Cove Redwoods, Wed, 7/28/21

It was our lucky day when I found one available night at Stillwater Cove c/g on the northern Sonoma Coast. Every other campground I looked at on the coast screamed "no availability." Must have been a cancelation. Regardless, this c/g was a great find for us (and like many nowadays, it's by reservation only). What could be better than ocean on one side and a redwood forest on the other? Add cool temps, and we're hooked -- we'd stay for a month if we could! Only 26 miles north of Bodega Bay, too.

After a quiet night, we were up early so we could get out in those woods on the 1.5 mile, up and down Canyon Trail loop. The morning's low temp was 54 perfectly cool degrees. I wore shorts and a sweatshirt, which was just right for me. Jimmy chose jeans. Neither of us realized that a second-growth redwood forest would be included in this regional park, but what a terrific draw.

Dinky, but perennial, Stockhoff Creek "flows" alongside the trail.  We'd have to cross it twice, which wasn't a problem since it's so shallow, and logs had been strategically placed, as above.  A bridge across the creek was destroyed by flooding in Dec 2015 and hasn't been replaced.  Love how green everything is!

We didn't hurry.  You can see why.

Walking here was serene and beauteous.

Lush Ferns and Pink Oxalis (wood sorrel) covered the hillsides.

Tiny Stockhoff creek is at the bottom.

Stillwater Cove is only a couple of miles from Fort Ross, the historic Russian fur trading outpost. (Fort Ross was a thriving Russian-American Company settlement from 1812 to 1841.)  The one-room school, above, with Jimmy peeking in a window, was the Fort Ross School, used from 1885 - 1973.  Initially it was located closer to Fort Ross, but threatened with extinction, it was renovated and moved to this Stillwater Cove location in 1974.  History, folks!

Coming down towards the creek.

I think these black-stemmed five-fingered ferns add interest to the redwood forest understory.  Growing on steep hillsides, they help hold the soil in place.

This area of redwoods was only harvested once in the 1850's, and only the largest trees were cut down.  That means the trees we saw today are themselves a mature redwood forest.  Redwoods are the dominant tree here, but Douglas firs and tan oaks also thrive.  With the dry summer, we didn't see any wildflowers, but I bet it's drop-dead gorgeous in spring.

The downed redwood that Jimmy is standing by?  It looks fairly big, but not 300-ft tall big, right?  Check out the picture below.

I wondered how old it was when it fell.  I would've needed a magic magnifying glass to count the rings and a whole lot more patience than I possess!  Tee-niney rings.  Awesome trees.

Of course if you have shade and moisture, you'd have these things:  

Giant Horse Tails

On the return section of the loop trail, was an offshoot called Dead End Trail, which immediately started uphill.  We climbed along with it.  I kept hearing what sounded like an Osprey, but that didn't compute in a redwood forest.  I may not be able to tell one hawk from another by sound, but I know an Osprey when I hear it, especially a young'un crying for food.  Sure enough, at the top of the tree (red checkmark, above, left) was a parent, giving us the stink eye.  Somewhere beyond our view was a chick in a nest.  We saw the other parent fly into the trees and the kid got fed, 'cause it got quiet!  The birds probably fish in the bays.

If you've seen big trees, you've seen the square notches (kinda square) cut near the base that held springboards.  With springboards in place, tree-cutting these majestic trees was possible.  I cannot imagine cutting down one of those ancient giants.

What a nice morning!  Back at camp, we prepared to pack it up and move on.  We have another night to spend elsewhere.  But first, as we like to say, but first, Salt Point St Pk is only four miles north, and I'm here to tell you it's a really cool place.  Notice the two jugs of water above?  Each picnic table has two "fire prevention water" jugs atop.  Thankfully we didn't need to use them!  If you get the chance, we recommend Stillwater Cove, it's a grand place to stay for a while.

