Redwood National and State Parks

Redwoods near the Lady Bird Johnson Grove

We awoke early as usual and did a few things in the room before leaving a little after 7 pm. Our room in the Eureka Super 8 was fine, but wasn’t in the best part of town. It was, however, clean and quiet, which is all we really need. We drove north on Highway 101 and stopped at Clam Beach just north of Eureka. There was a long walk through the dunes to reach the ocean, and we walked along the waterline at low tide and looked for shells and sand dollars. There was a lot of fog making the views limited, but the wind wasn’t bad as we walked along in shorts and T-shirts. We got back to the rental car and continued north on US 101.

Redwood forest

Our first stop was the Redwood National and State Parks Visitor Center. We bought a couple of postcards to send back to family, and I bought a Redwood National Park windbreaker. The rangers at the visitor center were very helpful and gave us a lot of information on the park. We went out of the back of the visitor center to walk along the beach. Because there was so much fog, we couldn’t see much; we didn’t stay there long. Our first stop in the park was at the trail to the Lady Bird Johnson Grove, the location where the First Lady announced the status of the area as a National Park in October 1968. There were a number of large redwood trees all along the trail and a nice place with benches where the plaque commemorates the ceremony in 1968. Several other groups were on the trail, but everyone was keeping distanced.

Mature bull Roosevelt Elk

We got back on northbound 101 to the town of Orick where we saw another elk herd near the road. We stopped and took a few snapshots, especially of the large bull elk. We learned that this herd are Roosevelt Elk, but that California has these as well as Tule and Rocky Mountain Elk. After leaving the elk herd, we drove to the Prairie Creek State Park where there are often elk herds. We didn’t see elk there but found a bench where we ate our usual travel lunch of Ritz crackers and peanut butter.

on the Big Tree Trail

After leaving the visitor center we took the Newton-Drury Scenic Parkway which parallels Highway 101. There were many pull off spots with short trails to selected trees. We opted for the Big Tree Trail that features a redwood of impressive proportions and was named Big Tree. Other trees in the park have been found to be larger, but this tree is still very impressive and very accessible. We also walked the Circle Trail at the same trailhead. We drove a little further north on the Scenic Parkway to the Cathedral Trail that took us to many very large redwood trees as well as through redwood sorrel and many species of ferns. Our last stop on this road was the Ah-Pah Interpretive Trail that is a reclaimed logging road that has been returned to the contour and vegetation that was originally at the location.

False Klamath Bay

We returned to Highway 101 and drove toward Coos Bay, Oregon. We made a few stops along the way for especially scenic views as we drove along the Pacific Coast of Northern California. False Klamath Bay has some beautiful sea stacks with huge waves crashing all around them. There was still low visibility that may or may not have been due to the wildfires in the area. We didn’t smell smoke as strongly as we did earlier in the day, so we were thinking that this is just fog that is limiting our visibility.

Sea Lions at Crescent City, CA

Our last stop of the day was at Crescent City, one of the northernmost towns in California. We drove out on a spit where fishing boats go out each day. There were several small restaurants and food shacks serving fresh seafood. We drove to near the tip of the spit where dozens of sea lions congregate on platforms a few yards from the docks. They were being very vocal and vying for space on the floating platforms. We watched them for a while as we talked with the Koehlers on the cell phone. After about 30 minutes, we continued on toward Coos Bay.
We arrived our Super 8 in Coos Bay, Oregon around 5:30 pm and checked in to our first floor room easily. Our room was small but clean and convenient. We went out to a grocery store to pick up yogurt, fruit and snacks for Friday's drive then went for dinner. Mary found a highly reviewed local seafood restaurant, The Boat. This restaurant is constructed an old boat and a repurposed shipping container. Mary had a halibut fish and chips meal then helped me with the captain’s platter. We both thought that our meals were very good. We started sitting at a table outside, but the wind was a little sharp. We moved into the covered area that wasn’t heated but was sheltered from the wind. We chatted briefly with a local couple as we enjoyed our meals, then got the rental car filled up before going in for the night. 

We were pleased that gas prices here in Southern Oregon are a dollar per gallon less than in Northern California. Buying gas that is nearly $4 per gallon will take some getting used to since we were paying $1.78 per gallon back in Kentucky. We had forgotten that Oregon is one of two US states where gas stations are all full service. That will also take some getting used to. We hope to get a good night’s sleep in preparation for a long drive on Friday north through Oregon to Aberdeen, Washington.

Humboldt Redwoods State Park

Redwoods along the Avenue of the Giants

We awoke early which isn’t unexpected since we were not yet adjusted to Pacific Time. We did a few things in the room at the Ukiah Day’s Inn, answered a few emails and had our Raisin Bran breakfasts. We both felt that we slept well. We packed up and prepared to travel north through redwood forests to Eureka on the coast. 

We traveled on Highway 101 to Garberville where we took the Avenue of the Giants through Humboldt Redwood State Park. Along the way we saw a herd of elk that included a very large bull and about 10 cows and juveniles.  They were impressive. We stopped at several trailheads and walked through the huge redwood trees. We hoped that we could pick up some information at the park headquarters, but they were closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. While walking around a loop trail, we came upon the park naturalist who was meeting with a class of students via Zoom. He gave us some great tips of places to visit in the park and even good local spots to eat. 

Impressive Coastal Redwood

One place that the naturalist suggested was Bull Creek Flats where a number of large redwood trees were growing. One of the most impressive trees on the trail was the Drury Redwood, which fell in the 1990s but was over 20 feet in diameter when it was standing. We learned that while the giant sequoia trees have a larger diameter, redwoods are taller. We also learned about the efforts of a conservation group in the 1920s to preserve the California redwoods. It wasn’t until John Rockefeller donated one million dollars to the preservation that the state match the money and established the state park system to conserve natural areas. We hiked a trail in the Humboldt Redwoods State Park named the Rockefeller Loop in his honor.

Root of overturned redwood

After leaving the north entrance of Humboldt Redwood State Park, we drove the short distance to Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge,  This wetland area around Humboldt Bay provides feeding and nesting sites for many of the migratory waterfowl, as well as, many other birds and mammals. While walking around the loop trail we saw a number of wading birds, ducks and geese. 

We were pleased that the temperatures today were much more pleasant than yesterday. In fact, we had the heat on in the car for part of the morning.   A steady wind made the air temperature seem even cooler than the mid-60s shown on the rental car’s thermometer. We noticed that the smoke and haze from the recent fires that have been so bad in Northern California and throughout the Pacific Northwest did not seem as bad here.  The cool wind from the ocean probably kept much of the smoke inland.

Great egret hunting for prey

After leaving the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge, we drove north on US 101 and checked in at our hotel in Eureka, CA. Although the Super 8 wasn’t in the best part of town, our room was clean and  fairly large. We unloaded a few things then consulted some sites for dinner recommendations. One of the best rated restaurants in town is a food truck that serves fresh locally caught seafood. Loco Seafood Company has a limited menu, but everything is fresh and well prepared. We both decided on the panko breaded fish and chips. We brought the meals back to our room at the Eureka Super 8 where we ate, planned for the day on Thursday then crashed.