞树起装饰作用呢？可惜灯塔已经关门了，树旁也没有对这些浮标的解释。
Bouy at Battery Point Lighthouse
When we got to the light house, it's already closed. There is a big tree standing next to the light house, with many buoys hanging on it. Not sure why people hang the buoys on the tree, is it just for luck? Like the yellow ribbon on the tree -- wives waiting for their husband coming back from the Pacific Ocean safely? Or just for decoration, like Christmas tree with all the ornaments?
最后一丝光线淡去，倦鸟归巢。
Sunset
Last sun ray faded away ...
Crescent City Pier
We are going to have dinner at crescent city the second night while we stayed at redwood NP. Since the time is still early that afternoon, we dropped by the pier and batter point light house. Sun was setting right at that moment when we got there, everything looked so beautiful. I walked around light house and pier, running back and forth just to catch the most beautiful moment.
这是Battery Point Lighthouse旁的一棵树，树上挂满了船上的浮标。我一直在想为什么人们会在这个树上挂满浮标？ 是像橡树上挂着的黄丝带--妻子们默默祈祷远航的丈夫平安归来，还是只是像圣诞树起装饰作用呢？可惜灯塔已经关门了，树旁也没有对这些浮标的解释。
Bouy at Battery Point Lighthouse
When we got to the light house, it's already closed. There is a big tree standing next to the light house, with many buoys hanging on it. Not sure why people hang the buoys on the tree, is it just for luck? Like the yellow ribbon on the tree -- wives waiting for their husband coming back from the Pacific Ocean safely? Or just for decoration, like Christmas tree with all the ornaments?
最后一丝光线淡去，倦鸟归巢。
Sunset
Last sun ray faded away ...
Monday, June 12, 2006
Redwood National Park -- Tall Trees Trail and Fern Canyon
Redwood National Park 顾名思义当然都是大片大片的红杉林了。说是国家森林公园，其实是有很多个州立森林公园组成的。不过这里毕竟还是有着曾是世界上最高的树以及最大的树。“The tall tree”坐落在“Tall Trees Trail”的尽头，只是“Tall Trees Trail”是要许可证才可以进去参观的。许可证一天只发50张，我们生怕去得晚许可证被领光，因此早上8点半就赶到了information center，结果发现information center九点才开门。我们只能随性转悠着以消耗时光并等待工作人员的到来。山林面海而生，迎着海风，波涛声阵阵入耳。清晨的红杉林裹在从海上漂来的雾气之中，犹如青纱半遮着的美丽女子的脸庞，似隐似现，十分迷人。我正静静欣赏着这一片美景时，忽听同伴叫到门开了，原来工作人员已打开了大门，我们也顺利拿到了许可证，成为当天第一个踏入“Tall Trees Trail”的游客。“The Tall Tree”是一棵曾被誉为世界上最高的大树，它高达386 feet有500多年树龄。不过Tall trees trail上到处都是差不多那么高大的树，所以要想一眼看出这棵“The Tall Tree“，that's mission impossible了，只能乖乖的顺着trail去找有牌子的树了。我们hiking了两个多mile后终于找到了这棵大树，好好地瞻仰一下。这可真是literally上的瞻仰啊，我脖子都快仰断了，可惜还是看不见树顶。
Tall trees
Redwood National Park is actually composed of several state parks. It once had the world's tallest tree -- "The Tall Tree”.” The Tall tree" locates at the end of the "Tall Trees Trail", which requires a permit to hiking on. There is only 50 permits distributed everyday, we are afraid that we won't be able to get one, so we got to the information center at 8:30 am. Unfortunately the information center doesn't open until 9am. We had to wonder around the beach for half an hour. Redwood NP is right by the beach. In the early morning, when the fog comes from the ocean, the redwood trees are all covered in the milky fog, like a pretty young girl's face hidden behind a semi-transparent silk veil, very beautiful. While we were enjoying the amazing scenery, the gate of the information center was opened. We got our permit and became the first hikers of the day. Every tree along the tall tree trails is extremely tall, it's impossible for us to tell which one is taller from another. Finally we saw a sign and found the "The Tall Tree". "The Tall Tree" is over 500 years old now and it's about 386 feet high. Since it's so tall that I can't even see the top of it even though I raised my head so much that my neck felt very sore after the tour.
