THOSE TREES! THOSE ELK! OH MY.
Day 57 – Beginning of Week 9. Rob got up at 7 a.m. & I got up around 7:45. It was 39 degrees & sunny when he got up. We’re going to take advantage of every non-rainy day that we have. Today we’re driving south to explore between Klamath and Orick. We were told about a very nice scenic highway through the redwood groves with lots of hiking trails & some prairie land where Roosevelt Elk are frequently seen grazing. Sounds like a good day.
We departed around 9:30, 40 degrees, sunny. A few miles below the campground, we entered Redwood National Park again & turned off Highway 101 onto the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway. This road soon enters Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park and travels south along the western border of the Park. Near where the Parkway rejoins Highway 101 is Elk Prairie Campground, part of the State Park.
Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park also extends to the Pacific Ocean near where the Drury Parkway leaves the 101. A long, narrow stretch of the State Park continues south along the Ocean and is only accessed by hiking trails or for 8 miles by Davison Road, a narrow, winding dirt road off of the 101 south of Elk Prairie Campground. Of course you know we HAD to take that road, LOL. But first, we took the first right off of the Drury Parkway onto the paved “Coastal Drive”. It meandered through the redwood forest for about a mile towards the Ocean, then ended at a parking lot and a gate, closed to thru traffic. A person could hike from there all the way back to where the Klamath River joins the Ocean & the loop road we drove two days ago.
We drove back to the Drury Scenic Parkway and headed south; it was indeed scenic with huge redwood trees and ferns sometimes over 5 feet tall on both sides of the road. Okay, Take Me to Church!!! We could’ve sworn we heard angels singing when we rounded a turn and the sun’s rays were filtering through the redwood forest all around us.
Drury Scenic Pkwy, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Orick, CA
Drury Scenic Pkwy, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Orick, CA
Drury Scenic Pkwy, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Orick, CA
Ommmm. Anyway, very little traffic but it must be a nightmare during the summer season. There are 75 miles of hiking trails within the Park; we stopped at several. First we stopped at the Moorman Grove Trail, a lovely hike beside a rushing creek. Because we recently had rain, the tree bark was very dark and the ferns and vegetation were nearly fluorescent green in contrast. The forest floor was red and covered with pine needles, making it feel spongy. It was dripping with moisture, resembling a tropical rain forest. Actually all of our hikes were like this, so I won’t continually repeat the same basic description. Just gorgeous.
Moorman Grove, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Orick, CA
Moorman Grove, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Orick, CA
Moorman Grove, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Orick, CA
After Moorman, we stopped at the Corkscrew Tree Trail. I wondered if this one would be a tourist draw like the drive-thru tree or the world’s tallest tree or the trees of mystery, etc., but it was absolutely not that way at all. A wonderful hike on a winding trail over old wooden bridges which crossed small free-flowing streams, we only encountered one other couple during the walk. Some of these ferns were larger, even taller than us, and there were colorful, glistening mushrooms growing along the trail. We rounded a corner & there was the Corkscrew Tree, several huge redwood trees that grew around each other, probably in a fight for sunlight, who knows. Rob took pictures; it was pretty cool.
Next was Big Tree Wayside, and we took a short walk to see what should have been called HUUUGGE Tree Extraordinaire. A tourist attraction, yes, but pretty amazing; this tree was 1,500 years old. This little hike was fairly crowded.
Big Tree, Praire Creek Redwoods State Park, Orick, CA
We were getting close to the end of the Drury Scenic Parkway, and we wished we had more time. We barely scraped the barrel as far as the hiking in this State Park; we had other places we still wanted to visit. So we decided that if the weather is okay tomorrow, we might come back for more. We then stopped at the visitor’s center at Elk Prairie Campground, hoping to find more information on the trails within the Park, their lengths & how difficult they were. Very nice visitor’s center, we got a brochure with detailed trail information & got some recommendations for more things to do south of here. One of the areas where you can sometimes see the Roosevelt Elk was just outside of the Campground. We did see a few but they were lying down in the distance and you could basically just see their antlers above the foliage. Rob did see a black-tailed deer in the field. We drove through the campground and checked it out for possible future visits.
Black Deer, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Orick, CA
Elk Prairie Campground, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, most of the campground was closed for the season. Literature stated that they couldn’t fit larger than 27 foot RVs but we did see a couple of sites we could fit into. There are no hook-ups and no dump stations. Price is $33 per night, senior rate. We only saw 20 sites; there are 75 sites total. In season, reservations are required; they fill up. We weren’t that impressed. PROBABLY NO for this one.
