Our Day in The Redwoods

We had a couple of choices for how to spend our extra day in the redwoods. There's a little traveled coast road that runs south out of Ferndale along a section of coastline called "The Lost Coast" before doubling back into Humbolt Redwoods. Alternatively, we could run north through Eureka and Arcata to Redwood National Park and Prairie Creek State Park to do a little hiking amongst the big trees. Gi really wanted time off the bike, so north we went. The day was beautiful, as you'll see from the photos, but had I calculated the distance up to Prairie Creek and back to Ferndale, I'm not so sure we would choose the same way again. I guess The Lost Coast will have to wait until next time.

It had been 40 years since my last visit to this area. In 1969 I visited Prairie Creek State Park with my 6th grade class from Bird Street Elementary (Oroville, CA) where we attended the dedication of the Children's Grove of redwoods and accepted them on behalf of the children of California. We drove through Prairie Creek on this visit via the Parkway, but didn't actually trek back in to see the Children's Grove. We did stop and hike the 1 mile loop through the Lady Bird Johnson Grove. The tree I parked the bike next to is at the parking lot near the trailhead -- it's big, but definitely not one of the really big ones. You can't help but hold these trees in awe, and whether you are looking up trying to see their tops or just stretching your arms out to gauge the size of their trunks it's hard not to think about what these forests must have been like before the loggers arrived on this coast.



























Gi was amazed by the ferns, which sometimes reached nearly over her head. The rhododendrons were still in full bloom , and we were treated to a variety of other wildflowers, including iris and foxgloves (where light from gaps in the canopyreached the forest floor). The trillium flowers were long since past, but the trifoliate leaves were the biggest I had ever seen. As with most of the other plants in this area, the combination of diffuse light, cool and stable temperatures, and lots of fog seems to lead to all sorts of giant plants.

Along the road between the Lady Bird Johnson grove and Prairie Creek we spotted a herd of Roosevelt elk grazing in a meadow just off the road. I remember the stories from when I was a kid how these elk were nearly extirpated, and I seem to recall that the total population dropped to less the 100 individuals. I had not seen them before, but I understand that the herd is now around 5000.

On the way back to Ferndale we stopped at Trinidad to get get drinks, and then drove down to the cliff above the harbor. It's a beautiful spot and it's easy to see why it has become a little enclave of expensive homes hugging the wind-swept cliffs. I had a flashback while I was there and recalled that this was the same beach where my 6th grasde class had gone exploring tidal pools after the redwood dedication ceremony. Humbolt State has their marine station there, and I remembered that our teacher had arranged for a "marine biologist" to accompany us on the beach to explain what we were finding amongst the rocks. It would have been great fun to go back down to poke around, but there wasn't time.

Back in the area near Ferndale I finally noticed the tsunami warning signs that we subsequently noticed along all the low-lying stretches of coast. Gi was too tired to bother looking back to smile -- sorry!

There's a huge, but mostly deserted beach about 3-4 miles west of Ferndale. Not much in the way of tidal pools, but a lot of sand that you can have pretty much to yourself most days. I tried to run the bike up a windy little road above the beach, but eventually found myself in a dead-end at some sort of fenced off naval facility.

Finally, it was back to town and dinner at the other real restaurant in town -- the Ivanhoe. Although the meal didn't quite rate s high as the night before at Curly's, my filet was excellent and Gi seemed to enjoy her past del mare.