dare2go

Northern Californian Coastal Redwoods


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After another refreshing night's sleep, we headed north on the 1 again. As we had a bit more energy we decided to stop in the Van Damme State Park (near Montecino) to take a walk in the Fern Canyon, where there is a pygmy forest of cypress trees. We discovered that the walk was about 8 miles round trip, so we didn't quite reach the forest, as it was at the end of the trail. But we had been sitting for a couple of days and decided that we would walk along the canyon until we felt like turning back. It was a very pretty walk along the Little River, which is actually a spawning site for a threatened species of salmon. The banks are covered in all types of ferns and a lot of blackberries - not sure if these are native though. There were also more redwoods to be seen further up the banks.
This coast is rather spectacular, with lots of rocky outcrops in the ocean. The fog lifted occasionally so that we could enjoy the views! About 50 miles north of our Little River stop, the highway heads inland and joins up with the 101, which we would then drive all the way into Oregon and up the coast. The highways join near the tiny town of Leggett, and we found a campsite in the nearby Standish-Hickey State Recreation Area. The recreation offered is mostly centred on the Eel River, which the campground is situated along, and includes a swimming beach. We were most surprised to see people wandering back to their sites in swimmers and carrying various floating devices, when we were fully clothed! It wasn't quite as cold as by the ocean - it is about 12-15 miles inland - but still too cold for us to contemplate swimming in a cold river (or even wearing short sleeves). Sometimes I am glad that I'm not a big swimmer, because I think I would have to buy a thermal wetsuit (if there is such a thing) to satisfy my passion here!!!
Tuesday brought with it no real improvement in the weather, but we did get to drive through Humboldt Redwoods State Park, along the Avenue of the Giants. The trees here are really big - often taller than the Sequoias, although not as voluminous. We were in a bit of a hurry, because we planned to make it to Eureka in time to see the Germany/Italy semi final of the World Cup, showing at midday, local time. But we made enough time to stop several times and gawk at these amazing trees. We were almost to Eureka when Juergen spotted a roadside sign advertising the Bear River Casino. We left the highway and drove in to ask if they had the soccer on - they assured me that they would put it on their biggest screen for us. By the time we had parked the truck and headed inside, it was just about to begin. We sat in a fairly empty bar and had a television all to ourselves to watch the game. Nobody else in the entire place was interested in it! I guess you don't usually go to a casino to watch a football match - unless you are somewhere where they allow you to bet on it! The unfortunate demise of Germany in the final minutes didn't upset us too much and we were very grateful to the Indians operating the casino for being so solicitous of us. They even turned the sound up over the piped music so we could hear the commentary. And the lunch we had was good and reasonably priced.
We drove the few miles into Eureka and stopped to explore their old town. Being the Fourth of July, it was difficult to find a park, as they were having a street party in the old town centre. As an Australian I found it a little ironic to be spending the American Independence Day in a town called Eureka.
The old town has some really nice buildings and they have mostly been tastefully restored. We spent some time just wandering the streets checking them out. The Carson Mansion on the top of the hill is one not to be missed! Across the road is a house built by Carson for his son as a wedding present - it's painted pink in its present incarnation, but I don't think it was the original colour. Included in the construction was a smaller house built behind the main house and legend has it that it was the house built for the son's mistress - it seems in those days fathers thought of everything!!! We drove a little further north and spent the night at Patrick's Point State Park in a thick forest by the sea.
On the morning of July 5 we woke to fog so thick it was dripping and it almost sounded like rain. I told Juergen we were going to drive that day until we found sunshine - he looked at me in disbelief! We drove on through the fog towards Oregon. The 101 passes through the Redwood National Park so we had more tall trees to look at, although their tops weren't always visible! Along the road we spotted a group of elks lying on the grass in front of someone's house. We stopped to look, as did many others, and they just sat there, almost like statues. They were the first elks we had really seen (except for one that was disappearing into the forest on the side of the road some time back). I found it amazing that they were totally unbothered by all the people looking at them and that they were so at home in somebody's garden (with all gates opened)!
We crossed into Oregon in time to find somewhere to have lunch. It was still overcast, but a thin line of blue was showing in the sky, just at the horizon over the ocean...