Thanksgiving 2017: Redwood National Park

Monday, November 20, 2017

I drove up to Salem, Oregon for Thanksgiving.  I go up there every year for a large family gathering.  I like to take my time on the drive up.  It's a nine and a half hour straight shot up Interstate Five.  I take that on theway back, but on the way up I use alternate routes, usually spending two to five days wandering my way up North.  It was a short, two day drive up Highway 101 in California and Highway One in Oregon.  I'd have taken an extra day but the weather was quite wet and I had my dog Pongo with me, so we kept it short this year.

Avenue of the Giants, Humboldt County, CA

I only stopped a few times for pictures on Monday due to the rain.  Our destination for the night was Jedediah Smith State Park near Crescent City, which is part of Redwood National Park.

Roosevelt Elk -- Redwood National Park, CA

We encountered the Prairie Creek herd of elk just off of the highway.  They always seem to be nearby.  I think I've made one drive through the area without seeing these big beasts.  No big antlers this year, though, we only saw females and juvenile males.

Roosevelt Elk -- Redwood National Park, CA

Roosevelt Elk -- Redwood National Park, CA

Roosevelt Elk -- Redwood National Park, CA

Roosevelt Elk -- Redwood National Park, CA

Klamath River, Redwood National Park, CA

Klamath River, Redwood National Park, CA

Soundtrack:

• Frank Sinatra -- In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning
• Stars of the Grand Ole Opry
• Spoon -- Gimme Fiction
• kd lang -- Shadowland
• The White Stripes -- Elephant
• Echo & the Bunnymen -- Echo & the Bunnymen

Thanksgiving 2014: The Redwood Highway

The Redwood Highway

November 22, 2014

Soundtrack:

• Sonic Youth -- Sonic Nurse

Another year, another trip up to Oregon for the traditional Thanksgiving get-together.  It was a small gathering this year of around forty Hildebrand/Roths.

It rained pretty much every day of the trip.  That might sound dreary, but after three years of drought in California it was actually kind of refreshing.  Plus, there are certain areas that I visited that I think actually are better to experience in wet weather.  More on in later posts (I've got a week's worth of posts, after all, I've got to give myself something to write about later).

Eel River, Avenue of the Giants, CA

Like last year, I drove all the way up 101 to the Olympic Peninsula in Washington then down to I-5 in Olympia and on into Salem, OR.  This was plan B.  Plan A was to drive up 395 into Central Oregon and and bum around that area for a few days, but only if the weather was good.  I didn't want to get caught in snow or extremely cold weather, especially since I'd be camping most of the time.  I also like the 101 drive in bad weather.  The Oregon and Washington portions of the trek can be dramatic when it's wet and stormy.  So, with the rain coming down and snow forecast for the first spot I intended to camp on the Eastern route, I opted for plan B.  I would have liked to have visited some new spots, but this still turned out to be a nice way to spend the week of Thanksgiving.

Avenue of the Giants, CA

I saw my first bald eagle of the trip (21 overall) flying through the redwoods along the Eel River.  That was a sight to see.  I saw another at the mouth of the Klamath River, Those were the first bald eagles I've ever seen in California.  It's nice to see the birds rebounding from the DDT problems that nearly killed off the species.

Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge, CA

I stopped at a few wildlife refuges along the drive, the first being Humboldt Bay.  There was a bit more activity here than on my previous visits, but it's still nothing like the massive gathering of birds at the Sacramento refuge.  I was able to get very close to a northern harrier though, probably closer than I've managed to get anywhere else.

Northern Harrier -- Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge, CA

Northern Harrier -- Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge, CA

White-tailed Kite -- Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge, CA

American Robin -- Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge, CA

Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge, CA

I saw three herds of elk on the drive.  I saw the first in Mendocino County.  They were the smaller tule elk found only in California.  I encountered the other two herds near Orick, CA.  These herds always seem to be in the same general vicinity when I make this drive.  There's one other heard I often see around Prairie Creek in Redwood National Park, but I didn't see those elk on this trip.

Roosevelt Elk -- Orick, Redwood National Park, CA

Roosevelt Elk -- Orick, Redwood National Park, CA

Roosevelt Elk -- Orick, Redwood National Park, CA

I camped for the night at Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park.  This is one of the nicest campgrounds I've stayed at.  It's a drive-in campground.  The sites are nestled into a large grove of redwoods along the Smith River.  I spent a couple of days there with my brother and his family in August.  The river was a different beast then, running low and calm.  The swimming hole we spent the afternoon in was completely gone, now a mean bend in the rushing November waters.

Klamath River, Redwood National Park, CA

The Redwood Highway

August 29, 2014

Soundtrack:

• Editors -- The Weight of Your Love
• Grizzly Bear -- Shields

Time to head home after a couple of days up North in the redwoods.  It was a short trip, too short really, but I had things I needed to do back home for the weekend.

Smith River, Redwood National Park, CA

The fog had rolled in over the night.  That made things a lot more interesting for taking pictures.  I don't think I actually nailed a good one, but I got closer than I have in the past.  I've done OK with rain as well.

Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, CA

Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, CA

Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, CA

The sun poked through the fog off and on as I drove down 101 in Redwood National Park.  It made for some dramatic displays of light.  I stopped a few times to try to capture the magic.

