Out of the dark and into the light as we head up Rte 101N this morning to Eureka. We'll stop and get supplies for the next three days as we will be in the woods again. People in these little towns like Weott have to drive 20 miles for the nearest gas and 42 miles to Eureka to shop. They shop once a month!
Getting closer to Eureka the landscape changes with some hills but more pastures and ocean inlets on our left. There's fog hanging over the ocean this morning as the road turns coastal. (Yipes regular gas is $3.25/gal here...). Further up the coast we get our first real view of the ocean with huge rock formations and the Coastal Mountain range in front of us in a light fog. We stopped at the pull off to admire the beach. We noticed signs along the beach warning about "sneaker waves". These are large waves that form very quickly and we were warned never to turn our back on the water! The other signs we see all along the coast warn us that we are in a Tsunami Hazard Zone. Some of the waves here come all the way from Japan.
Now we have evergreen forests on both sides and it's windier here. We pass through the hamlet of Arcata and are treated to georgeous ocean views. There are numerous state parks along the way for both day use and camping. To our right is the sign Welcome to Redwood State Park and sure enough the meadow was full of Roosevelt Elk. We will see more of these animals later so we kept going. We turned onto the Newton B Drury Parkway which is a 10 mile scenic alternative to Hwy 101. Th parkway has huge meadows on each side and warnings saying "Caution Elk Feeding Area". (No Elk...). We found Elk Prairie Campground on our left and turned in. We are really out in the woods and no communication services for the next 3 days. Our site is opposite the meadow (still no Elk...).
After getting set up we decided to go to the Big Tree Wayside. Along this nature path is a 300 plus ft. redwood which is 21 ft in diameter and it's massive. Lavender Trillium were sprinkled all along the path and we enjoyed the quiet. Leaving Big Tree we drove down the parkway to the end. This is a much more open road than Avenue of the Giants, but it still has beautiful trees. Here the forest is a mix of Sequoia, Redwoods, and Douglas Fir. Towards the end of the Parkway we saw a side road marked Coastal Rd. Of course we had to go explore! Sure enough another one of our twisty roads which soon turned to gravel with pot holes the size of New York City! The road ran along the top of the cliff above the ocean. Both sides of the road are lush with fern and evergreen trees. We stopped at several turnouts to look over the edge and enjoy the views from high up in the tree tops! One of the turnouts was at a World War II radar station. It looks like a farmhouse and barn - that was its disguise in the 1940's. The operations building housed an oscilloscope and radar technicians and the smaller barn held a power supply. The road rounded a corner and we were at the mouth of the Klamath River where it meets the ocean. We could see a line where the emerald green water of the river mixed with the blue Pacific. The road continued beside the river and through the Klamath River Valley. We passed clumps of what looked like large yellow pulpit type flowers. Eventually the road led us back to Rte 101 about 17 miles north of camp. It was a nice ride.
Back at our site we sat outside and had wine and cheese while watching the carloads of tenters arrive for their weekend in the woods. It was a great day with new discoveries (no Elk yet..,).
Pictures: 1st Ocean View on Rte 101, Sneaker Wave Warning, Big Tree Wayside, Purple Trillium, Coast Road (2), Coast Road View (2), End of Coast Road, Yellow Pulpit Flower
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