What could be finer than a three-day weekend in the early spring? Lots of other things, of course. But except for lots of other things, what could be finer than a three-day weekend in the early spring? Armed with a cheap-as-heck rental car and a new Rand-McNally Road Atlas I set off for my first adventure since February. The drive to the coast was fairly uneventful, but there was a stop in the Jackson Demonstration State Forest for a short hike. I did not see any Jackson being demonstrated, but I assume that's because it was the off-season. Anyway, about a quarter-mile on the Waterfall Grove trail brought me to Chamberlain Creek Falls, which was pretty enough. An extra mile-and-a-quarter made it in to a loop hike, but really the falls was the best part.
After the falls and the forest I took a right turn at Fort Bragg and headed up the coast. I have a pleasant meander on some beach somewhere. If I had to guess I'd say it was a part of Westport-Union Landing State Beach, but I really wasn't paying attention. I expect I'll be back there some day, and will figure out which beach it was. Anyway, it was pretty and a welcome change from the flat inlands of Sacramento. When I started the trip I had had dreams of exploring California's Lost Coast — a big section of coastline south of Eureka that is only accessible by dirt road. I hadn't traveled very quickly, though, and a mudslide-closed section of Highway 1 led to a detour that slowed me even more. There's always next year! After watching the sun set over the beach I went east on Branscomb road to join up with US 101 in Laytonville. The road was twisty-windey and deserted, so it was a lot of fun for me. I made a mental note to drive it again on my way home, and maybe in daylight while I was at it. I only made it about another 30 miles north before stopping for the night somewhere near Garberville.
I had a reservation for an afternoon tour in the Oregon Caves National Monument, so I couldn't spend all day wandering around the redwoods and on the beaches, but I did manage a very pleasant walk through Founders Grove in the Humboldt Redwoods State Park. Founders Grove has some truly enormous trees, none greater than the fallen Dyerville Giant — a 370-foot-tall behemoth that was a sapling sometime in the 4th century. When it fell in 1991, a neighbor living a mile away thought a train had crashed due to the mighty sound it made. Inspired by this, I went up to a smaller tree that had fallen in the forest when there was no one around to hear it. I rapped on it with my knuckles and it turns out it did make a sound. Another of life's mysteries solved!
From the Founders Grove I went to Moonstone Beach near Westhaven, CA. Utterly gorgeous and there weren't all that many people, even though it was a warmish day by early-April standards. After that and a short walk around Lady Bird Johnson Grove in Redwood National Park, it was time to scoot on up to the Oregon Caves. The road up from Crescent City is a pretty one, following the Smith River much of the way. The caves themselves did not disappoint, even though the tour I was on was not quite as good as the one my kids and I took almost nine years ago. This time it was the Historical Tour, a candlelit walk through the first-discovered part of the caves. The regular tour takes you through sections that have extensive "decoration" — cool-looking rock features on the walls, ceiling, and floor. But this tour was still fun, and anyway the other tour was sold out. I felt fortunate that I was able to grab one of the last spots on this one. After the caves I drove back to Crescent City in time to catch the sunset on the beach near the lighthouse. In the growing dark I returned to a spot near Lady Bird Johnson Grove that I had pegged earlier as a likely pirate-camping location. I settled down for the night feeling like I had already had enough adventure to make the trip worthwhile.
On Sunday morning I made up for the disappointment of not being able to see Roger Federer destroy Rafael Nadal by seeing a herd of elk and driving to Luffenholz Beach — just a bit north of Moonstone and near Trinidad, CA. It's probably even prettier than Moonstone, but I was daunted by the treacherously steep and narrow path down. Plus I missed seeing the stairs that also led down to the beach. So I elected to take my photos from above. I also had a beautiful walk out to the beautiful vistas of the Houda Point Lookout (the panorama at the top of the page shows part of the view).
On Sunday morning I made up for the disappointment of not being able to see Roger Federer destroy Rafael Nadal by seeing a herd of elk and driving to Luffenholz Beach — just a bit north of Moonstone and near Trinidad, CA. It's probably even prettier than Moonstone, but I was daunted by the treacherously steep and narrow path down. Plus I missed seeing the stairs that also led down to the beach (at least, the web claims there are stairs). Bereft of a safe descent, I elected to take my photos from above. I followed this with a beautiful, breezy walk out to the magnificent vistas of the Houda Point Lookout (the panorama at the top of the page shows part of the view). After that my day was mostly spent driving home. I followed the coast near as I could, with an expectedly-pretty daytime repeat of the Branscomb road drive. Just south of Mendocino, I took a left onto CA Highway 128. What a gem of a highway! It begins in redwoods, wends through some charming hills, and then strolls lazily through the heart of California's Wine Country. I was amused to discover, right in the center of Sonoma's vinyards, a place called Thunderbird Ranch. I looked around for the old Mad Dog Homestead and the Night Train Depot, but those must have been off the main highway. The scenery along the whole road was varied but almost all beautiful. Coulda sworn I got some pictures along the way, but my phone says no.
I arrived back home in the late evening, 1,100 miles richer and ready to sleep the sleep of the satisfied.