We hooked back up with Highway 101, heading south to Davison Road. Shortly thereafter, we passed by a field full of Elk, some of them right by the highway. It was a busy section of the road so we couldn’t stop to get pictures (it was awesome to see them anyway). We figured we could catch them on the way back when we could be prepared to pull off the highway. We got off on Davison Road, a winding dirt road which goes northwest back into a stretch of the State Park which travels along the Ocean. This road begins with signs that say the road is limited to vehicles with a maximum length of 24 feet & width of 8 feet, no trailers. This was definitely an understatement. A great drive but I wasn’t positive we’d make it back. A very narrow road with potholes, & in several places streams crossed the road as they rushed down the cliffs to the Ocean. We’d had a lot of rain & it was pretty muddy. The cliffs had recent mudslides & falling rocks. There were signs by the road that said to watch out for aggressive elk. Visions of rocks & mud blocking our way as large, angry elk with huge antlers charge us. The sound of the warning issued by the NOAA Weather Radio when flooding is imminent, “Turn Around; Don’t Drown”, flash through my brain as we approached streams flowing across the dirt road. LOL.
Davison Rd, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Orick, CA
Stream crossing, Davison Rd, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Orick, CA
Yikes!! Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Orick, CA
We weren’t the only people on this road – it was the only way you could drive to the Fern Canyon hike, and this is a famous attraction for this area. When a vehicle was coming the other way, each would move over to try to let the other go by; it was difficult, the road just wasn’t that big and the road conditions left much to be desired. Once again, we cannot imagine what it must be like in the summer season. We drove past a nice picnic area and the Gold Bluffs Beach Campground, part of the State Park – tent camping on the beach. The waves were big and it looked peaceful. When we finally reached Fern Canyon, the parking lot was nearly full. We were told by hikers just returning from the trail that it was very wet & muddy and we’d need hiking shoes (at the visitor’s center, the ranger told a couple that they should bring a change of shoes). I elected not to make the hike, big baby that I am, and Rob went off with his camera. He came back dry because he was log-jumping to avoid getting wet, and when he saw that he’d have to get wet & he couldn’t jump the logs anymore, he turned around and came back. He did get some pictures, though, but felt he hadn’t gotten far enough along to see the best parts.
The rest of the dirt road is a hiking trail, the “California Coastal Trail”, with no vehicles allowed, and it continues north. We turned around and made the trip back on the dirt road, eventually getting back on the 101 & heading south to Orick, hoping to find a place to get lunch. We made it & were not swallowed alive by earthquakes, mudslides, forest fires, floods, or tsunamis. I was relieved. Hee hee. The town of Orick,with a population of a little over 300, did not have any open restaurants. They did have a convenience store & we grabbed a couple of cheese sandwiches.
We turned around & drove north on Highway 101 to Bald Hills Road, a scenic drive we’d read about. We drove south & east to the Lady Bird Johnson Grove, parked, and hiked in. I’d had reservations, thinking this would be a tourist trap; it was not – guess I should know that by now. A really beautiful, tranquil walk through some of the bigger redwood trees we’ve seen. An interpretive trail with a map with markers for particular numbered areas. Very nice. There were a few people but luckily it was off-season so not too crowded. Lots of small birds flitting about in the trees. Very nicely maintained trail.
We kept driving on Bald Hills Road, climbing higher and higher, stopping at several scenic turn-outs along the way. At a certain point, the road was no longer paved, and there were less trees and lots of prairie lands (therefore, the name – Bald Hills Road). The lighting was nice and there were billowing clouds. Beautiful. Unfortunately, we were getting low on gas and getting farther from civilization as we climbed higher into the hills. Time to turn around.
After awhile, we reached Highway 101 again, the yellow warning light coming on to warn us to get gas – glad we didn’t continue on the dirt road! We were heading back to Klamath and knew we could make it back. We got ready to stop the car when we approached the area where we saw the field full of elk earlier in the day – the field was empty. We missed our chance. A little later a car was pulled off by the side of the road and a guy with a long lens on his camera was taking pictures. Good sign. Voila! Roosevelt Elk. We stopped and watched them, Rob taking lots of pictures. A wonderful end to a really fun day.
We were gone all day, but it appeared that Pixie didn’t miss us too much. She was happily stretched out relaxing when we got back to the RV. Our package from Amazon had arrived with the blender & the water-pik. Now that the package has arrived, we could leave to go south, but we think we’ll stay another day & visit the trails & the elk some more. It only reached 48 degrees today but with the sun shining, it didn’t feel that cold at all.
Pixie