Forest of Nisene Marks

I recently showed my work at the Sausalito Art Festival, and took the opportunity while I was in California to drive down to the Forest of Nisene Marks State Park in Aptos. The park is a beautiful and not well known forest, that was also the epicenter of the Loma Prieta earthquake, which occurred when I was working in San Francisco.

My favorite trail is the Aptos Creek Trail, which had been heavily damaged by the winter storms, so it was more than usually challenging. I hiked in about 6 miles, spent the night and then back again in the morning. It’s always a special treat to experience dusk and then dawn in a forest.

looking out through a stand of redwoods

This is pretty far in on Aptos Creek, as dusk was falling.

This is the spot that I had remembered from an earlier hike years before. I got there about an hour and a half late for the light I wanted though!

Dawn just coming into the forest right after I had woken up.

This is a wonderful little glade, looking up at the fog in the redwoods in the early morning.

Deep in, the forest is a mix of redwoods and bays, and has an Edenic feel.

This is high on the trail looking out southwest.

The canyon looking up towards the fog on the hills

This is one of the bridges along the road as you head into the park.