Hiking in The Redwoods

August 1, 2013, Redcrest, California. We have finally worked our way into the heart of the California Redwoods with a one week stay right on The Avenue of The Giants. Dan's sister lives in this neck of the woods, and for one week all of Dan's brothers and sisters, their spouses, a couple of cousins, and assorted nieces and nephews converged in Redcrest, Scotia, and Weott for a big family reunion. The giant redwoods are beyond amazing. All the usual words to describe them don't begin to come close, but here goes: towering, majestic, humbling, sacred, beautiful, awe-inspiring. As many times as we come to this area, I never tire of walking among these giants. This time around we took a 10-mile hike through the Rockefeller Forest, the largest remaining old growth redwood forest in the world. Needless to say, this was a gorgeous, impressive hike. I simply cannot fathom the vast lives of these trees, the immensity of change in the world from the time they were saplings, up until now. Hopefully some of our pictures have captured a small glimpse into the magnificence of these trees.

Lost Coast

July 27, 2013. Summer might be just 5 weeks old, but our season on the Oregon Coast has come to an end, and we are back in California. Seven weeks flew right by and I'm not quite ready to leave. I'm sure we haven't seen the last of Oregon, but for this time around it was time to continue south. Our first stop in California was the Benbow RV Park and Golf Resort in Garberville. After driving past this place numerous times and thinking it might be fun to actually stay there, we decided to use the 5 days we shaved off our Gold Beach visit and check Benbow out. Having always wanted to visit the Lost Coast area of Northern California, this gave us the perfect location to start from. The Lost Coast is a natural and development-free area of the state's north coast in Humboldt and Mendocino counties. The steepness and related geo-technical challenges of the coastal mountains make this stretch of coastline too costly for state highway or county road builders to establish routes through the area, leaving it the most undeveloped and remote portion of the California coast. Without any major highways, the communities of Petrolia, Shelter Cove, and Whitethorn remain secluded from the rest of California. The day after we arrived in Garberville we took a drive over for a day trip to Lost Coast. Rugged, beautiful, wild and secluded, we had much fun exploring Shelter Cove and walking on Black Sand Beach.

Jet Boat Ride on The Rogue River

For our last big adventure along the Oregon Coast we took an 80-mile round trip jet boat ride along the scenic Rogue River, an excursion offered by Jerry's Rogue River Jets out of Gold Beach. Established in 1958, the three Boice brothers (Jerry, Alden, and Court) were the first to install and use hydro-jet pumps in commercial passenger boats on the Rogue River. This nature-based jet boat trip was a blend of rugged scenery, abundant wildlife, Pacific coastal estuary, and adventurous whitewater jet boating, personalized throughout with entertaining commentary from our captain, Tim Brueckner. During our ride we spotted lots of deer, bald eagles, osprey, harbor seals, blue herons, and a kingfisher. Captain Tim was very good at pointing out birds and animals that might otherwise go unnoticed, and giving us the history and information of the surrounding area. Of course, we never knew if he was joking or not, especially after his extremely detailed explanation of the so-called Madrone Monkeys, an endangered species that live off the bark of the madrone trees along the Rogue. (Check out this link for the entire tall tale: American Folklore: Madrone Monkeys). Mid-way through the ride we stopped in the tiny town of Agness for a buffet lunch at a local restaurant. Jerry's jets actually haul freight and mail to Agness 6-days a week, much more expedient than using the somewhat long and precarious land route. The ride back to Gold Beach was faster and wetter than the trip up river, with Captain Tim doing his best to splash water onto the boat at every opportunity. Not so bad on a hot summer day!

Secret Beach

During our Arch Rock hike (see previous post), we were lucky enough to come upon Secret Beach at low tide, allowing us to scramble down some rocks to enjoy our picnic in a delightful almost hidden alcove, replete with a waterfall and trailing stream which trickled out to meet the waves. Twice each day this beach is re-sculpted, with the incoming tide washing up the shore and swallowing the stream, and the newly formed stream re-carving its path with each low tide. One wonders how "secret" this tiny beach really is, since we found it not only on the trail map, but also along the trail itself. Still, we were the only ones there that day, and it isn't all that easy to access. You have to be comfortable with a scrambling short climb down, and back up the rocks that separate the trail from the beach. Well worth the effort, but watch the tide! You don't want to get stuck at high tide waiting for the waves to recede before getting back on the trail.