Monday, October 31, 2016

We moved south 139.5 miles (80,150.3 total) to Richardson Grove RV Park.  It was adjacent to Richardson Grove State Park, California's southernmost stand of virgin Redwoods.  The picture below is of highway 101 passing through the state park.  It was less than a mile from our home for the next two weeks.

Timing was on our side since the campground has more than 2,000 campers during summer month concerts in the area.  In late October the campground was nearly empty - some nights it was just us and our next door neighbors (our daughter Kate and her husband Mike).

The closest "large" town (population just under 1,000) was Garberville about 8 miles away.  Their claim to fame was that they are the "Pot Capital of the World".  At least they had a grocery store.

Our camp hosts introduced us to a new term "trimmigrants".  Trimmigrants flock to the area from all over the world to harvest the marijuana grown in the hills around Garberville.  Our timing put us right in the middle of their busy season so trips to the grocery store included a good amount of people watching.

Some of the best of the northern California area was close by including the beautiful Avenue of the Giants in Humboldt Redwoods State Park. The area was remote enough that we had no cell phone coverage, no television reception and the park had no cable.  Of course, that meant no internet except what we could get through the park's wi-fi.  It had such a limited range we had to sit on the recreation hall porch to get anything.  In retrospect, it was really a good time to be disconnected so we could ignore the political rancor consuming the country.

Friday, October 28, 2016

Today's plan was to drive the Cal Barrel Scenic Drive in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.  A high clearance, four-wheel drive vehicle was recommended, but we were told our car should not have any trouble. Unfortunately, the road was closed for the season the day before we arrived, so our only option was to walk.  

The grandeur of these magnificent trees cannot be adequately captured in pictures, but that did not stop us from trying.

Maybe it was good we were walking instead of driving.  It was one narrow road with steep drop-offs and I did not see any pull outs to help with passing vehicles.

The gnarled and twisted bark on the trees was very fascinating.  I have no idea what caused the huge nodules and growths we found on some of the trees.  It was also wild to think about how many centuries these trees have been growing - what if our lifespan was 2,000 years?

I had thought the moss was only on the Big Leaf Maples, but once we started really looking we saw the moss attached itself to many of the Redwoods as well.  The texture of the Redwood bark just made it less noticeable.  I think if we stayed here long enough the moss might grow on us too.  Lately, I have been fantasizing about spending some time in a nice dry desert climate again.

Saturday, October 27, 2016

It looked like there was another beautiful sunset possibility, so we made a quick run up to the Requa overlook.  It was actually pretty mild - no howling winds or spitting rain.  We met some folks from Iowa who were exploring northern California's coast by car after flying into San Francisco.  Even though they were able to enjoy a beautiful sunset it sounded like their trip was a bit hectic and rushed.  I think I prefer the much slower pace of seeing the country a bit at a time through the windshield of our home!

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Coastal Drive on the south side of the Klamath River delta is another nice drive with several impressive overlooks.  The road to the High Bluff Overlook Picnic area is steep, narrow and winding, but well worth the effort - just drive slowly and watch for crazies.  We were here three years ago and might have had a prettier day, but I mean, come on, the coast is absolutely gorgeous rain or shine!

We continued the loop drive (Coastal Drive connecting to the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway was closed except to hikers) and passed some interesting old barns that were actually WWII radar installations made to look like farm buildings.  There was no angle where the buildings looked like anything more interesting than a patch of wall or rooftop.  I don't know how much we could have seen since we were not in the mood for a hike down a steep, wet, overgrown trail and we were more in the mood for exploration by car.

In the picture below, the boundary line between the mix of the Klamath River fresh water and the salty sea water was evident in the slight color difference.

On the northern side of the river mouth is the Requa overlook we like to frequent anytime there is a chance of an interesting sunset.  Today the sky was too overcast to wait around and watch the sun slip below the horizon.

Monday, October 24, 2016

There was the potential for a nice sunset - something that did not seem to happen often this time of the year - so we drove up to the Requa Overlook.  It was windy and cold and gorgeous!

