Redwood Hike

Half Moon Bay, like Pacifica, is a coastal community south of San Francisco that took us some time to discover. For a few years, all I knew about Half Moon Bay was that it was the forgettable part of Coastal Highway 1 where the highway, unfortunately, veered inland, away from the beautiful cliffs and beaches along the coast. While passing through Half Moon Bay, I was always waiting to get out of town in order to get out of the 35 mph zone and back to the scenic route right at the Ocean's edge.
Then, one day, we decided to actually get off the highway while passing through Half Moon Bay. "Just because the highway goes inland doesn't mean there's no coastline here," we thought. We took the first right turn we came to and arrived at the coast. Sure enough, there is good reason for this town's name. A beautiful, (could you have guessed?) half-moon shaped beach of golden sand and orange cliffs stretches for miles along the Ocean side of this community. We were immensely impressed and never miss stopping here when going north or south along Highway 1.
And, again just like Pacifica, we first discovered the coast and later discovered the beauties that lie further inland. No more than 3 or 4 miles inland from Half Moon Bay, along a simple and easy to miss country road, is an incredible valley of redwoods. Since we first visited Purisima State Preserve for the first time, we've been back many a time. Much closer than the famous Big Basin Redwoods State Park, Purisima is a great alternative but that is not to say that this Preserve itself isn't amazing in its own right. The loop hike we do takes us through a gulch with one of the most impressive grove of redwoods we've yet found.
Rai, today, we took you to that very spot, right in the heart of Soda Gulch, a spot where a short ravine ends and young, but giant redwoods stand tall and plentiful on three sides while a quick stream gurgles under a rustic wooden bridge. As if to tell us "Stop, sit down and enjoy this beautiful place," you gave us a shout to let us know that it was time to feed you. Thank you, Rai. We've been here dozens of times and yet we've never stopped for more than a few minutes in this favorite spot of ours along the entire 6-mile long hike. You took your time feeding making sure that we would linger and soak in the grandeur of this place completely.
We've said it before, but thanks again for slowing us down and giving us the chance to fully be in the moment. We thought we were showing you something new today but it turns out that you were the one re-introducing us to this place. Thank you, son.