Where do I start and how do I begin to recapture the beauty that I witnessed last week while travelling through the most beautiful part of of the world?
It began when I moved out to Seattle and realized that there were trees even larger than the ones I saw here on the Olympic peninsula. Lisa had explained that all the giant redwood trees were in northern California and south Oregon. At the beginning of this summer I decided to take a week off of life(work, social engagements, gigs,etc) to drive down to northern California. The week fell perfectly in between house sitting gigs, so I had to do it. I have also decided that I must do this big road trip with my car before I sell it. I am planning to go car less by the end of the year!
Portland seems to be my launching pad these days. I spent a night in the Rose City with my friend Molly, woke the next day with a hearty breakfast at the Stepping Stone, then headed south. I started on interstate 5, but decided to cut across through Corvallis over to Highway 101, because it's more scenic, plus I had never been on that part of Highway 101 before.
Above are two photos from the southern Oregon coast, just north of the boarder on Hwy 101.It was a misty, chilly drive along the Oregon coast, as I passed rugged, rocky beaches. As it grew darker on my first day of driving, I had driven 8 hours from Portland to the bottom of Oregon, I decided to pull over for the night and camp at Harris Beach Campground. It was a Oregon State Park Campground just outside of Brookings. It was not right on the beach, it was on the east side of Hwy 101.
The next morning I set off to buy some camp food, instant espresso (don't recommend this stuff), oatmeal, raisins, pastas and soup. I crossed over into California and at the boarder they ask about produce and agricultural products. Not more than a few miles after crossing the boarder, a state trooper pulled me over for talking on my cell phone. I was two cars behind him when he turned his lights on. It took him about 15 minutes to write the ticket, I really was pissed that I had to wait so long. Receiving my first EVER citation for talking on the cell phone seemed pretty laughable. Welcome to California, this law has probably been in effect for over 10 years now. Just received notice that the ticket will be $141! EVERYTHING in California was expensive: gas was not less than $3.50 per gallon(compared to 2.60-ish in WA and OR) and camping at state parks was between $35-$45 per night for a tent.
After getting stopped, I figured that I should get out of my car for awhile and get some exercise. I did the Yurok Coastal Loop trail and saw some massive banana slugs. They were so gooey and yellow. I had never in my life before seen slugs so large. It was wonderful to hike along the moist coast as the sun began to push its way through the clouds.
After doing that short hike, I got in my truck and drove on further into the Redwoods National Park. There are parts of the national park that are actually California State parks. All of the campgrounds within the boundaries of the national park were operated by the California State Parks commission, so they were not free. There were options for wilderness camping in the National Park, free of charge. They limit you to 5 nights in one spot and require you to obtain a permit for your vehicle from the visitors center. I got one at the Elks prairie visitors center, but ended up just camping at Gold Bluff Beach Campground.
Above was the first glimpse I had of the massive redwood trees that I drove through for the next week. At first it was completely strange and a little scary to be surrounded by such massive objects that were not made of metal, stone or glass. I believe this was actually the 8 mile road that led to the Gold Bluffs Beach campground. It was completely unpaved, rocky and narrow. One night I decided to go out and get beer and some food and found myself driving this eight mile stretch in the dark, not fun. It was completely dark; the trees blocking the moonshine out.
After driving 8 miles through the forest on the dirt road, I arrived at a state park gate, paid for camping, $35 a night for a tent and then continued driving. The next 4 miles was along a grassy prairie type of terrain, forests to my left, ocean to my right. Above are the photos I took when I arrived at the beach. I love beaches. I think I could spend the rest of my life on the beach, no problem. The water was frigid, but the salty air and wind were refreshing. Looking up and down the coast, I could see misty cliffs and redwoods growing beyond them. It was desolate and magical, no modern building structures or high rises.
My first hike in the Elks Prairie State park was through Fern Canyon, in the late afternoon, a few hours before sunset. I set up my tent really quickly, then hiked down to the Fern Canyon signs and trail head. Entering the canyon was like entering a wonderland of plants and sounds. It was a long natural corridor cut into large stone and then covered with so many different species of ferns.
After hiking through Fern Canyon, I went back to the campground where I had set up my tent and watched the end of the sunset from the beach. It was perfect, I cannot tell you enough how much I LOVE beaches. Below is a photo of my campsite on the beach, the view from my tent was breathtaking.
Below is a photo of the beach in Trinidad, California, where I spent a lovely afternoon drinking beer and lounging on the beach and watching waves. I had a little break on my way down to the Humboldt Redwoods State Park south of Arcata.
After stopping in Arcata at the natural foods store and driving quite a bit more, I reached the Humboldt redwoods just as the sun was setting. Recommended by a good friend, I searched out Albee Creek Campground, a secluded campground amongst some of the largest redwood trees. This campground was absolutely great, except for the fact that it cost $45 a night for tent camping! Outrageous. There was no camp host, so I opted out of those expensive fees, figuring I will already be contributing to the state of California with the ticket I received for talking on my cell phone.