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Hikshari' Trail extension and Eureka Marsh

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Eureka City Parks ( map link ) With a second day of sunshine, I decided to check out the trail extension along what will, one day, be a complete Humboldt Bay Trail. This bit has been referred to as the Hikshari' Trail extension or the Bay Trail extension. It's a piece of the Great Redwood Trail where the California Coast Trail follows along. Specifically, it is a mile of paved multiuse trail running between the breaking waves coming in through the bay opening and restored salt marsh. Since it is only a mile of trail, I planned on seeing a bit more and actually started at some parking at the Bayshore Mall for the Eureka Waterfront Trail. There's supposed to be trail parking somewhere around the mall, and I believe I saw it marked once near the oil pier at the other end of the long line of unused spaces where I parked. I got a spot next to a short gravel connecting trail and turned south toward the extension. This is paved multiuse trail with occasional rest points a

Me'tsko River and Beach and Dunes

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Clam Beach County Park Little River State Beach ( map link ) I decided the place I wanted to go for this window of sunshine between the rain was Little River State Beach, which I previously visited on an even sunnier June day full of flowers . There aren't quite so many flowers as March starts. It's not very big, so I decided I should take in some of the county's Clam Beach to the south and Moonstone Beach to the north. The tide would be out late in the afternoon, so I left the areas with cliffs for late. I started in the county's North Lot, which was quite busy at one end and flooded at the other. Lots of dogs out, but all but one with obedient people leashing them. North of the lot is Little River State Beach which only allows dogs leashed on the waveslope. They take their position as critical snowy plover habitat seriously and loose dogs are huge threat to the ground nesting birds. Plenty of parking under the bluffs at the beach. There's trail around

Baduwa't Flood Plain and Bluffs

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McKinleyville City Parks and Mad River Bluffs ( map link ) As I've compiled the yearly hike list and map , I can't help but notice there's been a distinct lack of interest in presenting much local. I go off to the upper reaches of the Mad River and there's plenty of content, off to Trinity and there's a run of content, out to Nevada and there's a barrage of content. Stay local and there's whole months without content. I didn't even get out to Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park to go looking for some of the distinctive parasitic flowers that are still to find. And I have continued this way as there is no content for January and nearly none for February. Oh, what a beautiful day. There has been a near constant parade of storms in that time, but sometimes they wander north or south and leave a day or two that turns out sunnier than predicted, much like this supposedly overcast day. (Well, it was sunny for a while.) There are things to go out and s

Hikes of 2023

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 Ryan Creek ; McKay Community Forest: Jan 1  Hammond Trail ; McKinleyville Land Trust and parks: Jan 26  Iaqua Buttes Lookout ; Arcata BLM: Feb 15

Grimes Point and Hidden Cave

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Stillwater Field Office BLM ( map link ) I passed right by Grimes Point on the way out to see the annular eclipse , which quite definitively closes my circle through Nevada that started with the Pony Express and other ruins . (There's an introduction at the Lassen overlook , but that's in California, so that doesn't count.) I wanted to stop this time because there are petroglyphs. These aren't just any petroglyphs, either. Estimated to be at least 8000 years old, they're some of the oldest in the state. There are some that are probably at least 10,500, perhaps 14,000, years old, so they're not the oldest. One of a few information signs at the highly developed Grimes Point Trailhead which includes toilets, covered picnic tables, paved road access, and more information signs. My plan for the visit was to take a turn around the interpretive trail that visits some of the petroglyphs in the area, then head up the Observation Point Trail. There were some g

Corey Peak

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Stillwater Field Office BLM ( map link ) The sun came up leaving my apparently exposed camp in the shadow of the unnamed bulk north of Buller Mountain. I got to wishing this Trail Sense app didn't just tell me when the sun would come up, but would also show where, or at least give me a bearing. Then I could better plan to have a sunlit morning! The morning sun on Corey Peak, the goal for today, and the road to start climbing to it. Other sunlit peaks, short ones in Nevada and tall snowy ones in California. East along Lucky Boy Road to the colored sky. Of course, it's only a half hour to an hour more to get the sun. Still, more pleasant with it. I didn't have all that far to go (7-8 miles total) and all of it on clear road, so I didn't rush the start. The grader parked below got moving toward California eventually. The road wasn't smooth enough yet.

Below Corey Peak

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Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest Stillwater Field Office BLM ( map link ) I stopped by the Mineral County Library in Hawthorne to do a few things on the web. The stop lasted a bit longer than expected because they have jigsaw puzzles out for working. I managed to head out in good time to find a camp site in the light and getting to the top of the top of Lucky Boy Pass took less time than expected as the road was recently graded. What to do with 40 minutes of light? The world was clearly directing me to go find the "Below Corey" geocache . I decided to let it push me along that way since it would mean I at least stepped foot into the forest. Along this road, it is essentially Bureau of Land Management on the north side of the road and National Forest on the south side. Besides, I do like a lonely cache and this one hadn't been visited in 6 years! This is doubly surprising since nearby ones have had much more recent visits. Lucky Boy Pass Road so recently polished

Lazy Man and Evening Star Mines

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Stillwater Field Office BLM ( map link ) The bit of geocaching at the mining areas on the way up to Mable Mountain seemed quite successful, so I set out to find a couple more before stopping by the library in Hawthorne and then finding a new camp with easy access to Corey Peak. They were actually on the menu for the day I drove in, but the faint roads that lead to them proved so hard to see that I went right past before knowing it. With a lot more care, I got stopped in the right places on the way out. Since absolutely no one would care if I parked at the side of the road, I decided against challenging off road parking spots and didn't repeat throwing the car into a sand trap. First up, Lazy Man . I approached it from a hill that had been cut, but not for a road. Buildings and other structures and tailings from the Lazy Man Mine, worked around the 1930s?, lie below. The mine spreads out all around the hill. I headed down the hill, trackless on the south side, to hav

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