Carol writes: Our next transition up the California coast was a whole lot easier than the challenging, winding maneuvers we had been experiencing between campgrounds for the past few months. Our KOA campground on the outskirts of Crescent City, California, was an easy, straight shot up “the 101”... as they say in California.
A short drive into nearby Jedediah Smith State Park positioned us right in the thick of another redwood forest for one last look at those amazing wonders of nature.
A casual stroll among the ancient giants in Stout Grove was a feast for the eyes.
As we were leaving the state park, we came across a family that seemed to be having car trouble alongside the road. What we didn’t know then was that this was just the beginning of an afternoon-long adventure during which we would seal a friendship bond with newlyweds from Reno, accompanied by their parents visiting from China.
Their starter motor had broken beyond repair and they needed a tow to a safe place outside of park boundaries. We ended up using our Jeep tow strap (which was still in its original packaging) to tow them a few miles to the tow truck pickup spot.
Along with the tow truck driver, we transported the family of six to a repair shop in Crescent City. Since a new starter had to be ordered, we offered to drive the young couple to the Crescent City airport so that they could rent a car from Hertz in order to continue their vacation trip up to Seattle with their parents, while awaiting the starter part and repairs.
We ended the day with many profuse thanks for doing what for us was simply the “right thing to do.” Several texts from Jun and Ying over the next few days assured us they had a very successful road trip with their parents. (Honeymoon soon to follow.)
In this day of unseemly partisan bickering, I was recently reminded of a sentiment we need to hear more often: “Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about—Be Kind.”
Crescent City, California, has the infamous distinction of having been in the crosshairs of two destructive tsunami tidal waves produced by earthquakes. The 8.8 Alaska earthquake of 1964 generated a tsunami which took several lives in Crescent City and destroyed its downtown businesses. The resident keepers of the lighthouse have told a terrifying eyewitness account of the 1964 tidal wave in which they feared for their lives as they watched the water recede 3/4 of a mile from shore, as if someone had “pulled the plug,” then come roaring back to shore as a giant wall of black water.
Forty-seven years later in 2011, a 9.0 subduction earthquake off the coast of Japan produced over a dozen surges of seawater that destroyed the Crescent City commercial boat basin.
Over several years, the commercial boat basin has been pleasingly rebuilt and is now a beehive of commercial fishing activity once again.
We were told that the Battery Point Lighthouse could only be visited by foot at low tide,
so we waited for a day with ideal timing to make the trek.
The vivid pink ice plant we observed from afar was even more brilliant up close, even on this cloudy day.
Overcast skies created a sober depiction of the isolated life of a lighthouse keeper.
After so many hikes in the northern California redwood forests, we eagerly seized on a couple of visits to Tolowa Dunes, located in California’s most northwestern corner. Here we had the desired open vistas with hikes in the sun and interesting meanders in the tide pools.
We weren’t the only ones checking out the tide pools.
Tiny crabs, some inhabiting a protective conical shell, came out in the open if you were quiet and patient enough.
Other miniatures resembled much larger crabs that you might order from the menu of a fine-dining restaurant.
Tolowa Dunes offered a variety of lunch spots…
this one on a very windy beach with a convenient log table,
and a more restful one in the calm of the grassy dunes.
Almost everywhere along the coast we discovered that windy days were the norm. A day without wind usually evoked commentary from the locals. With all the buzz in the news about the recent royal wedding and the ladies with their “fascinator hats,” I felt right in style in my “chic hiking headwear”… courtesy of the wind.
A drive along the 18-mile Samuel Boardman State Scenic Corridor to the north revealed a treasure trove of scenic bluffs,
secluded beaches,
and offshore sea arches and sea stacks.
The wind along the Cape Ferrelo Loop hike was fierce, but the effort was rewarding…
The Indian Sands Trail was phenomenal—with sand dunes, hidden sea arches, and thrilling cliffside trails.
Despite the sorrowful tsunami history, the Crescent City surroundings provided many dazzling venues that made northern California so dramatic. For this summer, this was our last stop in California on what has been a thrilling caravan ride for the last 7 months.
Now it’s on to Oregon! Our last visit to Oregon was 25 years ago, and we have always looked back on that adventure as one of the highlights of our year of family travel in 1989-90. We plan to revisit a few Oregon locales that have fond memories for us. Will we discover that the nostalgia of memory lane has been diminished or enhanced?
