Del Norte County Hike

River Trail

Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park

April 14, 2017

CA Counties Hiked in 2017: 2/58

Del Norte is a small county in the far NW of California along the Pacific Ocean, a place where giant redwood trees thrive below 2,000ft. due to the heavy winter rains and mild summers. When we first visited the area, we didn't hike in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. Instead, we decided to hike through one of the farthest north groves of redwoods in southern Oregon because at that point in the summer of 2014, Laurel had never visited Oregon and the girls needed to hike in the "Beaver State" as part of our Hike in all 50 States Project. 

The rain fell at a constant rate as we drove along the rugged northern California coast. The road varied from sky scrapping redwood groves to cliffs dropping away to the rocky Pacific far below. 

Humboldt County Hike

Owen R. Cheatham Grove

Grizzly Creek Redwoods State Park 

April 12, 2017

CA Counties hiked in 2017: 1/58

We knew we wanted to start hiking in all 58 counties in California, but we had no idea where to start as the girls started their Spring Break. It was already getting hot in the southern California Desert Counties, plus those are the farthest and we had a late start to the week off due to Laurel's participation in the 2017 Sacramento Doggy Dash. Most of the central valley counties were flooded from the unusually high amount of rain that has fallen in the last few months and most recreation areas are closed. The Sierra Nevada counties are still covered in snow measured by the feet and rain was forecast for much of the rest of the state during our week off in April. 

We turned our attention to the far northwest of California which is known for it's Redwood Forests. Yes, rain was predicted for every single day, but the temperatures would be reasonable and we knew that we would not have to deal with snow or a long drive. The girls are desperate to go camping since it's been well over a year since we've gone, but with all the rain in the forecast, I decided to get us a hotel in Eureka for the week to use as our dry base camp. 

We had no idea when we picked this trail, but some of you (Star Wars enthusiasts) may recognize the picture above or some of the pictures below as the redwood forest where the famous Speeder Bike Scene in Return of the Jedi was filmed. Laurel was anxious to share this fact with the "boys" at school who love the Star Wars movies. For those interested, we've posted the chase scene below.

Everything but Alligators and Polar Bears

Since we finished hiking in all 50 United States back in November 2016, we've been asked, "What's next?" 

After spending many years on the Hike all 50 States Project, I didn't have a "Next". I was relieved, but also very worn out. Even though I wasn't ready, the girls are always ready for our next adventure.

A lot of people think visiting countries is the natural progression. There are many countries I'd love to visit, but the idea of traveling around the world isn't very appealing to me at this time. When I'd allow myself to think about what's next, I often turned to our neighbors to the north. Canada is beautiful, vast, and remote with tons of wildlife. Everything we love. 

I would need a specific goal and hiking in all of Canada's provinces and territories seems like a great plan and they only have 13 total. Should be easier than visiting 50 states, right? However, when you look at a map of Canada, one thing becomes very obvious, it's a huge country. In fact, Canada is the world's second largest country and you can't even drive to one of the territories. This project seems a little overwhelming...for now.

Avenue of the Giants

Humboldt Redwoods State Park, CA

April 14, 2017

We know from a past trip (July 2014) that photos don't really capture the abundance or great size of the redwoods along one of the most beautiful drives (Avenue of the Giants) that we've ever experienced, so we decided to make an amateur attempt to capture a brief portion of the drive on video:

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Roosevelt Elk

Elk Herds

Northern California Coast

April 14, 2017

Both girls love observing wildlife and elk are near the top of their favorites list. For Kellisa, I think she enjoys them because they approach the car without fear and their large size makes them easy to see. I think all the same reasons apply to Laurel as well, plus her initials are E.L.K. which elevates the animals in her mind. 

The elk we saw on this day were part of the Roosevelt Elk that call the area in and around Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park home. We were fortunate to observe the same elk when we visited the area in the summer of 2014. 

We were disappointed to only see a few in the distance in the elk viewing prairie and decided to drive the road to Gold Bluff Beach where we saw a few more close up as they crossed the road in front of us. When we returned to the prairie an hour or so later, it was full of elk and both girls enjoyed an hour of observing in the evening's fading light.

A Surprise in the Road

April 14, 2017 - Fun on the road to Gold Bluffs Beach:

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Sequoia Park Zoo

Eureka, CA

April 13, 2107

The forecast was bleak, calling for heavy rain in our area for most of the day. There would be a small window of a couple of hours in the early afternoon where mostly cloudy skies with only a 20% chance of rain was predicted. 

