Most pictures by Yvonne.

My friend Yvonne is in Monterey for the Internet Librarian conference, and we decide to do a hike in Big Basin, which I've never been to. Scanning the guide book, I pick the Berry Creek Falls trail, which is 10.5 miles and 'strenuous' (though I'd describe it more as 'easy'). The trailhead is next to the visitor center.

It's a beautiful hike, mostly through forests of immense redwood trees, sometimes interspersed with oaks and Douglas fir, passing by two small but very beautiful waterfalls.

At one point, the sawed-off face of a fallen redwood has 'Tree thumps -->' written in chalk. I'm baffled by this. I hit the tree with my fist to see if it thumps. A booming/creaking sound immediately comes, not from that tree but from somewhere being me. Y and I are momentarily freaked out. We stand still for a minute, and the thumping sound recurs every 30 sec or so. Maybe two trees rubbing against each other, I don't know. It's a bit Blair Witch-like.

Later, the trail emerges briefly into sunny manzanita-populated chaparall. The trail loses and gains about 1,000'.

An outcrop of sandstone with carvings

We drive back on 236 to 9, which is quite scenic; the road is very windy and sometimes narrows to 1.5 lanes.

Bonus: some pictures Yvonne took around Monterey: