Big Basin is by far one of my favorite state parks in the entire country. I spent what seemed like a "brief" gap year from college working for a startup in the

Big Basin is by far one of my favorite state parks in the entire country. I spent what seemed like a "brief" gap year from college working for a startup in the Bay Area and spent all of my weekends hiking / camping. In 2016/2017 there was a huge rain season that caused washouts but I was dumb enough to drive all the way over the foothills to Big Basin. It was probably unwise but I'd never seen a forest explode with life like that before. Everything from the moss, to grasses and ferns all almost glowed with color. Mushrooms erupted from the ground almost anywhere you looked. And new waterways had recently cut through the forest. It was an incredible sight to witness first-hand. I was into hiking before, but my time in Big Basin was a low-key religious experience. It was the first time I truly looked at a beautiful forest and thought to myself "why on earth would you cut all of this down to build ugly tract homes?" I'm sad to hear about the CZU fires in 2020, however I'm of the opinion that fires happen and no ecosystem is intended to exist as we experience it forever. As I've gotten older, I've found memories I can no longer physically revisit in the same condition are some of my strongest and most cherished. That said, I hope conservationist can help support the forest as it heals.