Moments in Dirt and Ink

Humboldt Lagoons State Park ( map link ) Since I didn't see many rhododendrons on the Lost Man Creek Trail, and those I did see were generally just budding out, I decided to stop by the azaleas on the way back. The azaleas bloom earlier than the rhododendrons and the one by the highway was in rare form as I zoomed past. I had time, so that's just what I did. The road seems a little rougher, but still not too much for the little scion to get all the way around to the little parking area among the spruce. Trail and trailhead sign under the Sitka spruce. Candy flowers among the roots. So I got ready to see some flowers. There's usually quite a few more than just the azaleas.

Humboldt Lagoons State Park Redwood National Park (Map link.) I was determined to experience the bit of California Coastal Trail along Stone Lagoon as it was "built". The predicted weekend rain wouldn't be enough to raise the level of the lagoon sufficiently to leave the north end of the trail once more underwater, but it might be enough to allow some attention to the inland areas that have otherwise been smoky and even slightly on fire. Now is the perfect time to finally walk the whole of this short trail. I planned to go all the way to the parking lot at the north end, then return the same way. I did have some thoughts about heading to Sharp Point and then walking the beach south from there, but the tides weren't looking very cooperative. They were coming in about 3 feet at sunrise and then climbing to about 6 feet at sunset with a brief backtrack in the middle to about 3 feet again. Sometimes there's just no such thing as a low tide all day. On the trai...

Humboldt Lagoons State Park (Map link.) I was heading to Dry Lagoon again, but I decided to stop and see what the nature trail holds in this season. The azalea flowers have long gone, of course. The irises are just bunches of thick leaves. The columbines have vanished. What is there? An empty lot as usual and the green is encroaching on the sign, but the trail is highly visible. I headed down and took the left at the unmarked split for the loop, staying under the forest for longer. Dozens of these russula mushrooms , big and small, were popping up throughout the forest. Sitka spruce forest in the morning light. I broke out of the forest into the open areas where the azaleas flourish and found the trail seems to be getting narrower, but it is certainly not devoid of flowers. The native aster has some fresh flowers still coming. (I just love the minute dew drops.)

Humboldt Lagoons State Park (Map link.) The rhododendrons were infrequent and sparse and I was expecting a little more from them. It is possible that I have unrealistic expectations, but I decided to stop by the azaleas on the way back. It's just an extra mile or two of driving and a half mile walk. I had even greater expectations for the azaleas than I had for the rhododendrons. I started at the parking by the sign and passed quickly through the Sitka spruce, taking the right at the fork for the loop to get to the azaleas that much faster. Heading for the light. The late sun reflecting from the ocean below isn't quite enough to hide the pink domes of flower laden bushes. Those same flowers, a small part of the whole. The azaleas did not disappoint. Lots of buds and flowers and a few dangling. The western azaleas are in full swing. There are a few other flowers that are showy enough to grab a little bit of my attention.

Little River State Beach, Trinidad State Beach, Sue-meg State Park, Humboldt Lagoons State Park Redwood National Park, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park Introduction The California Coastal Trail (CCT) is approximately 1200 miles of interconnected public trail following the coast from Mexico to Oregon. Or at least that's the dream. Currently, the trail is about 60% complete. In more populous areas, it often takes the form of boardwalks and multi-use paths marked by the swirl of blue wave crest. In rural areas, it may be pushed to the beach when that is usable, or to the nearest public route when that is not. The crest for the CCT marks a coastal access trail at the Lost Coast Headlands. There are thoughts of a route beside the ocean, but the primary route is substantially inland along Mattole Road for now. The beach becomes impassible in several places south of here and above the high tide mark is private property. The hiking trail rout...

Humboldt Lagoons State Park Click for map. With time left in the day and it being practically across the road, I went to visit the azaleas on Stagecoach Hill even though I didn't expect much of the azaleas themselves. There's a couple rhododendron on a fence beside the freeway in Trinidad that have started to throw off color and there's even one or two trees so big they stretch over a house roof that are already dripping with flowers, but there's not a lot to be seen of azaleas or rhododendrons in the more natural settings. I turned up Kane Road because I knew that's where to turn. It was signed at the next junction, then I stopped where things just start to look like driveway instead of road way, but there's enough room to park head in. Across the road, I found a small sign next to a large trail. If the flowers are showy, you'll know it before starting because the road travels along the bottom of the hill covered in bushes on the way to the parking ...

Humboldt Lagoons State Park Click for map. I wanted some four hours to freely search out the trail that must exist over the hill connecting Big Lagoon to Dry Lagoon. On the one hand, I probably had this thought of "How hard can it be?" for following a bit of old paved highway. It's really just the getting down to Big Lagoon that is difficult. Except it's not just that, because there's clearly places where that old road is traveling down the hill in little pieces. The parts I had seen in person certainly don't support it being an easy walk. On the south side, I stared down a black, watery abyss surrounded by green and no trails at the broken edge of the road. On the north, I could see a track with some use actually climbing a little way up the hill away from the road to get around the green covering it. Anyway, if there is a track getting used, four hours should be enough to sort it out. The stretch just isn't that long. First I had a tour of the lo...

Humboldt Lagoons State Park Patrick's Point State Park Harry A. Merlo State Recreation Area Click for map. Now that I've finished off the named sections of the California Coastal Trail (except Enderts Beach), I still have one more section of trail, or at least trail like, coastal trail between Arcata and Crescent City: the bit from Patrick's Point to Dry Lagoon, mostly along the side of Big Lagoon. This has some difficulties. First, directly south of Dry Lagoon is a section of beach that doesn't look particularly passable, even at low tide. Second, Big Lagoon is four miles long. There's a reason it's called Big Lagoon. After that, there's about two more miles of beach before the trail up to Patrick's Point. Six miles of beach is too much. Since I'm day hiking it out and back, six miles and then doing it again is way too much. So I resolved to do it. Almost. I dithered and got there 20 minutes after the time I was aiming at, which was just b...

Humboldt Lagoons State Park Click for map. I was thinking I might try to write up a guide to hiking the California Coastal Trail through the Redwood National and State Parks, where quite a lot of it actually is trail. Then I reflected how much better I knew the southern parts of that especially as I found out there's a little trail before getting to Crescent City north of the Last Chance Section. Then I realized that there are parks nearby to the south of the redwood ones and... where does it go there? It only gets the briefest thought on the Patrick's Point State Park map , out on Agate Beach. It is actually marked on the Humboldt Lagoon State Park map , but with holes. Mostly it follows along the sand spits that wall off the lagoons from the ocean. There is one bit of proper trail to get around Sharp Point that I have actually hiked before, albeit in a hurried fashion . The north end of that is one of the holes. I already knew that was real for official trail. There a...

Humboldt Lagoons State Park Click for map. With the skimpy amount of daylight left, I briefly pondered stopping by Trillium Falls again instead of heading to the Dry Lagoon. The trillium do seem to be in bloom now, but when I was there before, it was in the last of the light, and I think I would like to have more light next time. Besides, plans should mean something and the trail doesn't look that long. Various AllTrails users have made complaints that there really isn't any trail at all there, but it's marked on my OpenStreetMap, so I'm pretty sure I can find it. The trail should be approximately here where there picnic tables and such. I'm not surprised to see no indication of a trail in the sand among picnic tables. I am surprised to see no mention of it on some sign. There is even a small backpacker camp (reservations required) along it. I just start walking north. The sea churns with little waves to my left and the not quite Dry Lagoon reflects ...