The fires ravaging these forests is really sad, although I was pretty meh on living in the Bay Area, the immediate access to amazing state wildlife parks was ab

The fires ravaging these forests is really sad, although I was pretty meh on living in the Bay Area, the immediate access to amazing state wildlife parks was absolutely unparalleled. IMO, who cares if it's torching scrubby LA hills or hollywood mansions? My visit to Big Basin after huge rains in 2017 (arguably a stupid decision) was basically the first time I could say I had a "religious" experience in nature. Forests are most alive after a big rain, the entire day I spent there is absolutely seared into my mind. Every conceivable part of the forest was alive, surging out of the ground and out to take a look at what was new. It's important to note that tragedy is an all too common step in evolutionary time for forests, this is the way that they continue to evolve and move forward. The last time I visited was after huge mud slides and rivers overrunning their banks. Many of the trails were blocked by 12' diameter trees that had fallen when the soil beneath their roots became too waterlogged or washed away. I can only hope that these forests will continue to thrive beyond my lifetime. I will say though, visiting Big Basin really made me question how we could actually cut down forests like this just to build stupid houses. And we still are, logging trucks and signs for logging companies are all over the roads surrounding Big Basin.