The Savage Traveler: Out West Adventure: Part 2--Going to Redwood National and State Parks

Sun. June 2: Mysteriously, my ankle was 100% better in the morning, without even any residual ache or anything. It made me wonder if I have a bone chip in there that had shifted somehow and then shifted back to where it causes no pain. Leaving the campground we hoped to visit a nearby Museum and a Fish Hatchery before hitting the road. The Museum was closed because it was Sunday morning so we couldn't see it. But we took a few minutes to walk around the Fish Hatchery and see the progressively bigger trout in large outdoor holding areas. The ones at the end were in the foot to two feet range and were going to be artificially spawned. From there we drove down one exit on the freeway to Hwy. 89 and went east for 15 miles to see the McCloud River waterfalls. The Forest Service has recently put a lot of money into improving the road and trails to the falls so it was a pleasant drive in to see them. There was a short trail to the plunging pool of the Lower Falls. A 1½ mile trail leads to the Middle and Upper Falls from there but we didn't feel like we had time to hike so we drove to the Middle Falls and enjoyed overlooks from several points above it. There was one lone salmon fisherman casting into the pools below. The map didn't say anything about a parking area at the Upper Falls and, since we were pulling the trailer, we decided to forgo seeing it. Back on I5 we retraced our route from the day before until we reached Redding, where we took Hwy. 299 west over the Klamath Mountains. There were warnings of construction and up to one hour delays as we started off but there really are no alternatives so we carried on. Luckily, because it was Sunday we had only one delay, up near the first summit. We had to wait about 12 minutes for our turn to be led by the Pilot Car on the one-way, dirt, temporary road. While we waited we ate our picnic lunch sitting in the truck with the windows open wide. From there it was about 100 miles of clear sailing rising through several more passes and then descending into valleys. For much of the time we followed the lovely, tumbling Trinity River and stopped a few times to take pictures. Just north of Eureka we opened onto the ocean and we turned north on US101 up the coast of northern California. The sun of most of the day gave way to cloud cover and the temperature dropped into the high fifties. In the late afternoon we dropped by the Redwood National and State Park Visitors Center on the southern edge of the park to get our passport stamp and find out about camping. The Ranger directed us to the first State Park north of there at Prairie Creek for camping. We found a campsite nestled in the wood without electricity or water, but just down the hill from a bathroom with showers. It is surrounded by berry bushes with no one across, behind or next to us. We made Tilapia with Pepper Sauce and rice and a salad and then walked up to the Elk Meadow that is surrounded with warning signs to not approach the wild Elk. Seeing none, we walked further up the hill and took their Revelation Trail through some Redwoods. When we finished that we returned to the meadow, where there were still no Elk. We stopped by the Ranger booth at the entrance and found out that, if they haven't shown by then (7:00ish) they weren't going to come and would spend the night on the beach. So instead we made our way back to the camper to do some cleanup and to read and relax until bedtime.