I spent some time recently hiking in the Big Basin Redwoods State Park. It's a beautiful park, the redwoods are, as expected, majestic and there are enough hiking trails to disperse the visitors for some quiet solitude. How different is the hiking here from Connecticut! The air is dry (hence breathable), the breeze is cool and mosquitos sparse - mainly confined to areas near standing water. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my monopod so pictures in the darker part of the woods are a tad blurry.. but hey, it's all fun regardless.

Redwoods.