Monday, July 19, 2010
100718 Trees of Mystery & Jedediah Smith Redwoods
July 18, 2010 - O'Brien, Oregon - Yes, Oregon!! But barely. I'm just over the state line a little. And just for a while. I'm taking the scenic route from Crescent City, CA, to Tulelake, CA, through Grant's Pass in Oregon.
This evening is the kind of evening that makes me love living in an RV. It's well after dark. But my door is open, my fan is on. It's a lovely, warm night. But not too warm. I can hear the crickets and the birds outside. There is a light breeze blowing through the RV. It's almost like I'm outside myself. I have a couple neighbors in the RV park who were very friendly this evening and I chatted with them awhile. I walked on a trail by a little creek behind the campground as the sun was setting (without even a sweater on!). I saw a beautiful scrub jay (blue on top and white underpants) and red-headed woodpeckers, but it was too dark to get good photos of any of them. The red-headed woodpeckers were fighting over the top of a light pole, playing "king of the hill". I'd never heard anything like the sounds they were making (not quite like Woody the Woodpecker, but I could see a little similarity). My neighbors tell me if I walk over to their house (RV) in the morning I will see the red-headed woodpeckers again, for sure. Probably other birds too, as there are a lot of them around. I am excited about seeing the red-headed woodpeckers. I guess it's time to admit that I'm a birder, of sorts. :-)
I started out this morning with a gondola ride that lifted me up over the tops of the redwoods and sitka spruce, up 570 feet to the top of a ridge. This was at a commercial place called Trees of Mystery. There are large concrete likenesses of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox that kids can climb on. I remember well a similar pair in Bemidji, Minnesota, that I visited with my grandparents when I was in elementary school. There were lots of foxglove there - including some white ones [photo above], which was something new to me. There was a trail that ran by some oddities - a partial cathedral tree that has been turned into a pulpit area for weddings [photo above left], a tree with kinks in it that make it look like a lightening bolt, etc., all oddly-shaped, or very large, redwood trees that they have given names to. The best part of the experience was definitely the gondola ride, skimming along amongst these tall trees. Wow!
I stopped for lunch in Crescent City and saw the Battery Point Lighthouse there. The most interesting thing about that lighthouse is it's inaccessible at high tide, so there are only certain times each day that tours are held, and there are some days when the lighthouse is completely inaccessible all day! The daylilies are blooming now, and there was a profusion of them along the roadside on the way to Crescent City.
I stopped at the Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park and hiked a short loop trail. I was unexpectedly very sad at the fact this would be my last walk in a redwood forest, probably for a long time. I've taken many walks in the redwoods in the past week or so, and I have grown to love these redwood giants. I'm going to miss them. I wish for each of you a walk in a redwood forest during your lifetime.
The Scenic Byway to Grant's Pass follows the Smith River canyon, and other rivers, and there are some great views along the way.
I spent some time looking at possible routes into, around, and through the Cascades, and realized that any route I take will be a scenic one, so I can take any route I want! :-)
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