the natural bridge on the oregon coast and a peek into the redwoods - a west coast road trip by franklyne - part 6
“if you were a tree, what tree would you be? big tree!”
these were the words in 'i went on a road trip with a stranger’ by aiden and pip that stuck with me, just as much as natalie lynn's struggle to find the natural bridges on the samuel h. boardman state scenic corridor. re-living the adventures of my biggest inspiration and finally flying over the bridge holding evelyne’s hand felt living our own coming-of-age indie movie.
the granola couple. from the sand of the trail around us, frank’s hiking shoes look almost the same color as evelyne’s
We hiked through the foggy forest through an unofficial side trail to reach the stunning Natural Bridge, feeling like we were in a mystical movie set in the Pacific Northwest. While I was nervous about the steep cliffs, evelyne bravely stepped ahead to capture beautiful pictures for us. We sat on the bridge and flew over it with my drone, just like heyxnatalie. well, we didn’t know we were on the bridge until we saw it from the drone camera!
as we made our way back, the sun peeked through the fog and magically cleared it, bringing a completely new vibe to the scenery.
so, what did evelyne see?
evelyne’s view
another evelyne’s view
After our hike to the natural bridge, and a drive along the coast crossing into california, we headed into the Redwoods.
the natural bridges at samuel h. boardman state scenic corridor
it was a tough decision to try to see it in an afternoon! it was a tough decision to try to see it in an afternoon, and when we learned that some trails required a reservation in advance, we found a beautiful trail called the lady bird johnson grove trail. this magical 1.5 mile trail was filled with towering sequoia trees, and we were able to fully appreciate the peaceful atmosphere of the forest as we walked along, taking in the true natural wonder around us. we had the whole trail to ourselves at that time of the day. well, except for the mosquitoes.
have you hugged a tree this big?
or stood inside a tree?
both for evelyne and for me, it was our first time seeing trees this big. it reminded us of the first days that we met, when we talked about ‘i went on a road trip with a stranger‘, how aiden and pip had deep conversations under the trees and how we wanted to re-create our own version from the start. well, evelyne is not a stranger any more, fortunately. We hiked through the grove until the sun rays slowly faded, and then reluctantly made our way back to the car.
watch our tiktoks to the two places below:
with 🐝 by frank
read more
this blog post is part of our one month usa west coast road trip blog series. be sure to check out the other posts:
useful information
feeling inspired? here are some resources you might find useful if you would like to follow our footsteps:
the franklyne route: our entire route with every spot we went to
the natural bridge at samuel h. boardman state scenic corridor: google maps
lady bird johnson grove trail: google maps
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