As the pandemic continued to keep us at home in January I managed to find a night over looking the Pacific at Harris Beach State Park. 3 nights at Harris Beach then turned into a short adventure.
May 8, 2021
During the rains that we did get in February the Last Chance Grade between Orick and Crescent City slid closing 101 and causing a 2 hour detour to get to Crescent City. At that point I decided it would be prudent to stop for a night in Humbolt Redwoods State Park.
We drove passed our Burlington Campground which would be our stop for the night and continued on to the Founder’s Grove where we hiked the trail and had lunch.
This incredible Redwood grove, located just off the famous Avenue of the Giants, is home to some of the tallest trees in the world. At the end of the loop is the magnificent fallen Dyerville Giant. The giant redwood once stood 362 ft. tall and was considered the tallest tree in the park before its fall in 1991. The redwood’s crash to the ground moved the earth so much that it registered on a nearby seismograph and one local, who heard the impact from half a mile away, thought a train had crashed. Today you can walk the whole length of the tree and stand in awe of its massive root system beautifully on display. Dyerville Giant Facts: 362 ft. in height 17 ft. diameter 52 ft. circumference Possibly 2,000 years old.
As we hiked the loop we heard a loud crack as this branch came down right in front of us.
Our campsite for the night was site 55, a large site between 2 hiker biker camps. Very quiet, except for the Varied Thrush with his electronic sound at dawn and dusk.
May 9 -11
On our way to Brookings we made a stop for a walk around the Arcata Wild Life Preserve. The wind was blowing pretty strongly keeping the birds out of site.
Campsite 18 at Harris Beach
We spent the 10th walking on the beach and at the camp, Terri and Vance joined us after noon.
The 11th we visited hiked Chetco Point and visited the Brookings Botanical Garden, which was very sweet, before stopping for an early dinner at The Hungry Clam where the halibut fish and chips never dissapoints us.
May 12
Our destination for tonight was Umpqua Lighthouse State Park. We stopped to stretch and go for a short walk at Arizona State Beach where we had an Osprey watching the pond from above and violet green, cliff and swallows and a cormorant caught a fish out of the pond right in front of Mark!
Stopped for lunch at the Rocky Point park and had to eat in the car because of the mosquitos. Hiked into the nature preserve and up into a Myrtle wood grove.
Umpqua Light aHouse State Park was very lush. Our campsite was near the entrance station with a big hill to hike if you wanted to take a shower or deposit your trash.
May 13
Before parting ways with Terri and Vance I hiked down hill to lake Marie for a hike around Lake Marie.
We spent most of the day driving without many stops. We did drive through Beverly Beach State Park near Lincoln City, a campground I’ve never been able to get reservations at. It’s east of the highway with a pass under the highway to a beautiful beach. Sites available now!
I found Munson Creek Falls Natural Area just off 101 it the east before Tillamook, a lovely place where we were able to get out of the wind and walk and picnic.
When we pulled into the Harbor View RV Park we were one of 6 RV’s here for the night. When I reserved I made sure I could get a bay front site.
We walked over to the harbor area and met a guy who was tending his sea weed crop. He lives in Portland and does this on Thursday and Friday. We took dinner from the Portside Bistro back to the camper and enjoyed dinner as the sunset. The seafood chowder and a shrimp salad hit the spot.
May 14
Once the coffee was made we headed for the pier we’d been looking at from the camper. As we approached the pier a crow chased a bald eagle who flew out over the bay and circled back to perch atop a tree. After a bit it grabbed something to eat from the water and landed a top a pilot where he chowed down until the seagulls chased him off,
After breakfast we walked around town and tried to locate the heron rookery that I saw on a promotional map to no avail. It seems Garibaldi has quite a history for trains and logging. Now it seems it’s fishing, crabbing and clamming is the draw. Unfortunately with the winds today and yesterday the halibut boats weren’t going out. Circling back to the camper we stopped at The Fishpeople Seafood Market where we picked up 8 huge oysters for $5.00 to grill for dinner.
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