« Day 4

Road Trip West 2003
Day 5: Redwood National Park, CA to Harris Beach State Park, OR

Date:

Monday, August 4, 2003

Route:

» US-101 from Orick to Harris Beach State Park.

Distance: 68 miles
Excursions: 21 miles
Trip Total: 2311 miles

Log:

We woke on the gravel banks of the Redwood Creek, pleased that no bears saw fit to disturb our rest. We packed up camp, had trail mix for breakfast, and hiked back to the car.

We drove a short distance to the trailhead for the Lady Bird Johnson Grove. Lady Bird Johnson dedicated the grove to the public and President Richard Nixon dedicated the grove to Lady Bird Johnson on August 27, 1969 (when Jenn was 14 days old). See a photo of the dedication. Read more about the Redwood groves on the Save-the-Redwoods League site. The trail was short, only one mile long, but we spent more than an hour walking and looking around -- and up. The trees were shrouded in a heavy, early-morning mist and there were few people to interrupt our journey. We were awed.

After a couple of hours on the trail, we headed back down to the Park Visitor's Center to drop off our bear box and let the folks know we survived the night. After stopping to take a picture of, er, Elvis in Orick, we decided to drive along the Coastal Trail on our way to Crescent City and the northern end of the park.

We stopped for possibly the worst lunch ever in Crescent City (on the docks, but frozen seafood and canned clam chowder), saw and heard some sea lions, and then headed north to Oregon and Harris Beach State Park, near Brookings.

Our camp was about a half mile from the beach. We walked down there after setting up camp and climbed up on a pile of rocks (would it be a sea stack if it's attached to land?). A kind-hearted woman climbed up and offered to take our picture, even though she was afraid of heights and almost had to crawl back down.

The sunset was beautiful and seemed to last forever. We stayed until park curfew and then walked back to our camp. We built a fire and enjoyed the flames and smoky scent while we sipped hot cocoa before we climbed into the tent for the night.

» Day 6