trip report by besthike editor Rick McCharles
One thing I love about Tom Stienstra‘s Moon Hiking California guidebook is his list of “best ____ hikes”.
Why doesn’t every hiking guidebook have a list of best hikes?
I wanted a recommendation for a giant Redwood hike and was impressed to find that Tom picked the Boy Scout Tree Trail over the more famous Stout Grove Trail, next door.
Tom Stienstra:
“This is the kind of place where a nature lover can find religion; where the beauty is pure and untouched. The trail is a soft dirt path — often sprinkled with redwood needles — that allows hikers to penetrate deep into an old-grouth redwood forest, complete with a giant fern understory and high-limbed canopy.”
“… The trail feels wonderfully remote and is one of the most pristine old-growth trails in existence. There are only about three other trails in the world where you can walk through old-growth redwoods for five miles or more without hearing traffic noise or seeing any sign of development. …”
I was happy to meet a father and his young daughter who were on a “big tree” hiking holiday from Washington State. Dad told me that Boy Scout would be their toughest hike, so they did it first.
Here’s the Boy Scout Tree … too huge to capture in a photo.
My best photos, so far this trip, I reckon. Click through to see the rest.
besthike.com 