15 April 2018
The weatherman was good at his word – 100% rain for the entire day. It must have started around 4 am this morning. I kept hearing these plops and finally realized it was supersized drops of water dripping from the branches of redwoods high above the cabin. As the morning wore on, the plops came faster.
I had intended to start the day by heading to Redwoods National Forest some 40 miles south of Jedediah Smith State Park. You take highway 101 along the coast for a while and then you steadily climb. You are required to keep your lights on because even without rain, fog fills the hills on this stretch of highway. Add to that 15 mph curves and you get a thrilling ride.
The park map listed Lady Bird Johnson Grove and I decided to try my hand at the short 1.5 mile loop regardless of the rain. It’s suggested that if you have a 15 foot vehicle, not to attempt the road to the grove and definitely not if you have a trailer behind you. The grade is 15% with twists and turns.
Once you find the parking lot for the grove, you cross a very attractive bridge to get to the trail. It’s a gentle uphill climb and then the trail levels out. You get to the grove about halfway along the trail.
I equate this walk with tours of Europe where you walk into a cathedral. The silence in this forest is the best. You can hear your own footsteps.
Like the vaulted ceilings of cathedrals, you have nature’s vault of redwoods above your head. Like the cathedrals, streams of light illuminate the forest floor. I haven’t been in a cathedral yet that can compare to the experience of a walk in a redwood forest.
There’s a nice plaque dedicating the grove to Lady Bird Johnson. She apparently was present at the dedication so she certainly saw the redwoods in the grove named after her. Interestingly, it was done under the direction of Richard Nixon.
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After my LBJ Grove walk, I headed back towards Jedediah Smith via 101. One suggestion on the park map was to take a side trip to Elk Cove and Gold Bluffs Beach.
There were certainly elk at Elk Cove – at least at the parking lot and restrooms. They were all over the place and paying tourist not one bit of mind.
The road from Elk Cove led to an unpaved road to Gold Bluffs Beach. This reminded me of the rutted road for Titus Canyon in Death Valley only this road was much worse – washboard rough with huge holes in the unpaved road. In some cases, the road was almost completely washed out.
Once at the end, you got to see a camping and picnic area with spectacular views of the wild Pacific. The waves were coming in like gang busters and you were constantly being pelted by rain.
I made it to Gold Bluffs and back without any real problem – thanks to the jeep. Some people were taking ordinary cars down the road and I had to wonder about that.
Once back on 101, I took another side trip to the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway which takes you through another stand of coastal redwoods. It is amazing to be driving in daylight and need headlights to see ahead of you because of the shade from these giants.
I finally made it back to Crescent City and had lunch at a nondescript seafood place right on the ocean. I had fried oysters and a salad. It was OK but not as good as Kelly’s Landing in Fort Lauderdale.
Upon reaching the park, I immediately headed for the shower. It’s a pay shower with up to 5 minutes ($1.25). Of course, the first minute is waiting for the water to get hot. I haven’t experienced pay showers in years. At least this one worked.
Tonight, I intend to stay in and cook on the front porch of the cabin – no open flames inside the cabin. The porch is sheltered and I intend to bake biscuits and add Canadian bacon to some and wild plum jelly to the others and make a meal off that.
Then it’ll be off to sleep with rain dripping from the redwoods.
As a botanist, would you like to differentiate for us the difference between the redwoods and sequoias? I assume they vary in height, age, etc. In my experience, it drizzles all day, every day, in the Pacific Northwest. You should come back with a great rain tan.
Three living species: Sequoiadendron giganteum (Giant Sequoia), Sequoia sempervirens (Coastal Redwood) and Metasequoia – know only to China.