Here’s another picture from the trail.
The white ocean and misty air makes it feel, almost like being on another planet.
This area reminds me of the TV show Lost. If you’ve ever seen the first season, this wall brought to mind the sheltered inland area where the characters discovered water in episode 6, House of the Rising Sun.
There is a sign at the entrance to the grounds that a bear had been spotted a week earlier. When I woke up the next morning I’m relieved that no bears came looking for food during the night. Imagine waking up to a bear shaking the truck and trying pry his way in because he smells food.
It’s a beautiful morning and as usual I’m awake before pretty much anyone else around. On my run to the bathroom I see a man walking his precious dog. For breakfast I grab a couple of hard boiled eggs and a slice of bread. It’s a little chilly and I would love to have a hot cup of coffee or tea. No luck with the hot stuff, so water will work as a good substitute and venturing on the park’s trails will quickly warm me up.
I grab my camera and head out on the trail. Here’s some of the sights.
This part of the trail is amazing, simply because people built stairs and walls on a small section of cliff that hangs out over the ocean.
This is a view from the bottom of the cliff. The waves look amazingly fierce as they crash into the huge, craggy boulders. The air is cool and I imagine the ocean is cold. It would most definitely be a spot that would require hospitalization if one fell in the ocean.
It’s time to find a place to park myself till tomorrow. I had considered making reservations before the trip but didn’t want to get stuck with a planned itinerary that prevented me from visiting someplace on the spur of the moment.
I had also decided to follow a suggestion a girl I used to work with had told me about. She had heard Click and Clack, from the NPR radio show, Car Talk, tell someone about sleeping in the back of their pick-up truck covered with a camper shell. On a side note, Click and Clack are great to listen to, equally for lots of laughs and for car advice.
Never having camped before, this sounded like an interesting way to travel. Initially I had planned on staying at KOA campgrounds but discovered, while reading the map in 101 Things to Do in Humboldt County that some state parks provide spots for tent camping. I know, most of you probably already know this.
Patrick’s Point State Park, #85 on the list is in the middle of Redwood Country, situated on the rocky cliffs of the pacific ocean. Not knowing anything about the rules of camping I called the park and asked if people can sleep in their trucks. The answer was yes and when I got there I discovered their were others like me. While some people had RVs and others had tents, a few, like me, slept in their trucks and vans. Many people bring their dogs along too – they’re all sooo cute (the dogs that is).
The park is a heavenly oasis that I will never forget. After record hot temperatures all day long the cool of the shade created by a forest of majestic trees feels so wonderful. 101 Things to Do identifies them as hemlock, pine, fir, spruce, and red alder trees. Bunches of little critters run around the park, hiding in the wild ferns, and climbing up trees. I can hear ocean waves crashing on the boulders and cliffs from my campsite. The variety of birds singing and sqwaking their own unique sounds is soothing. Other than the few light sounds from fellow campers, being here is like stepping into a parallel universe where traffic, overcrowding, pollution of all kinds (noise, light, sound, garbage), and overbuilding ceases to exist.
Having gotten settled just before nightfall, I take the little bit of time left to explore one of the walking/hiking trails that leads down to the ocean. It’s sooo absolutely amazing! This view is a few steps from my campsite.
Arcata Bay is a nice place to stop and rest. The coffee shop in the bay looks like a popular place to meet friends and enjoy a meal. Judging from the boats parked in the bay, it seems to be a port primarily for commercial fishing. Near the boat docks is a memorial to people who lost their lives at sea. It lists the name of the person, the year they were lost, and indicates whether or not their body was recovered. In memory of one or more person, families set flowers and wreaths at it’s base. Reading names from the mid 1900s made me feel like I stepped back in time. I hadn’t expected to see that men lose their lives at sea even in 2007. It seems that living and working in large urban towns and cities distances us from experiencing the truth of nature’s cycles and dangers.
395 from Reno to Susanville and 44 from Susanville to Redding are really nice scenic drives through national forests. The roads meander up and down and this way and that way through beautiful forested and open areas. Along the way I spotted picturesque views of lakes and marshy areas.
I listened to radio DJ’s talk about events going on around Redding and the unusual weather. With that cheery radio voice the pop radio DJ announced the record temperatures. “And today, Redding will be experiencing a record high of 102 degrees. Stay cool out there!”
So naturally I only got out of the car to get gas.
The next leg of my trip, along 299, from Redding to Arcata took me to a great little town called Weaverville. Although it was hot I really needed a walking break from sitting in the car for so many miles. I stopped at a park and stuck my feet in the nice cool stream sheltered by large deciduous trees. I didn’t care what kind of trees they were since the only thing important at that moment was the cool air.
Both Humboldt and Mendocino counties seem to be very eco-friendly. The tiny town of Weaverville has what seems to be a very popular health food store. I picked up a copy of the ECONEWS there and discovered the Northcoast Environmental Center (NEC).
After about an hour of walking and cooling off I drove on to Arcata.