Redwood NP除了“The Tall Tree”之外，还有“The Big Tree"。“The Big Tree"非常粗壮，也有300多英尺高，1500多年树龄，可谓是“The Tall Tree”的老始祖了。站在这些高大粗壮的红杉树旁，人类显得真是渺小啊！Redwood 里的景观，大到宏伟，小到细致，都非常美丽。Redwood national park的driveway两旁，经常能看到这样漂亮的粉色的花，我当时是学习了一下这花的名字的，可是我一向对记名字不在行，而这花的名字又巨长，现在我只记得是有一串d在名字里，叫什么...d.d...d.的东东了。虽然我笨得记不住花的名字，不过我还记得这花也算是redwood NP的标志之一吧，在redwood的明信片和冰箱贴上到处可见，所以我强烈要求停车站在路旁也假模假释的照了几张。（后经查询，知道这花学名是rhododendron。）
Rhododendron with Redwood Trees
Besides "The Tall Tree", there is also "The Big Tree" in the redwood NP. "The big tree" is like a grand-grand-parent of "The tall tree", it is over 1500 year old now and more than 300 feet high. Human being seems so insignificant when you stand next to a redwood tree. There are all kinds of plants and creatures in the forest. Along the driveway, this kind of beautiful pink flowers can be spotted everywhere. It's also a signature of redwood NP.
Prairie Creek State Park里的Fern Cayon也是一个hiking的好去处。因为我们到的前一天晚上刚下过大雨，canyon里的小溪暴涨，trail的大部分都淹没在溪水里，因此很多hiker都望水止步了，我们则是跃跃欲试。看看周围不多涉水而过的游客，涉水姿势各种各样，极有意思。孩子们是不管不顾，径直跳入溪水中，裤子，鞋子，袜子全部湿透，也不怕刺骨冰冷的溪水，就那样趟水而过。也由当地的hiker，有备而来，穿着高邦的雨鞋，踏水而过。还有年轻的情侣，男孩子穿着专门适于涉水的hiking shoes，女孩子则由男孩子抱在怀里，毫不湿鞋而过，这也是我们看到的最为浪漫的过溪水的方法了。而我们则是仗着有water repellent的hiking boots，小心翼翼的踩在水中的小石块或横倒的树枝上而过，这样的过河是很需要平衡技巧的，好在通行的W带着一根hiking stick，我们一次次靠着它帮助掌握平衡渡过了溪水。
Fern Canyon
The fern canyon trail in Prairie Creek State is also a good hiking place. It was raining hard the night before we went there. The creek was overflowing and most of the trail was flushed. Many hikers just stopped by the creek, but we decided to give it a try. There are all kinds of ways that people wade through the creek. Kids just jump into the water without any consideration about their clothes, pants, shoes being wet. They don't even care about the freezing low temperature of the water. Local hikers must have seen the forecast; they fully prepared with knee high rain boots. There is also a young couple, the boy was wearing the special hiking shoes especially for wading, and the girl was just carried by the boy and went through without even touch the water -- the most romantic wading style, making us all jealous of her. For us, fortunately, W brought a walking stick with him. So we just relied on our water repellent hiking boots and poor balancing skill, one step at a time, carefully crossed the creek with the help of the stick and the rocks and tree braches in the creek.
Redwood 里的气候变化很快，天一伙儿放晴一伙儿下雨，我们到的第一天晚上正兴高采烈的在camping site吃火锅，天上就开始下起了雨，而且越下越大，冒着冷雨就着红酒吃着热腾腾的火锅倒是别有一番情趣。晚上我也趁机作了一把名副其实的car camping。不过好在我设备齐全，有air bed，还自备了被子枕头，听着雨水敲在车上叮叮咚咚的声音，再加上hiking一天后的疲惫和酒后微微buzz的感觉，很是香甜的在车里睡了一觉。
Unknown named pink flower
Weather changes very quickly in the redwood. First night when we were having hotpot at the camping site, it suddenly started to rain. It rained harder and harder, so I had a literally car camping that night. With air mattress, blanket and pillow, it's as comfortable as sleeping at home. With the "Ding Ding" sound from the raindrop on the car roof, the tiredness from hiking for the whole day, the buzz from all the red wine I drank with the hotpot, I had a very sound sleep that night.
Tall trees
Redwood National Park is actually composed of several state parks. It once had the world's tallest tree -- "The Tall Tree”.” The Tall tree" locates at the end of the "Tall Trees Trail", which requires a permit to hiking on. There is only 50 permits distributed everyday, we are afraid that we won't be able to get one, so we got to the information center at 8:30 am. Unfortunately the information center doesn't open until 9am. We had to wonder around the beach for half an hour. Redwood NP is right by the beach. In the early morning, when the fog comes from the ocean, the redwood trees are all covered in the milky fog, like a pretty young girl's face hidden behind a semi-transparent silk veil, very beautiful. While we were enjoying the amazing scenery, the gate of the information center was opened. We got our permit and became the first hikers of the day. Every tree along the tall tree trails is extremely tall, it's impossible for us to tell which one is taller from another. Finally we saw a sign and found the "The Tall Tree". "The Tall Tree" is over 500 years old now and it's about 386 feet high. Since it's so tall that I can't even see the top of it even though I raised my head so much that my neck felt very sore after the tour.
