Rainy day in the redwoods

It turned out that this day wasn't so bad after all. The high winds did not hit the forests, so I was able to hike and take a few pics. While it was raining, that was a bit difficult as I need to hold an umbrella over the camera on the tripod while I shoot AND I need both hands to adjust the tripod so the umbrella is balancing on my head, neck or back in some ridiculous way and half the time falls off! I need to protect the camera from the rain and also if the lens is tilted up (which it often is shooting in redwood forests), then rain droplets will get on the lens and essentially ruin the photo, so I have to be diligent to keep checking the lens for droplets. Amazingly, the rain stopped in the afternoon so I was able to shoot without the umbrella, although since the trees were still dripping, it was still "hazardous" to the lens.

I must say that it's rather appealing to hike in the redwood forest in the rain - just not ideal for photography. In a way, I wish I had left the tripod in the car and just hiked instead, but then I would feel I missed something in that I did not get any photos. I need the tripod to shoot in the darkness of the forest. It was nice though - the clean smell and crisp air, with the majestic redwoods and wild plants everywhere - lush and green. There weren't too many people either - just here and there. So here are a few shots.

It's supposed to rain again tomorrow, but I'm going to try and shoot and hike some more further south in the Humboldt State Park, which I haven't visited before. The park I went to today was Prairie Creek State Park and I highly recommend it for redwood viewing and hiking.

Due to the weather, I decided not to camp at Prairie Creek and am holed up in a motel in Arcata. A bit odd here - someone was just playing a trumpet (pretty well actually) and the carpet in the room seems to be wet. Not just in one spot, but the whole thing, like they just cleaned it. I thought of asking them to change my room, but decided to not bother and just wear shoes (already got two pairs of socks wet before figuring out it was the floor). Thought my socks were wet from hiking at first, but then the new pair got wet too. LOL I have brought a huge amount of stuff in here already and didn't feel like moving it to a new room. I'm out of here in the morning anyway. Wanted to do yoga too, but I guess I can dry out the mat afterward. Not as much fun to do yoga in a motel 6 compared to a redwood forest. But at this point, it would be really muddy and wet!