Win some/lose some -- Tues/Wed, 10/23-10/24

At Valley of the Rogue St Pk campground I awoke to a brilliant red sunrise -- uh-oh, Red Sky in the Morning, Sailor Take Warning!  Well, today is a travel day, not our fishing day, so no matter the sunrise color!  I thought the lovely sky would make for a nice little morning walk, in the opposite direction from last night's hike.  So did the others, and after breakfast we set forth.  I'm not sure, but I believe we put in about two miles worth of steps ... enjoying the scenery with each step!

Autumn hues are the best.

Marlene and Cliff.

On Hwy 199, heading southwest to Smith River, CA, the gorgeous deciduous trees were in full autumn regalia!  Dashing shades of reds, yellows, bronze, and orange, mixed with conifer greens was simply breathtaking.  

Middle branch of the Smith River.

Pretty scenery, but very low water ....

We parked Tergel on a riverfront site in Jedediah Smith St Park (within Redwood National Park).  No hookups, of course, and she won't be getting too much solar while sitting beneath the trees, but for two nights, we'll be fine.  Marlene and Cliff parked their rig on the next tier.

The river is rocky and crystal clear.  See the splash in center just in front of the shrubs?  That's a salmon!  We learned that fishing is closed on the river itself because the water level is so low; we could "go to jail" if caught trying to pull in a salmon here.  Not a problem for us, we don't have a license to fish today and we don't have fishing poles.  Tomorrow we'll have a guide and poles and a boat and our license will be good.

Jedediah Smith St Park is a scenic wonder, though many of its mighty trees are still smallish in comparison with really giant Redwoods.  We love its quiet.  And it smells fresh, earthy.

Maybe this Redwood I'm hugging isn't the largest tree in the area,

but it's a whopper!  (above and below)

... and it's next to our site.

Now for a fishy tale.  Jimmy and I set an alarm for 4:30 Wednesday morning, so we could dress, drink a cuppa coffee or two and make/pack a lunch.  We were to meet the fishing guides at 6am.  Cliff and Marlene were at the meeting place a couple of minutes before us.  They would be in one boat with Andy as their guide, and we'd be in a different boat, with Mick as our guide.  You do know that it's pitch dark at 6am, right?  A full moon was fixin' to set shortly as we made our way to the river.

The fish and game people decreed that only Smith River's estuary could be fished at this time.  That's where we are, above, and that's Cliff and Marlene in their boat.  I'll dispense with suspense and tell you we came back to Tergel with NO fish.  After the fact, we found out that this is NOT steelhead season, and the salmon were "biting yesterday" (in the rain), but they sure as heck weren't biting today.  I caught one "jack" which is a small male salmon (though he was well over a foot long), and Mick threw it back so it could "grow bigger."  Jimmy and I both had occasional bites, but lost the fish.  Seals were present, stalking us (and smirking) and scaring away the fish, which didn't help a bit.  Mick made us feel like we were totally inept, which made me feel bad.  Even if we were inept, he shouldn't have rubbed it in.

No rain, but an overcast sky was supposedly good for catching fish.

We were dressed in layers and with rain gear on, in case the sky opened up.

Those gulls were entertaining, flying in tight packs,

first here and then yonder, spiraling high.

Marlene and Cliff kept two "jacks" because they said they wanted to keep them, and they left the water about 1pm.  They made the decision to head for home that afternoon.  We stayed on the water and tried to catch a salmon, or preferably two, till 4:30, and then threw in the towel. That's one very long day of sitting in a boat to come away with nothing. All four of us were disappointed.  Mick said he wished he'd kept the one jack I caught.  Well, duh, me, too!

This is not a photo of the salmon we caught.  This is Aleutian Geese overtaking a nearby field where dairy cows graze.  I hope I didn't sulk about the ending of our grand fishing adventure, or if I did, I hope it wasn't overly long.  It's over.  Time to get on with something else.  Fun times are around the corner.  I'm ready.

On the plus side, I'll have enough one-gallon freezer bags to last my lifetime!