Redwood NP除了“The Tall Tree”之外，还有“The Big Tree"。“The Big Tree"非常粗壮，也有300多英尺高，1500多年树龄，可谓是“The Tall Tree”的老始祖了。站在这些高大粗壮的红杉树旁，人类显得真是渺小啊！Redwood 里的景观，大到宏伟，小到细致，都非常美丽。Redwood national park的driveway两旁，经常能看到这样漂亮的粉色的花，我当时是学习了一下这花的名字的，可是我一向对记名字不在行，而这花的名字又巨长，现在我只记得是有一串d在名字里，叫什么...d.d...d.的东东了。虽然我笨得记不住花的名字，不过我还记得这花也算是redwood NP的标志之一吧，在redwood的明信片和冰箱贴上到处可见，所以我强烈要求停车站在路旁也假模假释的照了几张。（后经查询，知道这花学名是rhododendron。）
Rhododendron with Redwood Trees
Besides "The Tall Tree", there is also "The Big Tree" in the redwood NP. "The big tree" is like a grand-grand-parent of "The tall tree", it is over 1500 year old now and more than 300 feet high. Human being seems so insignificant when you stand next to a redwood tree. There are all kinds of plants and creatures in the forest. Along the driveway, this kind of beautiful pink flowers can be spotted everywhere. It's also a signature of redwood NP.
Prairie Creek State Park里的Fern Cayon也是一个hiking的好去处。因为我们到的前一天晚上刚下过大雨，canyon里的小溪暴涨，trail的大部分都淹没在溪水里，因此很多hiker都望水止步了，我们则是跃跃欲试。看看周围不多涉水而过的游客，涉水姿势各种各样，极有意思。孩子们是不管不顾，径直跳入溪水中，裤子，鞋子，袜子全部湿透，也不怕刺骨冰冷的溪水，就那样趟水而过。也由当地的hiker，有备而来，穿着高邦的雨鞋，踏水而过。还有年轻的情侣，男孩子穿着专门适于涉水的hiking shoes，女孩子则由男孩子抱在怀里，毫不湿鞋而过，这也是我们看到的最为浪漫的过溪水的方法了。而我们则是仗着有water repellent的hiking boots，小心翼翼的踩在水中的小石块或横倒的树枝上而过，这样的过河是很需要平衡技巧的，好在通行的W带着一根hiking stick，我们一次次靠着它帮助掌握平衡渡过了溪水。
Fern Canyon
The fern canyon trail in Prairie Creek State is also a good hiking place. It was raining hard the night before we went there. The creek was overflowing and most of the trail was flushed. Many hikers just stopped by the creek, but we decided to give it a try. There are all kinds of ways that people wade through the creek. Kids just jump into the water without any consideration about their clothes, pants, shoes being wet. They don't even care about the freezing low temperature of the water. Local hikers must have seen the forecast; they fully prepared with knee high rain boots. There is also a young couple, the boy was wearing the special hiking shoes especially for wading, and the girl was just carried by the boy and went through without even touch the water -- the most romantic wading style, making us all jealous of her. For us, fortunately, W brought a walking stick with him. So we just relied on our water repellent hiking boots and poor balancing skill, one step at a time, carefully crossed the creek with the help of the stick and the rocks and tree braches in the creek.
Redwood 里的气候变化很快，天一伙儿放晴一伙儿下雨，我们到的第一天晚上正兴高采烈的在camping site吃火锅，天上就开始下起了雨，而且越下越大，冒着冷雨就着红酒吃着热腾腾的火锅倒是别有一番情趣。晚上我也趁机作了一把名副其实的car camping。不过好在我设备齐全，有air bed，还自备了被子枕头，听着雨水敲在车上叮叮咚咚的声音，再加上hiking一天后的疲惫和酒后微微buzz的感觉，很是香甜的在车里睡了一觉。
Unknown named pink flower
Weather changes very quickly in the redwood. First night when we were having hotpot at the camping site, it suddenly started to rain. It rained harder and harder, so I had a literally car camping that night. With air mattress, blanket and pillow, it's as comfortable as sleeping at home. With the "Ding Ding" sound from the raindrop on the car roof, the tiredness from hiking for the whole day, the buzz from all the red wine I drank with the hotpot, I had a very sound sleep that night.
