| A very large elk, photographed from a safe vantage point behind a pickup truck in one of the state redwood parks along the northern California coast. | |
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| Giant redwoods. |  |
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Late afternoon sunshine through the trees. |  |
| I turned a corner in the trail and surprised another elk. It was lying down when we met, but it stood up while I was steadying my camera against the tree at the left of the picture. The elk was about 8 feet away. |  |
| A closer view, courtesy of the optical zoom. |  |
The trees are huge. I pressed my sneaker (size 10 1/2) into service to give a sense of scale. |  |
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| Later I saw trees as big at the base as this one without the upward taper, but I was in too much of a hurry to take more snapshots. I thought my 4-mile hike would get me back to my car shortly before the park gates locked, but I had read the map incorrectly, and my route was actually about 8 miles. |  |
| I ran to the coast, where I stopped to catch my breath and take a few more pictures. The trail from here leads southward between the redwood forest and the Pacific Ocean. |  |
| A strip of grassland separates the forest from the ocean. |  |
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Looking north at a strange rock formation. |  |
| More grassland. |  |
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Waterfall over a cliff that marks much of the border between forest and grassland. |  |
| Self-portrait. The sun is almost setting behind me. |  |
A few minutes' walk farther south. |  |
Northward view along the trail I've taken. |  |
| Southward view. |  |
Golden Gate Bridge, after a long late-night drive from the redwood forest. |  |
Crossing the bridge in my trusty Kia. |  |
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