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.
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| Whiskeytown Lake, CA |
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| 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.
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| Cool Drain Thingy, Whiskeytown Lake, CA |
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| 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.
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| Colombian Black-tailed Deer, Trinity River, CA |
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| 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.
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| Colombian Black-tailed Deer, Trinity River, CA |
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| Colombian Black-tailed Deer, Trinity River, CA |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Redwood National Park, CA |
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| Redwood National Park, CA |
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| Roosevelt Elk, Redwood National Park, CA |
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| 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.
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| Roosevelt Elk, Redwood National Park, CA |
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| 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.
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| Klamath River, Redwood National Park, CA |
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| Klamath River, Redwood National Park, CA |
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| Klamath River, Redwood National Park, CA |
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| 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.
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| Lagoon Creek, 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.