Friday, June 09, 2006
Redwood National Park -- Boy Scout Trail
Memorial Day Long weekend 去了Redwood NP camping，顺便拍了一些照片。
这张是在Jedediah state park里的boy scout trail 上拍的。我们一早往boy scout trail head开进去，沿途的Redwood 高耸挺拔，非常有气势。尤其公园里人烟稀少，灌木丛生，很有原始森林的感觉。听说星球大战里有很多外景就是在这里选的，不过我倒觉得更适合于侏罗纪公园了。我觉得真应该在这里拍SUV广告，画面从云层中出发，快速穿过云层向地面缩近，一片葱郁雄伟耸立的红杉林，镜头继续拉近，透过杉树林叶，在灌木丛中一辆越野车正快速向前穿梭行驶着，紧跟在其后的是一只巨大的食肉恐龙，露着惨白的厉齿发狂的追着越野车，恐龙边跑边拔起灌木丛向两旁扔去，大地随着恐龙的脚步不停的在颤抖。镜头向前拉去，一直拉入车里，父亲开着车，母亲靠在front passenge seat的椅背上睡熟了，两个孩子正聚精会神坐在后排看着Jurassic Park的DVD，一家人对外面发生的事一无所知，SUV继续平平稳稳地向前驶去，画面淡去，广告词打出... 超酷啊！不知道我能不能把这个构思卖给汽车广告商赚点小钱来花花呢？:P
Redwood Tree
The picture is taken at Boy Scout trail of Jedediah State Park. There are thousands of giant redwoods along the driveway to the head of the trail. I feel like I'm inside a prehistoric forest. Someone told me that many scenes from Star War were shot here, but I feel more like it should be Jurassic Park. I think this could be the best spot to take SUV advertisement. The scene starts from above the clouds, then going down toward the earth, closer and closer, a big junk of green color -- giant forest with millions of redwoods. Getting closer, through the leaves, in the bushes, a SUV swerves from a big bush, then speeds up and keeps running forward. Behind the SUV, there is an enormous dinosaur chasing after it. The dinosaur is already running crazy, his sharpen white teeth exposed outside of his mouth, puff through his huge nostrils. He pulls out all the bushes in front of him and throw them to the SUV in vain. Camera moving forward into the SUV, father is driving, mother already falls into sleep against front passenger seat back, two kids sitting on the back seat watching Jurassic Park DVD in the car. Everything is so calm and smooth in the car, and no one knows what happens outside the car. SUV keeps running forward; image fades, headline of the ads pops out ... SUPER COOL! I wonder whether I can sell the idea to some car manufacture to make some money! :P
森林里感觉像侏罗纪公园除了trail两侧高大垂直耸立的redwood外，还有就是树枝上挂满的这些不知是算苔类还是蕨类的东东了。它们纵横交错，好像一张巫婆张开的大网。整个trail中我们几乎就没有碰到其他hiking的人，四周十分安静，只有偶尔会听到lady bird的几声鸣叫和一些不知从哪里发出的奇怪声音，感觉阴森森的。好在同行的两位男士非常有绅士派头，一前一后让我走在中间，可我还时不时会有blair witch project的感觉，常常要回头看看后面的人是不是还在。:P
Blair Witch Project
Beside giant redwood trees in the park, the other thing which makes me feel like Jurassic Park is this kind of moss hanging from the tree branches. They intertwined, like a huge evil net. During the whole trail, we nearly met anyone. It's so quiet in the park, we can only hear the chirps from lady birds and some unknown weird noises. It's kind of scary there. But my two companions are both gentlemen, they let me walk in the middle, so I can be sure that there is always someone walking in front of and behind me. But I sometime still feel like I'm in the movie -- Blair witch project, so I have to keep checking whether the person behind me is still there. :P
地上到处布满了这样的fern还时不时会有倒掉的redwood横挡在trail中间，有几处可能是因为刚倒不太久，还没有来得及被清理掉，不高不低的躺在trail上，树身高树皮滑，翻过去是不太可能了，只能从树身和泥地的空隙中钻过去，好在我个子小，没有什么大碍，只是苦了同行的一位大约6 feet高的老兄，背着硕大的相机包，几乎是匍匐前进了。
Fern
In the forest, there is this kind of ferns everywhere. There is also redwood trees falling down by the trail. Several places, the trail is blocked by those redwood trees. The tree trunk is big and has moss around the tree bark, which makes it too slippery to climb over. So we have to crawl through the space between the tree and the mud. Fortunately I'm petite, so it's no big deal for me to crawl through, but it's quite hard for W who is almost 6 feet tall and carries a big camera bag, he almost had to crawl through with his stomach on the mud.
