| « Day 3 |
Road Trip
West 2003
|
Day 5 » |
Date:
Sunday, August 3, 2003
Route:
» US-101 North from Ukiah, CA to Orick, CA
(We took the scenic Avenue of the Giants route through Humboldt State Park)Distance: 200 miles
Excursions: 15 miles
Trip Total: 2222 miles
Log:
First things first: After the standard continental breakfast at the Ramada Inn (this one was in a non-remodeled room - tables instead of beds, that's all), we got the oil changed, Alice B's first.
Sunday was a short driving day. We were only going to the Redwood National Park, so we had time to play tourists. Our only tacky stop was in Leggett, for the Chandelier Drive-Thru Tree. And, yes, the car made it through, with only inches to spare, though.
After Leggett, we headed north to Phillipsville and drove the Avenue of the Giants. The 33-mile long Avenue runs roughly parallel to Highway 101, along the old highway. The Avenue "pays homage to two American glories: redwood trees taller than the Statue of Liberty and tourist attractions tackier than a redwood Elvis," says April Thompson in VIA magazine. Read more about these magnificent and majestic Coastal Redwoods and the Avenue of the Giants. The Avenue runs through Humboldt Redwoods State Park.
We also passed the Reggae on the River Festival -- it was rather strange to see such a large crowd in the middle of the forest. (The link wasn't working when I last checked, but good luck.)
We arrived at the Redwood National Park visitor's center just south of Orick in the early afternoon. We picked up an overnight backcountry permit, and we also picked up a bear box, so we could stow our food and smelly things (toothpaste!). To misquote the warning on the NP safety page, "A fed bear is a dead camper."
We drove to the Redwood Creek Trail parking area and packed up for a short hike down the trail. There were so many banana slugs we had to be careful where we walked, and we were amazed at the number of burned trees - from lightening strikes or long-ago fires...we don't know. We hiked along the creek and set up camp on the Redwood Creek Gravel Bars. Beautiful!
Coastal Redwoods can live more than 2000 years. One of the pamphlets from the Redwood NP said that the trees sometimes take as long to decompose as they lived. See The Mighty Humboldt Redwoods for an interesting read, and About.com's article Redwoods, which has quite a few links to more information.
» Day 5
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |