California or bust

Today marks the third state for my trailer as I crossed over from Oregon to California after a fabulous run down the Oregon Pacific Coast.

I wasn’t going to travel today, but then I woke up and felt the need to get moving and so I packed up and hit the road. It was a gorgeous day weather-wise and the scenery once again was ever-changing and spectacular. I didn’t take a lot of pictures today because I was on the road for a long time today and didn’t want to stop too often and make it even longer.

First stop of the morning was sadly my last stop in Oregon. Up until this time, I wasn’t able to see very much due to the fog which didn’t burn off till 10:30 – 11 or so. I spent a few minutes walking around at the viewpoint for Arch Rock in Samuel H Boardman State Scenic Corridor. The “Corridor” is very appropriately named, and Oregon definitely went out with a bang.

Then it was on to California and continuing south on Highway 101. There was a agricultural produce check at the border, but no Welcome Centre as you cross into California so I stopped at the Redwood National and State Parks Visitor Centre in Crescent City. They helped direct me to an alternate stretch of Highway 101 that I could take to go through the Redwoods without going out of my way too much. It travels through Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park and the north entrance is at Exit 765, just south of Klamath. It joins Highway 101 just a little further south.

It is a spectacular drive through these giants of trees, towering overhead so that you need to drive with your night time lights on it’s so dark. Then the sunlight occasionally streams through warming the dew and rain on the road to cause some ground fog to create an etherial effect. (Something like Cathedral Grove on Vancouver Island for those who have been there.) I felt humbled and awed walking quietly among the towering trees through the moss and fern covered pathway to what they call the “Big Tree”. What an understatement. It’s estimated to be 1500 years old, almost 93 metres high, 6.6 metres in diameter, 20.7 metres in circumference.

Shortly after that I pulled off at an exit to a small town by the name of Trinidad in the hopes of grabbing some lunch. I was successful in doing that and thoroughly enjoyed more chowder and salad at a place on the main street called Trinidad Bay Eatery and Gallery.

And wouldn’t you know it, I wasn’t even looking and I came upon one of the 5 lighthouses along the California coast! The building itself is a small one in comparison to many of the others along the Oregon coast at only 20 feet in height, but it was built (in 1871) on the headland which makes it almost 200 feet about sea level.

After my late lunch I was back on the road and by about 4 pm stopped at a lovely campsite attached to a 9-hole golf course. It was a delight to be outside as it had warmed to 20 degrees or so during the day and I spent some quality time, cleaning up and drying out from the last campsite and getting some laundry done. Now I need to spend some quality time now, figuring out where the heck I’m going tomorrow.