Muir Woods, at long last! Wednesday, 4/27/16

Funny how things work out.  Jimmy and I postponed our little San Francisco getaway several times because weather forecasts weren't good; in fact, they were cool and rainy.  We finally settled on a few days in late April (4/26-28) to celebrate our 15-year anniversary ... and because long-term predictions showed a nice round sun.  Till the week before, then Wednesday's picture evolved into raindrops!  Well, nuts!  Forget about it, no more canceling; we don't melt into puddles and we have rain jackets and umbrellas.  So, off we went to SF and Cow Hollow Inn in our Prius, a mere three hours away.

Two things topped our want-to-do list, and the first was a visit to Muir Woods National Monument, one of the last stands of old-growth redwood forests on earth, which is maybe a half hour north of San Francisco.  We love being in the natural beauty of a magnificent ancient redwood forest, but altho it's fairly close to where we live now, we'd never made it there.  This is one of those places "I've always wanted to see," and hopefully today is the time, rain or shine.  It'll probably be one of those awe-inspiring places we'll want to see again and again.

Sure enough, Wednesday morning was cloudy and misty and turned into full-fledged rain on our way to the woods.  Phooey.  Rain gear in tow, we set off.

Still dripping, but NOT pouring!

Oh yea!  The sky began to clear, and soon the sun peeked through the clouds! 

And while drops continued to fall on our heads from the foliage, the rain stopped altogether.

Summer fog and winter rains are what keep the redwoods growing here.  Many of the trees in this forest are over 600 years old.  Rotting logs support life, too.

At the VC, the ranger recommended we walk the scenic two-mile Redwood Creek/Hillside trail, which took us into three beautiful redwood groves:  Founders Grove, Cathedral Grove (above) and Bohemian Grove.  The trail follows meandering Redwood Creek, which originates in Mt Tamalpais and bisects the park.  We were surprised to learn threatened steelhead and endangered coho salmon spawn in this small bubbling creek.  Plus, of course, there's salamanders and other critters. 

Above Jimmy leans against part of a redwood "root."  Below is a close-up of it ... kinda gnarly.

Shade-loving undergrowth thrives below the redwood canopy in this moist climate.  Sword ferns, mosses and redwood sorrel (Oxalis oregana) grace the forest floor.  Look how green everything is!  I envision a primitive age when I look at these pictures, as in the dinosaur age.  Much of what we saw, horsetails, lichens, and ferns, might have been apart of that earlier time.

This is what retirement is all about for us ... to be able to spend time walking along an exquisite path such as this, relishing the quiet nature and cathedral-like beauty; how fortunate we are. 

And this, too.  Off the Redwood Creek trail, we hiked uphill thru lush woods to Camp Alice Eastwood, a tranquil complex (at least today) with group camping, picnic tables and restrooms.  Not sure about exact trail length (1.3 mile we think), but we enjoyed the entire thing by ourselves, just walkin' along.

A temporary loss of our trail led us to this point, but we managed.

Don't like to use the word "lost." 

Not too many spots of color, but Andrew's clintonia (Clintonia andrewsiana) was a standout.

The only bird we caught a brief glimpse of was a winter wren as it hopped about the ground cover.

New redwood growth is really pretty. 

A different view as we travel The Hillside trail on our way back to the VC.  We stopped in at the cafe for a cuppa coffee (yes, there's even a cafe!) before we left.  I bought a Muir Woods sweatshirt at the gift shop that should get a lot of wear over the years.  

We're so happy to have experienced even a little bit of this national monument and hope to return in the fall.  There's lots more to see and more trails to cover.  Summers will be very crowded, I'm sure, but autumn should be gorgeous.

One more thing you may find as interesting as I did.  From the brochure:  In 1905, William and Elizabeth Kent purchased the forest and opened it as a park.  After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, developers sought condemnation of the area to build a reservoir.  Using the nation's first preservation law, the Antiquities Act of 1906, William and Elizabeth Kent donated the land to the people of the United Sates in December 1907.  On January 9, 1008, President Theodore Roosevelt designated Muir Woods a America's tenth national monument.

John Muir wrote eloquently about the Kents' gift, calling the new park "the best tree-lover's monument that could possibly be found in all the forests of the world."  We concur.

Next up?  Thing Two!