Trinidad Head

Arcata BLM

Tend to the right at the end of Main and keep on to the end of the road to park in the tsunami zone in Trinidad to hike around the large headland that looks a bit like a large island in the mist when viewed from down by the Mad River. The gated road continues on up the rock. There are also some steps up to the road on the other end of the parking area, which is what I head up.

The tide is a little higher and the waves a little more pounding so the island spout is going.

A short way up, a trail splits off from the road and a sign describes the loop. Of course, I head for the trail. It is carved out of some very thick growth that leaves little chance to actually see the views. To combat this, viewing spots are carved out at frequent benches along the way. I am surprised to see a couple rabbits along the way as I go.

A little bit of view carved out of the generally view blocking brush.

The trail goes all the way to tunnel sometimes.

There are a couple spur trails off the main trail. The first is not so interesting. It gets over to another spot with benches. Little trails requiring a scrunched up stance lead off at many places along the trail including from behind the bench on this trail. Perhaps it goes up the nearby rocky part of the headland.

A view of the rocky section of the headland.

A view of the sea stacks from the bench.

The vegetation changes as I move around to different sides of the headland. The second spur trail climbs up to the top of a rocky bit that is about as high as the highest point on the headland. The trail has felt warm as I walk along it, but as I hit the top, it is suddenly very chilly. Some of it is the cold wind that the brush was protecting against. Some of the benches at the top are already taken by people who seem to be trying to spot whales and think they may have found one. A bench looking over College Cove is still empty for me to take for a short bit.

The trail gets a few more views as the vegetation changes.

The tide is dropping so the spurts from the blow hole on the other side of Pewetole Island are less frequent.

The cold is rather biting, so I get going again rather quickly. Dropping just a few feet along the trail, it is warm again. The trail comes around to a historic cross. The original was placed by Spaniards in 1775 and the current one is a replacement set in 1913.

South down the coast and Eureka is lost in fog.

A replacement for a much older granite cross.

Trail continues downward from the cross and I probably should take it to get a slight glimpse of the historic lighthouse on the point below. Instead, my eyes are set on the top of the headland where much wider trail is traveling. I go up it to find the road again, now gravel instead of paved. An arrow shows I should go down, but I still have eyes on the top as I pass it. The top is generally fenced off and flattened, which is disappointing. The road had to be going to something. At the spot outside the fence that looks about the highest is a Plate Boundary Observation Station. That must be about five of those I have found. The map on the sign explaining it shows they are not quite so densely scattered up here.

The Earthscope observing the plate boundaries from atop the headland.

It is road all the way down again. Paving starts at a spur to a fenced off area for the Coast Guard. There are still benches along the side, but there has not been sufficient effort to cut down the view blocking vegetation for these. The view now is of the local harbor, the city, and on down the coast. The familiar sound of a bell buoy comes up from a bright red one marking the harbor entry.

Trinidad and the harbor and the southerly coast.

Looking just a little way down the coast, long rows of waves break on their way to a wide beach.

The gravel road on the way down also has a few rabbits in the nearby brush.

The city of Trinidad.

The paved road does not last too long before I am back to the initial split. I take the steps back down again although it looks like most follow the pavement all the way down.




©2017 Valerie Norton
Posted 28 January 2017