2 Days at Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park

Day 1 (or Day 23 of this Odyssey)

This is at sea level - Klamath point was several hundred feet above sea level

So our general plan for the last 2 days was to head to Prairie Creek to explore some trails that wander through the redwoods, as well as the elk herds; and hopefully see whales at the Klamath Point Overlook.  There is a resident herd of Roosevelt Elk that populate the park and a resident pod of gray whales that stay close to the opening of the Klamath River to feed on shrimp, krill, etc.  Day 1 was not at all promising on the whale front - the fog that rolls in off the ocean was as thick as pea soup and seeing the ocean was an impossibility in the morning on the way to the park and on the way back to camp.

Maribeth's powers of resourcefulness with her iPad came in very handy again when we wondered if there were any "drive-thru trees" close by.  Turns out that there are only 3 such trees in existence (they are rather frowned upon due to the obvious lack of respect for the redwood) and one just happened to be in Klamath - right on our route to Prairie Creek.  Sure, it's a little hokey, but to stuff Gigantibeast through a tree was something that just had to be done!

Of course the kids had to pop their head out of the sunroof!

So after successfully driving through a tree, we headed off to explore the Cathedral Tree Trail and Big Tree at Prairie Creek.  I asked a Ranger about Big Tree before we hiked - it turns out that it is the 3rd largest Redwood in California by width at 21.7 ft.  We all agreed that the Boy Scout Tree was wider, but the Boy Scout Tree is officially a "double" and Big Tree is a single redwood.  Scarlett and I both agreed that they could have come up with a more original name for Big Tree...

Under Big Tree - being Big Goofballs

The kids around the remains of a burned redwood

The Cathedral Tree Trail was an amazing trail.  The name Cathedral comes from the appearance of many of these trees.  Forest fires encourage the redwood to sprout another tree right next itself in case the fire destroys it and the number of fires over the last 2,000 years in this particular area has meant many groupings of 3-7 trees.  When you are next to, or inside a group of trees there is a distinct feeling that you are in a cathedral.  We loved this trail!

A large, toppled redwood root system

Thank goodness the kids could get these trees out of our way!

A great example of Cathedral Trees

Daddy climbed up into this set of redwoods - I'd guess I'm up 20 feet or so.  The outside of one of the trees in the center of this group of 7 trees was badly burned, but still alive.  It was pretty cool to climb up and just feel the enormity of these trees.














So after our hike, we headed back to camp.  Scarlett had been back in that 3rd row on our way to Prairie Creek talking about a sign she saw for "salmon jerky" so on the way home we stopped in to get some.  Turns out that "jerky" is really smoked salmon that is smoked by the local Yurok tribe.  Delicious stuff that we purchased in three flavors: sweet, garlic, and peppered.  We had a couple samples and now they are safely stored in the refrigerator to be pulled out for a special occasion...

The fog that just wouldn't let us see from Klamath Point Overlook

Somebody had a busy day...

We ended the day with new neighbors next to us back at camp who have two girls - both of whom played with Laryssa while Scarlett, Lisa and Maribeth hit up the local Walmart for necessities.  It was quite the marathon shopping event - we didn't see them until just before 10 p.m.  Maribeth swears we should just get stock...  Just shoot me if I ever have to spend 3 hours in a Walmart.  The stuff that Mommy does for us to keep this trip on track!



Day 2 @ Prairie Creek - The Ride

The fog was again too thick to see the whales at Klamath Point so we headed right to the Ossagon Trailhead in Prairie Creek where Maribeth, Laryssa, Scarlett, Graeme & I biked the Ossagon Trail.  The trail would be too difficult for Annalise so she and Mommy rendezvoused with us at the end of the trail which she could drive to.  From the trailhead we descended over 800 feet to sea level (took a wrong turn which ended up on the beach - that doesn’t quite work with any kind of bike) to a prairie where Roosevelt elk spend much of their time.  

Laryssa & Scarlett take in the Pacific Ocean after our wrong turn

Laryssa riding on our trail that ran along the edge of the prairie

We had seen the Roosevelt elk further away at the Visitor Center yesterday, but today we had no idea we would see them here.  I have the best 9:00 video of everyone following me (my Go Pro was attached to my seat post facing backwards to be able to video the kids riding behind me) when all of a sudden in front of me were two good sized bucks


standing stoically with an entire herd – 40 or so elk including smaller bucks, does and nursing calves.  The kids took notice immediately – a ride that descended quickly and crossed a number of streams, including more than a couple crashes instantly turned serious in their minds.  As they looked at the herd, they realized that this was a group of animals that were large, outnumbered us, and were not behind a fence like we are all so used to seeing at zoos…  Caution was an important thing and things quieted down behind me considerably.  The elk in the picture above (near the center) appears to be far away due to the Go Pro's wide angle, but he was less than 50' from us.

I've posted the video of the kid's reaction to seeing this elk herd on YouTube.  Here's the link:

An Elk herd surprises us

While we were riding, Mommy & Annalise were hiking Fern Canyon, where scenes from Jurassic Park were filmed.  Pretty neat place!

After lunch, Maribeth & I biked the trail in reverse.  The good side of that deal is that we were able to see the elk herd again and I have some great video of them on the prairie.  The bad side is that we had to bike up that ascended 800' over a mile and a half.  Once we were about half way up, we realized the kids' wisdom in opting out...

And our ride home was successful on the whale front!  There was a lone gray whale feeding very close to shore and we were able to see him come up for air a few times.  The down side was our elevation - we were so high up that the whale was a little hard to see, much less photograph.  But at least we got to see one.