Limekiln State Park

As I indicated earlier, Limekiln State Park officially opened in time for the July 4th weekend. Dan Danbom, a photographer who has been featured on this blog in the past, and who tied with Ken Harlan for this quarter’s header photograph, came down the coast last week to enjoy his prize. Ken Harlan provides lunch for two at Lucia Lodge, or an SD card to the quarterly winner. (I can’t thank you enough for your generosity, Ken!)

Since Dan rarely gets this far South, he used the opportunity to check out Limekiln State Park, and sent me a report and some photos for your enjoyment.

From Dan: ” We also had wanted to see first hand the major construction of the highway, and also see how Limekiln had fared after the fire. When we drove by not long after the fire, it looked like it would be terrible, and it was closed. We usually do not have time to get that far south often.
Limekiln is different, but as we started up through the campground you could see the fire effects around, but a lot of the sorrel had come back nicely. Really we were very surprised how much the same it looked. We took our time up the Hare trail, and there were some big changes, and we could see where a lot of effort was put in to make the trail over, and improved. There are a lot of scarred and charred tree trunks and some left over fallen trees, branches that you could see would be hard to dispose of manually. But it really is still very pretty and a lot of the same character is still there.
It was a sunny day, and really contrasty, so not optimum for photos. (That is the one time I really wish for high thin clouds or some fog overcast, to give that open almost shadowless light for the forest.) But, I found a few selected vignettes of the creek, that still are pretty gorgeous in the shadows. And I think the redwood sorrel seems better than ever and really lush. So, it was a fun time taking some photos and enjoying a gorgeous piece of the coast. If you can stand a couple of more photos from me, I am attaching a couple of Limekiln for your review.”

Thanks Dan for the report, and the photos!

And as to his lunch at Lucia Lodge? This is what Dan had to say: “We read your comment that Limekiln was open or sort of, so since my schedule had changed unexpectedly, we decided to try to get an early start south, and take advantage of my Lunch (for Two) certificate for winning your header contest. Avis, mailed me a cert for lunch for two, at Lucia Lodge. So, despite the slow traffic at times, and the road stops, which really were not bad at all, we made it there for lunch. Very nice! It was a little hazy as the coast can be, but the view was stunning. We sat along the view table rail looking down the coast. Lovely lunch, be sure to thank Ken, (I will send Avis an email thanks too.) What a nice treat!”