Day 58 – We got up at 7:45 a.m., 39 degrees, sunny. It’s supposed to cloud up later today & rain for several days beginning tomorrow morning. We decided to go back to the trails off the scenic Drury Parkway this morning while the sun was still out. Before leaving, Rob took a couple of pictures of the birds at this campground.
The Birds! Klamath Camper Corral, Klamath, CA
Pine Siskin, Klamath Camper Corral, Klamath, CA
Then we packed a lunch and left at 9:30, 45 degrees, a few clouds, & we drove south again to the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway. Less people out today. Our first stop was the Ah Pah Interpretive Trail. This was a wonderful walk through old growth forest; fantastic trees & large ferns, a little less than a mile total. It was cold & wet but really beautiful.
Next was Little Creek Trail. We immediately saw that it was one mile straight up the side of a mountain. Decided against that one since it was a bit wet & muddy, I’ve got the knee issues, and it was supposed to be shorter than that. We drove on to Big Tree Wayside. We went to this site yesterday but only took the short walk to the Big Tree. Today we took the Circle Trail near there which took us through a loop trail surrounded by trees as large as the infamous Big Tree. There were more people at this area, everyone standing around looking up to the sky at the tops of these tall trees, their mouths open in awe. We know the feeling.
We drove on to the visitor’s center near Elk Prairie Campground, intending to take several more trails from there. As we pulled in to the parking lot, we saw numerous Roosevelt Elk nearby in the field. We stood there for awhile watching the Elk – all males with antlers. Rob took pictures and I chatted with the forest ranger. She said there were female Elk currently in a field further along off Davison Road. I told her that yesterday we drove up along the ridge on Bald Hills Road, and that we wondered if there were also Elk up there since there was so much prairie land on top of the hills. She said that there is a large herd that roams those lands but you don’t see them often because they don’t fancy people. The Elk around the more-visited areas are used to the people and just go on about their business.
After spending so much time there, we opted out of the trails & went further south to look for the female Elk. Sure enough, there was a whole field of Elk off Davison Road, mostly female, and including a few adolescent males with one short prong for their antlers, not ready to play the field with the big boys. Rob took pictures; I walked over to a couple of informational signs. They said the males rut (the mating process) for six weeks yearly between August & October. The males can be very dangerous at that time. The pregnant females then go off to themselves to have their babies. When the young Elks are still with their mothers, the female can be quite dangerous if she feels she needs to protect her young. So maybe the resident herd near the campground is used to people, but that’s why they have so many warning signs everywhere. They are not tame.
Roosevelt Elk Doe, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Orick, CA
The sun was disappearing into the increasing clouds. We headed south to check out some campgrounds for our next stay. Back on Highway 101, we passed thru the small town of Orick where we’d picked up sandwiches yesterday. Now we were entering new territory, new for us anyway. Driving on, we came to a pull-out with a small parking lot & a visitor’s center. It was closed, but lined up like statues standing right there were three large female Elk & two younger Elk. We stopped & got pictures of them and of the sign where we had seen them. Surprise!
Soon the 101 reached the Ocean & wound along the beaches. We reached a series of several lovely lagoons & entered Humboldt Lagoons State Park. We turned off to see if they allowed camping. They only had backcountry, hike-in camping, but the cliff by the Ocean overlooking Stone Lagoon offered great views of the area. Lagoons are caused by earth movement (in this case, earthquakes over time) causing a blockage at the outlet of a river, which then resembles a lake. Many are shallow, and often fish & birds thrive there. These lagoons here by the Ocean were formed where the River reached the sea, so they’re separated from the Pacific Ocean by narrow strips of land or dunes. When the Ocean is rough, the waves can break over the narrow strip of land, eventually causing new openings. It’s an ever-changing environment.
Humboldt Lagoons State Park, Trinidad, CA
Humboldt Lagoons State Park, Trinidad, CA
Big Lagoon, aptly named because it’s so large, was bordered on the east by marshy areas. We counted more than ten Great Egrets on both sides of the Lagoon as we drove by. At the south side of the Lagoon, there was a sign for Big Lagoon Beach & County Park. We stopped to check it out. A drive through some narrow wooded streets with a school & some houses ended at the County Park, which was on the Pacific Ocean & Big Lagoon. Bordering Yurok indian reservation land where around 25 Native Americans have their homes on the Lagoon, the Park offered beach & lagoon access with a parking lot, restrooms, & an area for launching small non-motorized boats at the Day Use Area. We could get to the narrow strip of sand dunes from there & walk between the Ocean & the Lagoon. Beyond the Day Use Area was a small campground, mostly designed for tent camping, but there were several campsites we’d be able to fit into. Two of them offered water & electric hook-ups, no sewer hook-up, no dump station. No one was camping in the entire campground; the campground host had a sign up saying they were closed. Hmmm, privacy? Yeah, we think so. $33 per night with the senior discount for the electric & water sites. We’ll check out some other campgrounds & consider this one, about as close to a tsunami danger zone as you could be. LOL.
Big Lagoon County Park, Trinidad, CA
Further south we got off Highway 101 onto Patrick’s Point Drive & stopped for lunch on a cliff overlooking the Ocean & several small sea stacks. We rolled down the windows & listened to the barking seals which covered the rocks below while we had lunch. The sun was behind the clouds and it had warmed to 55 degrees.
