Tiptoe Falls — A Portola Redwoods Gem
Not far in miles, but worlds away from Silicon Valley and San Francisco's South Bay, you can find the 2800 acres of Portola Redwoods State Park, including 18 miles of trails, meandering creeks, small waterfalls, huckleberries, and the subject of this image: swordferns over Tiptoe Falls. Sometimes the smallest loom large. Today, this was true. I got to the park early, after a long winding descent from the ridge above. Almost no one was here. I was the first car at the lodge, and I would be alone for several hours more.
I wandered along the trails, sometimes doubling back to re-examine a prospect. Toward the end of the day, I found my way to Tiptoe Falls, a small waterfall surrounded by lush moss and sword ferns. The afternoon light was streaming through the trees, the water splashed and gurgled. Color was rich and lush. This is not a redwood. This is how the forest breathes beneath the redwoods.
Provenance: Phase One XT | Rodenstock 32mm
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Not far north in the same Santa Cruz Mountains, another way into the redwoods: the Cathedral Redwoods at Felton and the train through the grove.
Further north in the California redwood range, where the falls run deeper into old-growth forest: Trillium Falls in Redwood National & State Parks.
For another long-exposure study of water in California's redwoods, in a Sonoma grove further north: Armstrong Woods: Lucem In Nemore — slow water in an old-growth Sonoma grove.
For another California ancient-tree encounter that rewards the effort of getting there: the Northern Sentinels of Placer County — ancient sequoias, defiant and remote.
Fine Art Redwoods Photography Print
Swordferns arch over Tiptoe Falls in Portola Redwoods State Park.