We were hesitant to head out on a trail with such a tight window, so we decided to stay close to the hotel and visit the Sequoia Park Zoo. The zoo is small, but its setting among a small stand of redwoods made for an incredible afternoon. 

Judging from the school directly across the street, the local district was not on spring break this week and we literally had the zoo to ourselves. 

Because I Still Can

In the last 12 years, I've stayed 947 paid nights at Marriott properties. Most of those nights have been business travel. In addition, I'm sure we've stayed another 100+ nights on points. In all those stays, I've never been disappointed. 

When we travel for fun, I always seek out Marriott locations and will even drive an hour out of our way for the consistency. However, there is a serious lack of Marriott hotels along the coast in the far north of California. For some reason, Marriott doesn't have a single hotel in the entire region.

I was forced to book our stay at another hotel and my requirements were simple, first floor room, non-smoking, and a pool that we could use in 50 degree weather. I'm almost always disappointed when I book other chains (not counting Hilton properties where I stay probably 25% of the time, but Hilton hotels are also missing in the area), but I booked a five night stay at a national chain in Eureka, CA for our 2017 Spring Break trip. We drove for over 5 hours to reach the hotel and the idea of swimming as soon as we dropped our stuff in the room and change into our swimsuits is what got Laurel through the last 100 or so miles. After we checked in, we were told that the pool was down for a week due to a broken pipe. Laurel took it in stride and I would later learn that she was worried that we would go back home if we didn't stay at this hotel. I appreciate her flexibility and honesty.

Spring Break 2010

Muley Point, Utah

Utah - Arizona - New Mexico 

We decided to travel a little further in the American Southwest for our 2010 Spring Break trip after spending Spring Break 2008 in Texas and Oklahoma, and our 2009 Spring Break in New Mexico and Texas.

Kellisa and I flew direct to Las Vegas and left the city for Zion National Park as fast as we could. We spent the night in St. George, UT before spending a day hiking around Zion. We hiked the paved trail to the start of The Narrows. This lit a bulb inside my head and we returned to The Narrows a few years later.

Zion National Park is one of the most visited parks in the USA, so they limit passenger cars in the canyon. The National Park Service provides free bus service with many stops. This is great, unless you are there visiting with someone trapped in a wheelchair. We waited like everyone else to board the bus leaving the visitor center. The driver had to rearrange a few people so he could lift a row of seats to have a spot for a wheelchair. He then had to tie the chair down. I didn't hear any direct comments, but I could sense more than a few people were irritated to have to wait a few extra minutes after already waiting a long time to board.

However, things we far worse when we tried to catch a return bus back to the visitor center. Every bus was completely full with people standing in the aisle. In other words, there was no room for us and a chair. After missing a half dozen buses, I ended up pushing Kellisa for 8 miles all the way back to the visitor center. We enjoyed the walk and besides the occasional bus, we had the road to ourselves. This was addressed by the Chief Ranger when we returned by giving us a special permit to drive our rental car along the closed road. Thank you Chief Ranger Cindy!

Spring Break 2009

Chihuahuan Desert

New Mexico - Texas

After finishing my first Bataan Memorial Death March, we spent a day as tourists in Las Cruces, NM. Unfortunately, Lisa had to return home for work. Kellisa and I stayed in the Chihuahuan Desert for the rest of the week and we were able to visit three national parks and one state park.

After we dropped Lisa off at the El Paso airport, we headed straight east towards Guadalupe Mountains National Park where we were greeted by hurricane force winds. The weather limited us to a few short trails. 

We continued on to our second national park, Carlsbad Caverns. Kellisa enjoyed the accessible tour and earned a Junior Ranger Badge. She also played her first round of miniature golf just outside the park. 

After our day in Carlsbad Caverns, we made the long drive south to Big Bend National Park. We found the western Texas landscape to be vast and beautifully empty. Big Bend has rugged mountains, open desert, and the Rio Grande River. From a high vantage point, we watched people crossing the river from Mexico and disappearing into the brush. Signs told the story of 100+ people crossing illegally into the park every day and warning visitors not to help. 

On our way back to El Paso, we stopped for a hike at the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center and Botanical Gardens. Our last adventures were in the Davis Mountains where we didn't have much time, but hope to return someday. 

Kellisa and I were in the middle of the desert about an hour east of El Paso when we pulled over to watch this plane fly over us. We are very confident that Lisa is on this plane because it was the only plane in the sky (we could see forever), it was taken shortly after Lisa's scheduled departure time, and Lisa confirmed that her plane left on time.

National Parks

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