Rhododendron, CREA, South Fork, Prairie Creek Trails loop

Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park

(Map link.)

I returned to a looping hike on the Rhododendron Trail not for the rhododendrons but for the promises of things to come that it held nearly three weeks prior. There must be something different, so this time I really did go clockwise and then took a little extra Rhododendron Trail all the way to South Fork Trail, then stayed on Prairie Creek Trail to finish. The fog was thick, so I did not start with the Prairie Creek segment, which was undoubtedly soggy and the encroaching vegetation would soak me through before I got very far.

sign, trail, big trees — North trailhead of the Rhododendron Trail. This is the one trail with parking only on the southbound side.

big, tall trees — The initial climb is past some pretty impressive redwoods.

big trees along little creek — The nearby valley of the little stream has a few big trees, too.

I had low expectations for the rhododendrons, but they were quickly exceeding those and meeting the expectations I had prior. No dream hillsides full of flower covered bushes, but these are the trails to find that if it ever does happen. One promise that I was only half certain was made was kept: better rhododendron blooms.

even more flowers — Yet more rhododendrons with a few leopard lilies along the edge.

pink lily family stuff — The clintonia is still blooming, but less strongly.

layer of petals on the path — Another glorious burst of rhododendron flowers.

snail with strong stripe down the side — The foggy day was a great day for mollusks, like this sideband.

It didn't take long for the rather abundant promises of lilies to be found to have emerged into bright, open leopard lilies, either. The real trouble is getting past them on the trail.

hanging orange flowers — More petal strewn trail at one cluster of leopard lilies with even more rhododendrons behind.

bumble bee side on coming into a flower — A bumble bee approaches a crown of rhododendrons.

bumble bee having a drink — The pollin laden bumble bee getting its treat.

I had to go up the CREA Trail once more. A couple of the more exciting promises were up there. I got to the sign and kept on climbing. Rhododendron and CREA make one of the larger climbs in the park. It brought me up into the clouds that hadn't settled all that well into the valley and I got wetter than I like from the little bit of growth across the trail.

small blue/purple flower — A soggy penstemen beside the trail.

hill of rhododendrons — Quite a few rhododendron flowers down there in the fog. It starts to illustrate what a profound number of flowers it would take for a hillside to cascade with them.

sign for a foggy grove — The Pleasant Memories Grove has a different feel in the fog.

The patches of ghost pipes start about 20 feet before the sign for the Pleasant Memories Grove. Wikipedia would have me believe that these will come up in about three days, but I noted no change at all in these apparent tangles of white root after nearly three weeks. The furthest along had been over the hill a ways, so I didn't despair. I was surprised by how much the traffic noise had increased with the coming holiday.

white bulging from the ground and old seed pods — The apparent tangle of roots near seed pods from last year.

scattering of rhododendrons — Still plenty of rhododendrons to be seen.

banana slug — Banana slug tasting a violet.

Not quite so far over the hill as I thought, I found a clump of ghost pipes where the tangles had released and flowers were popping up. One more promise fulfilled.

white stalks with odd white flowers on the end — Some ghost pipes just getting started with blooming.

I went a little further down the hill because I was sure the single gnome plant I had seen was down there somewhere. With either laziness or arrogance, I'd not bothered to write down coordinates for where I had seen this one or the fringed pinesap. I figured I'd be able to remember well enough where I'd seen them and even if I didn't, what were the chances I'd seen the only specimen along the trail? I'd spotted both of them when I stopped for something.

rhododendrons and more — A few more nice rhododendrons heading down the hill.

tall rhododendrons — Just an excellent time and place for rhododendrons.

But it was just over the hill, I was sure. I was far too far for it. I turned back and scanned closely both the correct side of the trail and the opposite side for either the specimen I'd seen or another one. I found nothing. Over the top, nothing. Down the other side, nothing.

thin orchid flowers — Found a Pacific coralroot. They're not quite so hard to find.

side look at the ghost pipes — Another look at those ghost pipes while passing by once more.

white blobs on stalks — Another patch a few feet off that is a few days behind in development.

So I found myself back at the junction having missed one of the plants I had hoped to catch in bloom. I wouldn't get to see what the scaly pink bumps became.

two legs per segment — A millipede of a more unusual sort without the yellow tabs.

pair of beetles just finished procreating — A pair of beetles doing their thing on one of the last windflowers.

trail with lots of big orange flowers — Another bit of trail lined by thick leopard lilies.

big orange lilies — Some of those leopard lilies up close.

rhododendrons — More big bushes full of pink flowers.

I made it to the junction with the Brown Creek Trail without noticing the fringed pinesap I had seen sprouting up before. So, no, I wouldn't be able to remember the exact location well enough and there weren't a lot more to spot. I continued along the Rhododendron Trail, hopeful to see something. I found more ghost pipes, but not a fringed pinesap or gnome plant.

shallow water flowing — Brown Creek with some monkey flowers at the crossing.

big tree with bumps — Not to forget the might and majesty of the redwoods.

scattering of pink flowers — The rhododendrons are not quite so thick along this section of trail, which seems to have had quite a few minor disasters (fallen trees and such) befall it recently.

white stalks bent over with bulge of flower — More ghost pipes freshly popping up.

tall burned out tree remain topped with small rhododendron — The rhododendron on top of the 80 foot "stump" is just starting to flower.

I got to the junction with South Fork Trail and turned down it. Someone had been digging at another bunch of ghost pipes that were right in the trail. Poor crazy things. Rhododendron Trail had been climbing, so there was a lot to go down, and South Fork seemed to get it done fast.

more pink flowers at various distances — More rhododendrons all over the place in the upper portions of the trail.

small white flower with purple veins — Redwood sorrel will continue to have a few flowers into the fall.

seed pod — The tiny inside out flowers have turned into these seeds surrounded by fleshy bits.

I crossed the road to head up on Prairie Creek Trail. It actually has a lot of open areas to walk through, but the few closed in sections are memorable and annoying. The rest give a little different view of the redwood trees than the higher trails.

little bit of water in a creek — Prairie Creek at summer flow with plenty of maples along its edge.

many bits of tree in a tree — There are some particularly bulky trees along the creek.

ferns and trunks — An open space to see up the hillside of great trees.

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