AWESOME OCEAN.
Day 60 – Rob got up at 7 a.m.; I got up at 8:15. Our first night here went fine. A small camper on a pick-up truck came in during the night & quietly camped by the Lagoon. Except for us, no one else was here. Yesterday afternoon we almost had an RV larger than ours, towing a car, park next to us, but evidently they couldn’t fit in because after several attempts, they left. Oh darn. We paid for another day & seeing that the weather forecast had changed & rather than all-day rain, it wouldn’t be starting up again until the afternoon, we figured we’d see if Trinidad had really changed much & left to do some sight-seeing.
We took a small road called Stagecoach Road, turning off Patrick’s Point Drive & driving along the cliff above the Ocean. Some nice homes down this way, just turn into your long & winding driveway thru the redwoods to your home perched on the cliff. Nice! We passed Trinidad State Beach Park then soon reached the Trinidad area where we’d been 35 years ago. It still had the pier & Seascape Restaurant, both situated right next to the huge rock & beach with Trinidad Head on a cliff. In this area it was a fishing/beach community with some shops, but just a little inland, we could see where the growth had taken place when the area became popular.
We parked at the pier – it was very wet, cold, & windy. Sea kayakers were getting lessons & we watched for awhile. The Ocean was rough; they were gutsy. We walked the pier, beautifully sandwiched between the large rock & the Head’s cliff. Crab season was just beginning, but no one was out, probably due to the weather. The birds were busy, though. Seascape Restaurant was still right there, just as we’d remembered it. We’ll come back for breakfast or lunch some other time. We drove up the road & looked at the Lighthouse & Lost At Sea Memorial & saw the kayakers out in the Bay.
We drove further south along the Ocean on a road called Scenic Drive which looked back towards Trinidad Harbor, then arrived at Moonstone Beach. It was a rough road in need of repair due to slides, but it was indeed scenic. Very nice beach just as we remembered it, rugged coastline, a surfer out in the water, and a few people walking around. Some of the rocks really looked like they came from the Moon. We hung out for awhile; the sun came out briefly & warmed the sand. A small dog came happily bounding by, practically quivering all over with excitement. We asked the dog where it came from & where was its owner? A woman came out from behind the rocks, trying to keep up with the dog. She grinned & said her dog sure liked going to the beach. Yep, that was obvious. A man was creating a painting of the beach & rocks, while his wife & child played in the sand nearby. Idyllic.
We kept going south on Scenic Drive – more redwood groves & nice houses, rugged cliffs. We passed Little River State Beach, no camping, and briefly checked out Clam Beach Park where camping was allowed. For RVs it was basically camping in the parking lot by a busy beach. We were now on Highway 101 & we soon reached Arcata, which had been a small town when we were last here. Not anymore. We stopped at the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Arcata field office & also the Visitor’s Information Center for the County, where we picked up some excellent brochures & maps with information about what to do in Humboldt County.
It was pouring down rain when we got back in the car & headed back to the RV. We had lunch & began looking at our pamphlets. It starting hailing, then the rain suddenly stopped & there was a gorgeous rainbow over the Lagoon. We grabbed the camera & headed out for pictures. It was so lovely out with the dark sky & the rainbow – lots of birds on the water at Big Lagoon. We walked as far as we could along the Lagoon, then got the car & drove to the Day Use Area to access the other side. There was a place to launch a boat & Rob encountered a woman who’d just been swimming in the Lagoon. She said it was amazing to be the only one there, swimming in the Lagoon, and have that rainbow, visible from end-to-end, above you.
People were arriving to watch the big waves, so we meandered from the Lagoon to the Ocean. Wow! Rob got a couple of chairs out of the back of the Honda & we made ourselves at home, watching the incredible waves which cracked like thunder when they broke. We stayed for hours until it got too cold. Gorgeous.
As we were leaving, an older woman & her dog stopped to visit. She was very talkative & we learned she was from the area, her husband had died, she had 4 grown kids & she travelled to many different locations to visit them, always returning to this area which she loved very much. She said to NEVER go in the water at the Ocean here, the rip currents would pull you under. She said the waves & water levels were higher this year than usual. She said long ago when they moved here, they bought an old fixer upper, worked on it over time, & she still lived in it. And that coming to this Park was her favorite place to be. We said we’d come to Trinidad 35 years ago & were amazed how it’d grown. She said, “Oh my, you were here when it was quite rural back then”. Her dog wanted to go on its walk, so she headed off. We went back to the RV & warmed up. Now I am impressed with this Park. Camping may be rather primitive but you can’t beat the Ocean & Lagoon for great surroundings.