Sunday, October 23, 2016, Fern Canyon

Today we made the trek to Fern Canyon in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.  It included more than 6 miles on Gold Bluffs Beach Road, a narrow unpaved road through old growth forest on the coast. Our Honda Fit managed to cross a couple of shallow streams to get to the trailhead.  There was a surprising amount of traffic considering the state of the road, but everyone was well behaved, so there were no issues.

The trail was not well marked, so it was good that Joani and Katie had read that we were supposed to just hike up the stream.

I tried to keep my shoes dry for a while.  It was hopeless as the stream kept getting wider.  I pictured myself slipping on a log and falling into the water with my camera, so I gave up and just walked through the two-inch deep water.  My shoes had just about reached the end of their useful life, so getting them wet couldn't really make them any worse.

I managed to keep my feet dry all the way up the creek and almost all the way back.  By the end, I was just walking down the middle of the creek.

The canyon walls were absolutely vertical, often 50 feet high and completely covered in ferns.  I don't think we have seen anything like it before.

Less than a quarter mile up the canyon we were blocked.  One young lady told me you could climb over the logjam, but it was tricky and the ferns were much less impressive on the other side.  I was convinced - this was as far as I went.

Almost back to the car, Joani spotted this big bull elk just a few dozen yards off of the trail. He was not intimidated by us at all and even took a break from eating to pose for me.

The Big Tree was on the way home and just a few minutes walk from a convenient parking lot along the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway.  I had my tripod handy, so I was able to get this shot of a somewhat reluctant group to cap off the day's adventures.

Saturday, October 22, 2016

Finally, a break in the rain allowed us to do a little hiking.  The Big Leaf Maple trees covered in moss are one of Joani's favorites and we found this grove of them along the Newton B. Drury Scenic Drive through the Prairie Creek Redwood State Park.

You've got to love it when the rangers or trail engineers make use of a massive fallen redwood to support a bridge over the creek.

The trees in the picture below make me look pretty small by comparison.  These trees were not that big compared to some we have seen.

Along the trail, we saw quite a few interesting and colorful mushrooms. Joani included a couple of her favorites for today's post.

That's a big tree when it is more work to cut and remove a section of a fallen tree than it is to tunnel through it.

Katie noticed a spot on the creek that was "mirror" still, reflecting the forest canopy, creating a misty Monet like scene.

The bark of this fallen tree was gone, revealing this unusual grain.  I would love to see a cross-cut of this huge log.

Some research is needed to understand why the bark is twisted vertically on some trees while it is perfectly straight on others.

We might have stepped on some Banana Slugs if Katie had not been so observant.  There were three of them about 4 or 5 inches long slowly oozing across the pathway.

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

We had planned to see the big trees again in some more early morning fog but we got started late and there was no hint of fog.  Instead, we just continued south until we reached Eureka where we did a little shopping and banking.  Someone went to a lot of trouble many years ago planting all of the Eucalyptus trees for miles along the stretch of Highway 101 just north of town.

Heading home, we passed a large herd of elk.  I missed the first turn but as the road curved there were more elk and I had another opportunity to exit the highway.  It turned out to be a loop road circling back to where we first saw the elk.  Clearly, these elk were not camera shy.  There was probably a total of 50 or more elk grazing and posing for pictures.  They just wandered across the road like they knew they had the right of way.  I think they would have bolted if any of the cars moved too quickly, but everyone was cool and nobody tried to get out of their car.

I would expect to see this at dawn, but it was 2:15 in the afternoon.  Stone Lagoon Red Schoolhouse is located 6 miles south of Orick in front of the Elk Country RV Resort & Campground on Hwy 101.

A few miles further north we visited the Lady Bird Johnson Grove.  We visited it three years ago but only saw it through the rain.  It was much more pleasant today.  I always struggle with the best way to capture the scale of the ancient giants.  I think, ultimately, it just has to be experienced in person!