As we drove through dappled shadows along a winding mountain road lined by some of the tallest trees on Earth, little did we realize that soon we would be lost in those same Redwood forests. Admittedly, there are few nicer places to be wandering on a mild August afternoon in California. The breeze was gentle, the sun smiled down on us, and the ancient trees stood tall and proud, and very much living. As we found our way, got lost once more, then found our way, and predictably, found another, longer way back to the carpark, we familiarized ourselves with the beautiful, natural surroundings, and, at the same time, got to know one another.
It was an interesting group of people, drawn together by their mutual interest in yoga, and love of nature and hiking, that met outside YIY on Sunday morning. It was slightly earlier than the usual 10am meeting time, owing to the hour’s length drive to the heart of the Redwood forest at Big Basin. However, this did nothing to curb the enthusiasm of those wanting to spend a relaxing day walking beneath Redwoods.
There were 10 people who made the journey. The first port of call, once we arrived at Big Basin, was Sempervirens Falls. With my camera, and companion, Chitra, a regular hiking yogi, who found herself for once, sans trusty walking stick, we initially brought up the rear. Predictably enough, we heard the falls before they materialized. Along the way we had come across many small camping sites. In fact one woman tending to her family’s campsite, haled us back from walking to nowhere in particular, along a path to more campsites. Our diversion inspired Tim Custis, YIY hiking co-ordinator, to suggest we take a yoga group camping next Summer.
The hike was gentle enough, and it was very pleasant in the shade of the Redwoods. We saw fog on the drive there, but it was blue skies during the hike. It was decided, on the whole, that Californian sunshine is good for the soul.
Anita and Daniel, from France and Brazil, respectively, had met on a previous YIY hiking trip. I had the pleasure of Anita’s company on the second leg of the walk. Lena, who derived a hippy-like pleasure from feeling the rough bark on the trunks of the Redwood trees, came from St. Petersburg, Russia. Another Daniel, a religious studies student, who was not sure what he would do with his degree, but was fairly certain he wasn’t headed for the priesthood or a teaching career, came to the conclusion, with Tim, that many people ended up in careers quite distinct from what they studied at university anyway. Diane, who lives at Skyline with her boxer, met us in the carpark. Diane, currently volunteering in HIV testing and counseling, is on the verge of changing path, owing to the high burnout rate of her chosen occupation. Janice, a scientist, from NASA, working on the Keppler Project, searching for planets orbiting stars, that might be large enough, and far way enough from the stars they ellipse, to support life, was a source of a wealth of information on healthy vegetarian diets. Marcia, from New York, found that her hometown, with its pubs and clubs, was not too dissimilar from Brazilian Daniel’s, in that it was perfectly feasible to sustain a near-nocturnal existence there. Daniel had the anecdote of arriving home at 5am with a loaf of bread, a token gesture for his mother, designed to indicate that he had just gotten up, rather than been out partying all night.
On the final leg of our hike we decided to check out the “mother of the forest”, and the slightly smaller, but no less impressive, “father of the forest”. They were the oldest, biggest Redwoods in Big Basin, still standing, though scarred by fires, which had burned long before surrounding vegetation came into existence. Thus ended our daytrip to the Redwoods. As we wound back along the road through the forests at 3:30pm, I decided that I couldn’t have got lost with a nicer group of people in a more picturesque part of the world.
By Eleanor Pearson
