Humbolt Redwoods & Lost Coast

On the way back from my friend Rich's wedding, we took a trip along the Oregon and California coasts. Starting at the Humbolt Redwoods, Kristi and I drove the bus south and down to the Lost Coast. We loved the towering Redwood trees. Walking throught the forest we felt like tourists in New York, constantly looking up. The little campground we stayed at was nestled in between some young growth trees, and raspberry bushes. Black bears frequented the area to breakfast on raspberries and trash cans.

On the advice of Rich we planned a back packing trip down the Lost Coast of California. It is said that this 26 mile section of beach is the longest section of beach bereft of development and multi million dollar mansions. This is good news for sea lions, and back packers alike. We started the trip on the north shore. We followed the map down a windy narrow road to a campground. We pulled into the last remaining campsite for the night, and were greeted by a large man claiming that the site we were in was occupied. It was obvious that the site was not inhabited, and that he simply did not want anybody camping next to him. So I put it to him one way: "I don't see anybody's name on it!" He backed off once he saw I wasn't going to be pushed around. We spent the night there and had quite a few Downtown Brown beers (& Kristi had too many ha ha), and the next morning headed down the coast with our backpacks.

The wind was blowing at a pretty constant rate, and you could see the moisture from the rainforest being pulled out to sea. Once we made it out to the point the clouds lifted and the sun came out, but the wind persisted. About five miles in we came to a cabin, that the lighthouse keeper lived in once upon a time. We continued on to a natural spring, and decided to make camp there behind a large wind break someone had erected out of huge logs of drift wood. Out of the wind it was downright hot, but as soon as you stepped away from the wind break, the wind dried off the sweat and cooled you down to a chill again. It was a pretty area, with the light house and some sealions laying around. Around sunset the sky & clouds got beautiful.