May 12.

In the morning I walked part of the Trillium Falls Trail and saw a few more giants. Near the falls were some really green mossy trees.

Trillium Falls

I was following signs for the elk meadows, but didn’t see any. I got in my car and just as I exited the park I noticed a bunch of cars parked along the road. Sure enough there was a herd of Elk grazing nearby. All their heads were down munching till a train hooted out loud, upon which all heads went up. Cameras went berserk left and right.

Elk Meadows

In a little town called Trinidad I noticed that the sea was kind of protected behind a headland. The bay looked pretty nice with a bunch of rocks and a beach further over. Out around the headland there was more wind, so I could pick how much wind I wanted to deal with. I started looking for a ramp and followed the signs. Down at the beach one could only launch from the beach, which didn’t look all that doable for my rig. However there was a small launching railway. For $35 they roll you in and out the water. A pretty slick looking operation. I asked the manager if he could do Fetch the next day (they were about to close). He took a look at the boat and thought it would be ok. He advised me to come back the next morning around 10 after all the other boats were in so they could take their time. The normally don’t launch sailboats.

Trinidad Bay

railway

This is how the fishermen get out of the water

I started looking for a place to charge my laptop battery and check email. The places that were open didn’t have Internet and the places with Internet were closed. Outside one café I got signal and had just enough power left to check my email, but not enough to reply. The RV Park didn’t have Internet, so I drove out of town to find another park. Back along 101 I found a state park near the beach and drove in. No power hookup anywhere except for two sites. I pulled in an hooked up….no power. I checked the other one; no power. I tried the men’s, which had a outlet, but it was busted. I tried the ladies and alas! Power! However, I didn’t see myself go in there and sit down with my laptop, so I ran a power cord out the window and put up my folding chairs outside. Finally I got some more juice in my computer to do some photo editing and writing.

power from the ladies room

Thursday May 10.

I left Gold Beach rather late, having spent a few hours blogging. The wind was stronger than ever and the sun was bright. I said goodbye to the Ospreys and Swallows and drove off. More cliffs, beaches, vistas and breaking surf were enjoyed and I stopped in Brookings for lunch. I had chicken salad, because I want to focus on protein and veggies where I can for you know why. I also try to work in at least one good walk of an hour or more each day.

my favorite

After lunch I was feeding a seagull some stuff upon which a jealous seagull came along and started whacking into each other. They got a firm grip and tumbled 15’ down in the water and still didn’t let go. It was brutal. I felt a bit guilty for having started this fight.

gull meets gull

gull no 1 doesn't like it

argument follows

it ends up in a fierce fight

Back on the road, all of a sudden I saw a ‘Welcome to California’ sign along the road. It took me a bit by surprise, but there I was in California! I started noticing other signs around me: The sky was hazier, the water was bluer than earlier on my trip, I was picking up Arcata public radio, it was definitely warmer outside, I needed sunglasses and air-conditioning and I spotted Eucalyptus trees. Driving in Crescent City I had the feeling that the streets were wider, more asphalt all around, some stucco houses. All of this reminded me of living in California years ago. Somehow I was feeling a bit uncomfortable about these changes. Maybe I was a bit nostalgic about leaving Oregon somehow. Oregon seemed smaller scale, greener, funkier. I better get used to those changes, because a lot more of them were ahead of me.

I checked out the harbor in Crescent City, spotted an RV park nearby and parked the van there. I took a walk to the lighthouse and shot some pictures of pelicans, ravens, whimbrels and a bunch of Phalaropes in a puddle. Normally these little birds hang out on the ocean, but maybe the wind had blown them inshore. The sun was setting and caused some nice lighting over the reef and surf.

yours truly

Lighthouse at Crescent city

Phalarobes

ravens

Spotted Sandpiper

I had borrowed a CD at the park-office and enjoyed the movie ‘Runaway bride’. This was my first movie on this trip and I was amazed how comfortable one can be in a little camper watching a movie, completely oblivious of where one is at the moment. Kind of like getting absorbed in a movie flying in an airplane; in the middle of the movie you look outside and notice, with a bit of a chock, that you are high above a world of ice in Greenland.

Friday May 11.

I wanted to visit the redwoods, so I drove down to Prairie Creek Redwood State Park and parked at one of the trailheads. I chose what seemed like a short loop on Prairie Creek Trail. The walk ended up about 3.5 hours, because I couldn’t keep walking for long before I just had to take another picture! The lighting, the tall trees and the wild textures of their trunks were mesmerizing. After seeing a few big trees I arrived at yet a bigger tree and thought: now that is a BIG tree. After a while there is an even bigger tree than the one before: Wow! Now that is a REALLY BIG TREE. After yet another while…….you get the picture? One feels dwarfed standing among a grove of those giants, some of which are over 2000 years old! I felt lucky and thankful that I had the opportunity to be there and be in no hurry what so ever.

me and tree

I wanted to spend the night in the park, so I pulled in the Elk Prairie campground. There were warning signs not to approach Elk. Every campsite had a lockable metal food box to keep bears and other critters out. I stepped outside after dark, but had the feeling bears were staring at me, so I went right back inside my cozy camper and had a good long sleep.