Highway 101, Redwood National Park, CA

Highway 101, Redwood National Park, CA

The Prairie Creek elk herd was hanging out near Elk Meadow.  Tourists had gathered and were again crowding the elk.  I guess this herd must be used to the constant attention.  They moved through the crowd without much hesitation.

Roosevelt Elk, Redwood National Park, CA

Roosevelt Elk, Redwood National Park, CA

Roosevelt Elk, Redwood National Park, CA

I saw another herd of roosevelt elk near Orick and a herd of tule elk a few hours South.  I stopped in Trinidad for gas and took a few more pictures of the lighthouse.  Other than that, it was a nice but uneventful trip home.

Roosevelt Elk, Redwood Highway, CA

Trinidad Memorial Lighthouse, Trinidad, CA

Whiskeytown and Redwood National Park

August 27, 2014

Soundtrack:

• Sonic Youth -- Daydream Nation
• The Band -- Live at the Academy of Music, 1971

My brother and his family were vacationing at Redwood National Park for a few days so I drove up to join them camping for a couple of nights.  Turns out, the end of August is a great time to visit the park.  I'll explain later in this post, but a lot of it has to do with something going on in the photo at the top of this post.

Whiskeytown Lake, CA

Whiskeytown Lake

The trip for me started after work on Tuesday night.  My plan was to drive North and camp at either Lassen National Park or Whiskeytown National Recreation Area depending on what time I got near Redding.  I ended up getting a late start and making a few extra stops, though, so by the time I hit Redding I was done driving for the night.  I found an RV Park with a bar near by and finished the evening in beer and bad karaoke.

My new plan was  to spend the day in Whiskeytown and camp there for the evening.  That plan didn't last long.  It was too stinkin' hot.  I'm used to fog and summer weather in the sixties and low seventies.  I needed to get back to the coast.  New plan.  I'd take my time driving out to the coast and meet up with Chad a day early.

Cool Drain Thingy, Whiskeytown Lake, CA

Osprey

Whiskeytown is a man-made lake.  Near the dam is a cool drain thingy.  I'd love to see this thing in action when waters get high enough.  I saw four or five osprey around the lake.  I actually saw at least one osprey on every day of the trip.  I was hoping for an eagle (bald or golden) on this trip but that didn't work out.  The osprey were a nice consolation prize, though.

Colombian Black-tailed Deer, Trinity River, CA

Colombian Black-tailed Deer

After leaving the lake, I took a detour and followed the Trinity upstream for a few miles.  I found a nice bend in the river to explore.  I was hoping to see some salmon, but if they were in the river they weren't visible.  I wasn't sure if it was too early in the season, anyway.  I bumped into a couple of deer, though.  They were beautiful but very nervous about me being around.  They ran off across a small field after having a good look at me.

Colombian Black-tailed Deer, Trinity River, CA

Colombian Black-tailed Deer, Trinity River, CA

Trinidad, CA

It took a few hours to get out to the coast.  I hit 101 just North of Eureka and took a right.  I stopped in Trinidad to gas up and have a look at their lighthouse.  It was a cute little thing.  The surrounding scenery was as picturesque as it comes.  It reminded me of Pacific Grove, how it seemed too pretty to be real.

Trinidad, CA

So, I don't actually remember the name of my next stop.  It might have been Dry Lagoon Beach.  Dunno.  It was wonderfully foggy with patches of sunlight blowing through.  My kind of place, whatever it was called.

Redwood National Park, CA

Redwood National Park, CA

Roosevelt Elk, Redwood National Park, CA

Roosevelt Elk

As usual, there was a herd of elk hanging out near Elk Meadow.  They always seem to be there, though I never seem to find them in the same exact place.  This time they were in some body's front yard.  I normally drive through this area in the off-season I guess, I'm used to having the herd all to myself.  On this trip the herd was surrounded by tourists.  I was a little uncomfortable with how close folks were getting to the elk, especially when the big bull stood up and moved in with the ladies, but I guess the elk didn't seem to mind.

Roosevelt Elk, Redwood National Park, CA

Roosevelt Elk

Things were really hopping at Klamath River.  This is why I noted earlier that late August is probably a good time to visit the park.  The salmon were running.  People were fishing in boats on the river.  The mouth of the river is quite small and was lined on both sides with fishermen.  Sea lions were hunting the salmon both in the ocean and in the river itself.  Osprey and other birds were also joinng in on the festivities.  It was very cool.

Klamath River, Redwood National Park, CA

Klamath River, Redwood National Park, CA

Klamath River, Redwood National Park, CA

Elegant Tern (?)

I didn't go down to the river's mouth.  The easiest access was from the South side, but by the time I'd figured that out and that there was something interesting going on I was already on the North side and I didn't feel like doubling back.  I wish I had.  my brother went down there a couple of days later and said it was the coolest thing he saw on the trip.  Instead, I headed to the campground.  I was a day early and when I checked with the ranger up front she said my brother wouldn't be in until the next night.  She had a late opening, though, so I took that spot and was starting to settle in when my sister-in-law drove up.  They had two separate reservations in different spots in the same campground over the two nights.  I moved to their site and we were off on the next leg of this adventure.  Well, we had dinner and went to sleep, then set out on the next leg the following day.

Lagoon Creek, Redwood National Park, CA