Beith Creek Loop

Arcata Community Forest

(map link)

I decided it was time to take a lap with the camera to show off the flowers. They start in January, some of them only having taken a few months off. They haven't seemed all that thick yet. I started at the big entry on Margaret Lane.

00: map and rules and trees — A map and some rules on entering under the 2nd growth redwoods.

01: trail in green — Follow the trail past a diversity of green.

02: redwood bark — Passing tall redwood trees with thick, fibrous bark. There's not usually banana slugs hiding in the cracks, but today there is.

Where the loop starts, one may choose a bit of a warm-up stretch with little ups and downs or head for a steady climb instead. I turned right for the first.

03: water flowing in a trickle among ferns — One of the more ephemeral water flows in the forest.

05: white flowers — There's a couple segments of trail that are thickly lined with milkmaids.

06: ivy in the bark — Unfortunately, there is some of this ivy creeping up into the trees.

07: yellow violet — The redwood violet is one of the ones that started in January and will keep going through summer.

08: stripes of purple — Redwood sorrel is the other January starter that won't stop soon. They come in a pink, too.

09: hanging double lobe — The first Pacific bleeding heart of the year.

10: rolled up fern frond — Some of the lady ferns are still unrolling.

11: white flowers — Blackberries are starting to open up. Fruit in fall! Judging by the dense little prickles, this one might be native.

12: fern front underside — The sword fern is at a disadvantage, not being a flowering plant, but this one has spores popping.

14: evergreen areas — A touch of the mass of green, thinned a little by the creek because the alders haven't leafed much.

15: animal — It can be hard to find any fauna among the forest. I managed a spider.

16: stringy green stuff — Unfortunately, pampas grass is making inroads into the forest. It's even worse for smothering the diverse groundcover than ivy.

I've been told that when it rains, all the photographers rush out to photograph the falls. I can be picky and like them best when they're not so muddy as they get in high water. You see higher ones on the Hikshari' (Elk) River in the Headwaters Forest Reserve, but this is more open for viewing.

17: stump and water — One of the 1860s stumps from when the area was first logged with a cascade below.

18: few foot drop — A little drop does make a waterfall.

19: rock with trees — Up above is a big rock that gets a bit of attention too.

The trail once crossed higher. Now it goes lower to a less precarious spot for rock hopping. That gives even more of the creek easy access. People also climb higher to be near the big rock above. There's a very obvious unofficial trail going there.

21: tree bridges — Natural bridges below sprout an assortment of green.

22: wider cascade — A wide waterfall below the trail tumbles over an old, stuck chunk of redwood rather than rocks.

23: many short drops — The cascades above the trail and below the little waterfall.

And that's Beith Creek at its larger crossing. There's a smaller crossing above and a couple unnamed tributaries that are pretty reliable for a little water.

25: white hanging on white — There's been a few butterflies like this margined white.

Then there's the climb. If it's been raining, particularly near the end of the season when the duff is long gone, I always go up it. I'm less likely to slip on its steep slick surface that way. I saw orange markers along the side that make me hopeful that this is the year they put in the four switchbacks rerouting it. I doubt it. Other markers were in spots with no trails planned. The Panorama Connector and finishing the Arcata Ridge Trail were in the same batch of plans as this, so it could be its turn. There is a second connector also needing built, and they might add that before replacing this.

26: steep hill — The first part of the hill. The next bit is even steeper.

27: tall coral shape — There's not much fungus fruiting body around just at the moment.

After the hill, there's a calm stretch except there's water to hop over.

29: water flowing — The upper crossing of Beith Creek.

30: water and trail — The trail passes an unnamed tributary, more hillside flower garden, and some big old stumps.

31: little trees — A miniature forest makes a stand in the thin soil of a mossy rock.

33: very close on small flowers — Arctic butterbar has gotten a good start and will keep going for a couple more months. I'm not sure how long the little beetles can be found.

34: white flower tufts — They grow in bunches of bunches of bunches of those tiny flowers.

Once up high, there's a couple chances to see out over Humboldt Bay.

35: trees framing land and water — Tree framed vision of Arcata Marsh.

I decided to do a little more than the loop and took a spur out along the old road. This is a fairly flat bit of trail that passes the climb to Fickle Hill along Arcata Ridge Trail and ends at the power lines. It technically can be used to get to Fickle Hill too, but that technically goes on private property.

37: power line hole — The cut for the power lines gives a view of the hills.

Under the power lines is an excellent spot to find non-native plants.

38: little pink flower — Herb robert, the little geranium. Non-native.

39: little bells — Portuguese heath. Non-native.

But that's not why I wandered out along that route. I had been hoping to catch some fetid adderstongue still in bloom and some of the biggest in the forest are along the first part of that spur. I hadn't caught any flowers among the smaller patches, but I did strike it rich on a couple plants near the Arcata Ridge Trail!