I spent the night in Crescent City, California, on my way to somewhere else last summer and was blown away when I realized I was surrounded by redwoods. Within a couple of hours, I’d decided I needed to go to a place called Stout Grove before I left the area. I got directions from the local McDonald’s very early the next morning and drove up Howland Hill Road into Jedediah Smith State Park. This is the third photo I took of coastal redwoods ever (although many, many more followed).

I’d visited the giant sequoias years before and was distinctly unimpressed, but fell in love with the coastal redwoods almost immediately. I went back again this summer — and can’t wait for my third visit (maybe in 2018).