Eureka, CA - It's a WOW Kind of Thing

‘Fog accounts for up to 1/4 of the precipitation needed so the mighty coast redwoods can survive. While you hike, fog drip is a good thing.’

I found myself saying ‘WOW’ a lot today. I wonder why:

        Was it because of the neon yellow baby banana slug slowly crossing the trail?

        Was it because of the lush, green ferns lining the trail?

        Was it because of the fancy moves I had to take to get over the trail obstacles?

        Was it because of the trillium we found lining the trail?

NO, NO, NO, it was because of the trees. Those marvelous, crane-your-neck-tall coast redwoods lining our trail and filling the forest around us. We hiked in the Humboldt Redwood State Park two days ago and today we’re hiking in the Prairie Creek State Park, north of Eureka. We planned to take the James Irvine Trail out to the Fern Canyon Trail then back on the Miners Ridge Trail, a nice 13-mi loop. Shouldn’t take too long, we should be back by 1 or 2:00. Yeah, right. The trail was a beautiful trail through a canyon lined with greenery. Whereas the trail in the Humboldt SP was mostly on flat land and the trees all looked so healthy and the area was so much clearer, this was much hillier terrain, much more filled in and we saw a lot of old, fallen and dead trees. We thought it was probably because this area was so much moister than Humboldt since it was so much closer to the ocean, the fogs and to the marine layer.

We strode right along, but not too fast to miss all the marvelous sights though. Then we came to Fern Canyon. We knew it was a wet canyon with a creek running through it. We expected the creek to be high since it had rained recently. What we didn’t expect was all the trees criss-crossing the canyon and all the tree root systems linked together.

It was like hiking through giant pick-up-sticks, but pick-up-sticks with lots of knobs and branches that were all entwined.

How am I going to get though all this without getting my feet wet? Oh, boy. Well, here goes. Step from boulder to boulder and on the small branch bridges,

climb over the root systems,

jump over the rivulets and - oh, heck, my feet are wet.

But, what a trail.

And, we were not the only ones who were enjoying it. Others were jumping and climbing too. Families, couples, groups. What a fun way to spend part of your day. But, now with wet shoes we need to finish the hike and head back to the car. We met several people on the trail going out and now met them going back. They were making the same circle that we were but they were going in the opposite direction.

Since this is a tsunami prone zone, we found this general warning sign and several other signs pointing up a nearby trail telling people where to go should they get a tsunami warning.

In a higher, safe area up the trail, we found these water tanks and pit toilet in back of the sign saying it was an evacuation site.

Back at the trailhead, we changed socks and shoes - yes, we had brought along dry socks, knowing that we would probably get out feet wet - and we did. We also found some elk grazing in Elk Prairie and, coincidentally, right behind the ‘Wild Elk - do not approach them’ sign. Actually, they elk seem to come to this area every afternoon to munch on the mowed grass and so the park put up a sign here.

Meanwhile we had read that the park was closing one of the most popular drives through the park which has access to several trailheads. They are closing it because people are coming into the park at night with chain saws and trucks and sawing off parts of the redwoods. You’ve got to be kidding. Nope, there is a notification on their website with a picture of a redwood with half its base cut off. Here is the notification on the park website along with the picture they have:

‘This closure is in response to a significant increase in wood poaching crimes occurring along the parkway. These crimes usually involve cutting burl and bunion growths from both standing and fallen old-growth redwood trees. The wood is then sold for construction materials, ornamental furniture, and souvenirs. This type of wood is becoming increasingly rare and the most plentiful supply is often found on park lands.’

There is also a recent New York Times article about this. Here is part of their story:

‘REDWOOD NATIONAL AND STATE PARKS, Calif. — It was an unlikely crime scene: a steep trail used by bears leading to a still, ancient redwood grove. There, a rare old-growth coast redwood had been brutally hacked about 15 times by poachers, a chain saw massacre that had exposed the tree’s deep red heartwood.
The thieves who butchered this and other 1,000-year-old arboreal giants were after the burls, gnarly protrusions on the trees that are prized for their intricately patterned wood. Although timber theft has long plagued public lands, a recent spate of burl poaching, with 18 known cases in the last year, has forced park officials to close an eight-mile drive through old-growth forests, the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway, at night to deter criminals. More closings are expected.
The burl was so massive that the thieves wound up dragging it behind their vehicle, leaving a trail of skid marks. The trail led rangers two and a half miles to the Redwood Highway — U.S. 101. They found the burl stashed beneath an overpass for safekeeping.’

I wanted to see for myself so we drove down the road. Sure enough, about 3 - 4 miles in we saw this:

I understand that there are worse things done in this world, but, my word, cutting a burl off a redwood?

Then, as we were driving home we saw this, right in the nearby town of Orick:

And, this was one of the three we saw.

14.2, 1836’