He's way too excited about this hike.

This hike recap is going to be short and sweet, unlike the actual hike experience. Why? Because I really don't have much for photos because all we did was hike in the trees for hours and I was exhausted. We're still not sure how long we traversed the Sunset Trail at Big Basin Redwood State Park, but we are thinking it was more than 10 miles. And I did not sign up for that, nor was I prepared for that.

This started going south from the beginning. We started out at 4 p.m., which meant we'd be chasing daylight. Then, as we make it a little way, we get directed on a detour because of trail conditions. If my excellent map reader would have paid more attention to that sign, he'd have realized that we were about to embark on the long, strenuous option, and then repeat in on the way back.

So long hike short: we hiked forever, saw lots of trees, turned around at a pitiful waterfall, drank all our water, got bitten by mosquitos, thought we'd never make it back to headquarters and then stumbled our way the last mile in the dark.

Note that extra detour sign because Cole doesn't.

Cole chugs some of our precious water during the first part of our hike.

Honestly, this photo was the best thing to come of this hike.

Woo, trees. We get to the end of the line, and this is the view.

If we ventured a little farther down the trail, you could see this lovely waterfall.

We did the Sunset Trail right. We hiked it during sunset, and even a little past.

It's days later, and I'm still sore. Thank goodness for that one nice shot of Cole. Definitely the highlight of a stinky experience.