It was a crisp summer morning. We arrived to roads edged by red mulch, leading us to a mystical land hiding its secrets from within. As my family, friends and I began to inch our way in through the faded redwood gate, our technological world seemed to drift away. We were excited to enjoy the forest and all it brings.

Soon we were fully immersed in the forest, trees on either side towering above us like a skyscraper. Each different trying to fight for the light creeping through the ceiling, with every ray highlighting the next generation sprouting through the soil renewing the old, protecting the future. We walked on a wooden path above the ground and felt more natural compared to a paved path. This wasn’t apparent to me at the time but looking back I can appreciate the thought to keep the forest and natural as possible.

By now the path was splitting into two and we continued on the path and step by step we ascended seeing everything from a different view. Seeing the beauty of nature I felt tranquil, as if the world was irrelevant and only the sounds of the wind whirling around the trees and the trickling water flowing downstream. I remember taking pictures of anything, I was in awe. Venturing deeper on the path each step felt more serine making me more observant of the beauties surrounding me. The path was uneven with bare roots and stones.

Nearing the end of our journey reality began to set in, the sun brightening, and open land formed to meet the eyes of the future. We walked into the souvenir shop and on shelves everywhere were souvenirs made of wood, Each having different grain running from top to bottom representing the tree it came from. I couldn’t believe the beauty of each of the pieces could have come from something natural.

This was summer before junior year, I was 16, the trip with my family California opened my eyes to nature. The journey taught me to enjoy the simplicity, and beauties of nature and all it can bring. It has made me strive to conserve resources to protect forests like Muir that are being cut down, leaving animals without a place to live.