Avenue of the Giants
Return
“Avenue of the Giants” a 5-day trip to Northern California
The seed of the Redwood is no bigger than the head of a match, yet locked
within it is the secret of immortality . Even though the oldest living things
are the bristlecone pines in the California White Mountains (some as old as 4000
years) most of the redwood trees are not from seeds but grow out of the old tree
itself (usually 2000 years old). No wonder they call them Sequoia sempervirens =
ever-living Sequoia. The other Sequoia, the gigantium. They live in the Sierras and
they are the world largest living things (6167 tons), but the tallest is still the
coastal redwood. When you look up at one, you know that you’re in the presence
of something primal.
Our Expenses:
gas..........$ 60.00 Round trip from San Francisco and sightseeing about
900 mi.
food......... 70.00 We usually ate once a day in a restaurant.
lodging.... 53.00 Four nights in campgrounds (KOA and State Parks)1
misc........ 20.00 Entrance fees to museums, drinks, etc.
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total:....... $203.00 2
Activities:
1 We left late Thursday afternoon going through Santa Rosa and Ukiah to Lake
Mendocino.
2 Eel River and the “Avenue of the Giants “, Humboldt Redwood State Park. When
you enter the Redwoods it feels like you’re in the time of the dinosaurus.
3 Agate Beach at Patrick’s Point, Hupa Indian Reservation, South Fork of
theTrinity River, Samoa Cookhouse - great food!
4 Albion, Navarro River, Schooner’s Landing, Heritage House
5 Drove home on a very windy road3 .
Things we missed,yet it’s 100% that we’ll go back to do these things:
1 Most importantly, we left out the Redwood National Park at Orik. This is where
the tallest tree in the world (368 ft.) is found.
2 The Roosevelt Elk in Prairie Creek Redwoods Park
3 The Yurok Indian Reservation
4 Sea kayaking at Van Domm State Park and Beach near Mendocino.
5 Rafting the Klamath
To see the Redwoods is mandatory, but as with any “trip,” it is a
conceptual thing. Objectively, when you visit a place, nothing really happens.
Subjectivelly however, we meet the existential symbol for the reality beyond
time and space, and it changes us. Every trip I take is in fact a search for
that reality. Dürckheim4 thinks that to seek out faraway places is the searh
for unity.
Recommendations:
Swim in the South Fork of the Trinity River
Watch the sunset on Samoa Dunes and eat at the Samoa Cookhouse
Visit the Bowin Hotel on the Eel River. Unfortunately we didn’t stay there.
Have breakfast at the Heritage House; it’s $20 for two but it’s worth it.
Search for agates (semi-precious stones) at Patrick’s Point (above Eureka).