The reward at the end of the trail -- a small water fall.
这张是在Jedediah state park里的boy scout trail 上拍的。我们一早往boy scout trail head开进去，沿途的Redwood 高耸挺拔，非常有气势。尤其公园里人烟稀少，灌木丛生，很有原始森林的感觉。听说星球大战里有很多外景就是在这里选的，不过我倒觉得更适合于侏罗纪公园了。我觉得真应该在这里拍SUV广告，画面从云层中出发，快速穿过云层向地面缩近，一片葱郁雄伟耸立的红杉林，镜头继续拉近，透过杉树林叶，在灌木丛中一辆越野车正快速向前穿梭行驶着，紧跟在其后的是一只巨大的食肉恐龙，露着惨白的厉齿发狂的追着越野车，恐龙边跑边拔起灌木丛向两旁扔去，大地随着恐龙的脚步不停的在颤抖。镜头向前拉去，一直拉入车里，父亲开着车，母亲靠在front passenge seat的椅背上睡熟了，两个孩子正聚精会神坐在后排看着Jurassic Park的DVD，一家人对外面发生的事一无所知，SUV继续平平稳稳地向前驶去，画面淡去，广告词打出... 超酷啊！不知道我能不能把这个构思卖给汽车广告商赚点小钱来花花呢？:P
Redwood Tree
The picture is taken at Boy Scout trail of Jedediah State Park. There are thousands of giant redwoods along the driveway to the head of the trail. I feel like I'm inside a prehistoric forest. Someone told me that many scenes from Star War were shot here, but I feel more like it should be Jurassic Park. I think this could be the best spot to take SUV advertisement. The scene starts from above the clouds, then going down toward the earth, closer and closer, a big junk of green color -- giant forest with millions of redwoods. Getting closer, through the leaves, in the bushes, a SUV swerves from a big bush, then speeds up and keeps running forward. Behind the SUV, there is an enormous dinosaur chasing after it. The dinosaur is already running crazy, his sharpen white teeth exposed outside of his mouth, puff through his huge nostrils. He pulls out all the bushes in front of him and throw them to the SUV in vain. Camera moving forward into the SUV, father is driving, mother already falls into sleep against front passenger seat back, two kids sitting on the back seat watching Jurassic Park DVD in the car. Everything is so calm and smooth in the car, and no one knows what happens outside the car. SUV keeps running forward; image fades, headline of the ads pops out ... SUPER COOL! I wonder whether I can sell the idea to some car manufacture to make some money! :P
森林里感觉像侏罗纪公园除了trail两侧高大垂直耸立的redwood外，还有就是树枝上挂满的这些不知是算苔类还是蕨类的东东了。它们纵横交错，好像一张巫婆张开的大网。整个trail中我们几乎就没有碰到其他hiking的人，四周十分安静，只有偶尔会听到lady bird的几声鸣叫和一些不知从哪里发出的奇怪声音，感觉阴森森的。好在同行的两位男士非常有绅士派头，一前一后让我走在中间，可我还时不时会有blair witch project的感觉，常常要回头看看后面的人是不是还在。:P
Blair Witch Project
Beside giant redwood trees in the park, the other thing which makes me feel like Jurassic Park is this kind of moss hanging from the tree branches. They intertwined, like a huge evil net. During the whole trail, we nearly met anyone. It's so quiet in the park, we can only hear the chirps from lady birds and some unknown weird noises. It's kind of scary there. But my two companions are both gentlemen, they let me walk in the middle, so I can be sure that there is always someone walking in front of and behind me. But I sometime still feel like I'm in the movie -- Blair witch project, so I have to keep checking whether the person behind me is still there. :P
地上到处布满了这样的fern还时不时会有倒掉的redwood横挡在trail中间，有几处可能是因为刚倒不太久，还没有来得及被清理掉，不高不低的躺在trail上，树身高树皮滑，翻过去是不太可能了，只能从树身和泥地的空隙中钻过去，好在我个子小，没有什么大碍，只是苦了同行的一位大约6 feet高的老兄，背着硕大的相机包，几乎是匍匐前进了。
Fern
In the forest, there is this kind of ferns everywhere. There is also redwood trees falling down by the trail. Several places, the trail is blocked by those redwood trees. The tree trunk is big and has moss around the tree bark, which makes it too slippery to climb over. So we have to crawl through the space between the tree and the mud. Fortunately I'm petite, so it's no big deal for me to crawl through, but it's quite hard for W who is almost 6 feet tall and carries a big camera bag, he almost had to crawl through with his stomach on the mud.
The reward at the end of the trail -- a small water fall.
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