Leaving the Coast

Lots of interesting old barns and buildings in the coastal areas near Eureka.

And garbage some slob decided to leave in the area.  How disgusting and juvenile.

By mid-afternoon we had backed out of several areas along the coast (see previous blog post), and set out for the interior and some high mountain passes on highway #36.  The road travels through several really nice stands of old redwoods.

After climbing almost 3000’ feet from sea level, a basic roadside pull-off with a great view was our location of choice for the night.  Traffic was light at night, so it was quite restful.

In the morning the road keeps climbing and passing through Dinsmore, Mad River, and Forest Glen.  There were lots of national forest roads leading off the main route and it looks like an area that would be fun to camp and explore in the summer time.  There was a lot of visible law enforcement presence from multiple agencies over the passes.  A short chat with some of them indicated that it is a favoured area for the drug cartels to grow their crops. Unfortunately, the result is a real problem with illegal camps, trash, polluted creeks, dangerous chemicals and desecration of some beautiful federal land.  At a roadside pull-off, I found the cover of a popular publication in the area.

Continuing eastward, we hit the I-5 at Red Bluff and noticed something flapping loose at the rear of the rig.  It seems like a seal above the slideout had in fact slid out and was trying to make it’s escape.  Fortunately, it was not a problem to slide it back into place and later apply the required screws and glue to hold it in place.

East of Red Bluff we encountered a bit of snow on the edges of the road in passes over 6000 feet, but the travel surface was bare.  At dusk approaching Susanville, the first National Forest road we came to on the A1 headed north towards Eagle Lake was good enough for a spot to crash for the night.  In the morning, the road up towards Eagle Lake looked inviting, but on the far side of the pass there were areas of visible ice on the road, on steep, winding downhill sections.  After a few low speed downhill slides, it was an easy decision to abort that route and go back through Susanville.

Wally world in Susanville provided a few necessities, then it was southbound on the 395, into Nevada and through Reno.  A detour pushed us off the highway into Carson City – right into a Lowes parking lot, so we made use of their wi-fi to catch up on news, weather, and sports!  Back on the 395, it led us back into California, but not before filling the truck and all available fuel cans with cheaper Nevada fuel.

At Bridgeport, I was reminded of some hot springs that I had heard about but not visited in that area. After a quick pull to the side of the road to check online for directions, we found our way up to Buckeye hot springs off the Twin Lakes road.  It was a very scenic area with lots of nice camping options under the big Ponderosa pines along Buckeye creek, and a good view back over the valley.

After a night at Buckeye hot springs, we crossed the valley and through went  through Bridgeport, and just on the far side of town we then stopped at Travertine hot springs.  These springs have created some amazing deposits and rock formations over the centuries.  In most cases the water trickles along the very tops of rock ridges it has created over the eons.

Around that time, there was apparently an election going on.  Hailey could hardly bring herself to check out the results.

Even the big GM looked like it had tear stains …

Next – more hot springs!

Well, I've had a post ready to go for a few days, but Live Writer and Blogger refuse to talk to each other and it will not post.  I refuse to attempt to learn the Blogger editor, thankyou very much.

Will post again when/if the internet gods allow.

 

Backing up the California Coast

There was lots more scenery and wildlife on display at the Mike Thompson Wildlife Area on Humboldt Bay on the north California coast.

This was obviously a meeting spot for the one-legged shorebird society!  I believe that some of them were faking it, just trying to fit in, but I was amazed that some of them would hop around a considerable distance on the one leg, without bothering to put the other one down.

There were quite a few white-tailed deer in the dunes area.

I disturbed this couple having a little hanky panky just back of the beach.

When it was time to leave, I had thought we were going to get on the 101 again and make a mile south.  But passing through Loleta, there is another road headed out to the coast that just begged to be explored.  With only 4 1/2 months to spare, it was decided there was time to check it out.  Part way down there was a boat launch turn off, and a bridge leading to an island with some possible riverside camp spots – as viewed on Google Earth.  The boat launch was totally clogged with floating logs and debris.  The turn from the boat launch to the bridge was too steep and sharp, so we had to back out of the boat launch onto the road in order to continue on across the bridge to the island.  Well it was a very very narrow bridge as it turns out.  I’m sure there was less than a foot clearance on either side from the wheels of the trailer.

After crossing the bridge we went 1000 yards (measured on Google Earth), before coming to a complete dead end.  No turn around.  So back up we went, all 1000 yds, and never once did we have to go forward to straighten out!  After getting to the turning location we re-crossed the skinny bridge back to the mainland, before resuming our original route down to the beach, which also appeared to have some promise for camping when viewed from a satellite.  Nope.  That’s the end of the road, ocean just beyond, and once again, NO turn around .

Well, BACK we went again, this time having to back up and over a short but steep bridge without being able to see behind.   This time it was merely 500 yards or so. 

And what are YOU staring at??  Haven’t you ever seen anyone come backing over that bridge before?

At least she had a tag in her ear.  Strangely, it appeared that they had been cut out from most of the rest of the herd?

Next post – leaving the coast, headed for high mountain passes.