This sign marks the entrance to Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve.

Brenna has given me the go ahead to post a blog about one aspect of my post-bar exam existence. She has given me the opportunity to post a blog before, but I am just now taking her up on the offer. While I can't hope to match her writing prowess (and let's not talk about photo taking skills), I can at least share details of an enjoyable hike that I undertook last week.

Last summer, as I was preparing for a hike in Alaska with my law firm employer (Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan), Brenna accompanied me on several preparatory hikes. One of those hikes was through Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve. I decided to revisit the location for my first hike in the Bay Area in 2015.

Although the location was the same as last summer, Purisima Creek Redwoods Preserve, located in the Santa Cruz Mountains, has a variety of trail options. I selected a different route than the one that Brenna and I took last summer. Our prior excursion followed the North Ridge, Whittemore Gulch, and Harkins Ridge Trails for a 6.9 mile round trip from the northern trailhead along Skyline Boulevard.

My trek last Friday began from the southern trailhead along Skyline Boulevard. It wound down into the canyon following the namesake Purisima Creek for part of the route. Thankfully, heat wasn't a problem for much of the hike because of the many towering redwoods in the preserve.

The sun peeks between the twin trunks of one of the many redwoods alongside the trail.

Interestingly, the redwoods along the trail, despite towering high overhead, are only second-growth redwoods. According to the preserve's website, the original redwoods were logged around the turn of the 20th Century. The old stumps were still visible at many points with diameters that dwarfed the nearby trees. Some were big enough to allow a group to huddle around a campfire inside and toast marshmallows (although building a campfire would probably not be the best idea, considering the current state of the climate in California). For an idea about the size of the old-growth redwoods, take a look at Brenna's blog post from last summer that documented our trip to Muir Woods with Kady and Kimber.

The nine-plus redwoods that surrounded me as I took this picture all grew out of the same old-growth redwood stump.

After 1.9 miles along Purisima Creek Trail, I turned off onto Craig Britton Trail. The shift away from a steady downslope was, perhaps counterintuitively, a welcome reprieve for my legs. The trail was cool, shady, and flat for a stretch as it followed the curve of the canyon. Eventually, it led out into a clearing that provided decent views of the surrounding area but no protection from the sun.

I was a little reluctant to leave the shady confines of the redwood forest.

The Craig Britton Trail ended after 2.6 miles, and I turned west onto the Harkins Ridge Trail. This was the only portion of the journey that retraced the route that Brenna and I took last summer. However, I was traveling in the opposite direction, so the steepest slopes were much less daunting going down than they had been going up last year.

This trail took me to the bottom of the canyon (or at least the bottom for my purposes). It also reconnected with Purisima Creek. The flow of the creek wasn't particularly strong, but it did provide a soothing aural background for this portion of the hike.

Purisima Creek slowly flows down the canyon.

The problem with taking a trail that starts at the hike's highest point is that the second half of the hike can prove grueling. Following a short break by the creek, I turned onto the Purisima Creek Trail and hiked the 4.1 miles uphill to the parking lot. Thankfully, the well-maintained trail provided adequate traction and minimal encumbrances. Plus, the first two miles of uphill climb provided the prettiest scenery of the hike: redwoods and ferns in the valley carved by the creek.

A picture of a fern that I snapped during a break from the uphill trudge.

All told, the hike covered about 10.6 miles. The distance to the bottom was 6.5 miles, followed by 4.1 miles back out.

I'm a big fan of pros and cons lists to evaluate things. Considering Brenna's aversion to them, I think it's my duty to use one to evaluate my hike through Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve. This site can't exist for more than five years without a pros and cons list, right?

Pros:

• Doable in half a day (I started at 1:40 p.m. and was done by 5:20 p.m.)
• Beautiful scenery
• Well-maintained trails
• A nice bubbling creek
• Mostly shaded, which is welcome on warmer days (or any day if you're extra sweaty like me)
• A feeling of grandeur from gazing up at the towering redwoods

Cons:

• A feeling of insignificance from gazing up at the towering redwoods
• The hardest part of the hike is at the end
• No grand vistas
• Access to the trailhead from the south bay requires traversing windy, slow roads

Verdict: If you're in the Bay Area and have a free afternoon, do this hike. You won't regret it.

This is the end of the trail for me.