Berry Creek Falls

location: Big Basin State Park, California
distance: 11.89 miles

a fortuitously-timed search for plane tickets allowed me to escape the frigid wintery Wisconsin weather for a nice long weekend in San Francisco in mid-February. Andy had never been, though his only requested activity for the weekend, beyond relaxing, was to see "big trees." initially, I figured we'd head over the Golden Gate Bridge for Muir Woods and a leisurely walk throughout the national monument. being February, I figured the crowds wouldn't be too overwhelming.

as planning progressed, however, it seemed less convenient to head north to Muir to see redwoods - not the least because off-peak season public transit is understandably limited. we were heading south to Santa Cruz for dinner with a good friend of mine from college, for one thing, and for another a quick search for "good hikes near San Francisco" turned up a great list of options that did not include Muir Woods.

ultimately, we headed out for Big Basin State Park located northwest of Santa Cruz (a destination heartily endorsed by my Santa Cruz friend) on a twisty country road that kept getting narrower and narrower until the hairpin turns only left room for one very slow-moving compact-sized car at a time. I only half-remembered the name of the recommended trail, but a ranger was able to help us out when given our parameters of "afternoon hike of about 10 miles." he gave us an appraising look, glanced at the clock, and pointed out the Berry Creek Falls loop - a strenuous 10 mile hike that would take us past 3 waterfalls.

we got out of civilization somewhat faster than I anticipated and, consequently, were somewhat underprepared fuel-wise for a strenuous 10 mile hike. we picked up sandwiches (and a bag of what proved the best-tasting peanut butter M&Ms of my life) from the camp store before heading out on the trail.

as promised, there were redwoods - and lots of them. not the giant sequoias of farther north but impressive all the same, and many sporting blackened trunks or limbs from long-ago fires. the path roughly followed creekbeds, and had us climbing up and down slopes with regularity -- easy to believe the "strenuous" classification -- taking us from muggy, verdant, with thick undergrowth, to nearly arid ridgetops with exposed bedrock and sandy soil.

we took a break just shy of the midway point on a bench overlooking the namesake falls -- the first of the three we'd see. refueling helped a lot, as did the promise of more waterfalls and the hush of the redwoods and quieter trails as we returned back on what seemed slightly less-traveled trail -- or perhaps everyone else had gotten an earlier start and beat us out of the woods!

as incredible as the views, the hike took plenty out of us and we were both ready to take a breather once we returned to the car, and ready for a hearty dinner by the time we reached the wharf in Santa Cruz. but, as Andy put it, if we'd only done an 8 mile hike (which was probably about the distance where we decided we were about ready to be done) we wouldn't ever push ourselves to a point of exhaustion. and if we have any hope of keeping up with hiking, we've definitely got to keep pushing ourselves.