We kept heading south on Patrick’s Point Drive until we reached Patrick’s Point State Park. We drove through the Park, well off the road, close to the Ocean. All the group camping sites and the Abalone campsites (tent camping) were closed for the season. Part of the Agate Beach campsite loop was open for tents or RVs; most sites were closed. We looked at what was open and found several sites we liked. Only a few people occupied campsites. $33 per night with the senior discount, no hook-ups, water spigots available, and a dump station in the Park (that was closed until summer). The sites we liked were private and had enough space for the car & RV plus an area to relax outside with the screened tent if desired. The ranger said there was free dumping available at a rest stop 1 mile from the State Park. $33 seemed expensive to me for no hook-ups/no dump station on site. Since we figured we’d be in this area for at least a week, hook-ups would be nice. But other than that, this campground had possibilities.
Patrick’s Point State Park, Trinidad, CA
We checked out the other campgrounds in the area (we were near Trinidad, on the coast). We’d definitely wanted to camp near Trinidad because 35 years ago, we stumbled on this tiny fishing town on the coast. During a vacation, we’d stopped for breakfast on the way south from spending the night in Crescent City. The restaurant, Seascape, was a place where the locals ate, on the pier overlooking the Ocean & a beautiful sea stack. We had fresh crab omelettes & we’d never forgotten this lovely small town. We’d also gone to Trinidad’s Moonstone Beach and had been the only ones walking on the Beach that morning. Wanting to come back & see if this charming place had changed much, we’d looked online previously to get a list of campgrounds in the area to look at. Including Big Lagoon County Park & Patrick’s Point State Park, here’s what we found (in order north to south):
Elk Country RV Resort & Camping – East off of Highway 101 & a little bit away from the road, in southern “Elk Country”. This was an interesting campground. The owner is not there on Monday & Tuesday so the office was closed. We spoke with a woman in a golf cart who gave us a little information but suggested we come back when the owner was there if we wanted to drive through & pick a site. The current campground was previously two separate campgrounds. The new owner combined the two into almost 200 acres of prairie & woods. You can camp in the woods or on the prairie where the elk roam. Do you want a shaded, more private site or do you want to be out in the open, possibly with an elk herd grazing by your RV? Tough decision for us. Full hook-ups, different prices for back-in, drive-thru, & certain preferred sites, the prices ranged from $32 to $36 per night which included a 10% discount for off season or Good Sam club. The campground was not full but plenty of sites were occupied. If we hadn’t liked the State & County Parks, this would’ve been our 1st choice. It is north of Trinidad & most of what we wanted to do was in Trinidad & south to Eureka, so YES MAYBE
Big Lagoon Beach & County Park – see above for details. YES.
Azalea Glen RV Park – this Park was recommended by the two women camping at Panther Flat, so we were looking forward to seeing it. Located on the east side of Patrick’s Point Drive, the sign said No Vacancy. What I’d found out online was that it was a non-smoking Park with campsites around a pond that were $45 per night; these sites had private decks. The other sites were in a beautifully landscaped area with gardens; these sites were $40 per night. All sites had full hook-ups including sewer; if you stayed a week, the 7th night was free. We were unable to drive through, but the Park looked nice & the reviews were excellent. More expensive than the others, though. POSSIBLY/MAYBE.
(Patrick’s Point Drive is a beautiful, scenic, tree-lined street with very nice homes overlooking the wild Ocean below. It’s off Highway 101 a little north of Trinidad. There are trendy restaurants and B&B’s intermingled with the homes & RV parks. We were surprised how much the Trinidad area had changed!)
Patrick’s Point State Park – see above for details. Located on the west side on Patrick’s Point Drive. YES.
Sounds of the Sea RV Park – this Park was closed for the season. It was located on the east side of Patrick’s Point Drive. Couldn’t really get a look at it; don’t know about prices or amenities. MAYBE.
View Creek Lodge/RV/Camp – behind a tall wood fence, this Park was closed for the season. It was located on the east side of Patrick’s Point Drive. PROBABLY NOT. How can you have a view behind that big fence?
Sylvan Harbor RV/Cabins – this Park was closed for the season. It was located a bit south from the previous parks, on the east side of Patrick’s Point Drive. From what we could see of the Park, it looked like they really pack them in like sardines. NO.
Emerald Forest Cabins & RV Resort – this Park sounded really good online, not as good in person. They were almost full & we were given a campground map & allowed to drive through. Online it sounded like a wonderland, a private oasis in forests & ferns. In reality, it wasn’t horrific, LOL, but we’d certainly seen better. At least they left the trees up & didn’t turn it into a concrete parking lot. The rate for a week averaged out to $32.40 for a back-in campsite & $34.20 for a drive-thru campsite. The back-in sites along Patrick’s Point Drive were decent, there were some trees, but the sites were small & fairly close together. The pull-thru sites were open & large but pretty much in the backyard of the cabins; you’d be looking right into someone’s bathroom. The back-in sites in the woods on the outer perimeter of the Park were very close to Highway 101 with some traffic noise, but they were larger than the other back-in sites & further from their neighboring sites, separated by trees. All were full hook-ups. There were 99 campsites & 16 cabins. They were located on the east side of Patrick’s Point Drive fairly close to the trendy shops & the pier in Trinidad. Good location, convenient to Trinidad. MAYBE.
Based on what we found, we narrowed it down to either Patrick’s Point State Park or Big Lagoon Beach & County Park. The independent campgrounds just weren’t right for us yet again. We’ll decide which one tomorrow.
We drove back to the RV, paid the owner for the additional night we were staying, did a final load of laundry, and told the cats they’d better enjoy those heated pads tonight because we may be without electricity again soon.
Hi Vicki & Rob,
I love your narratives, and Rob’s photos are incredible. I feel as though I am a stowaway in your RV during the day, but sleeping in my own bed in NP at night. I miss you!!!! Be safe, my friends.
Love,
Carol xxoo