Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Exploring More of the Redwoods--July 3, 4, & 5

We decided to stick pretty close to the campground on Thursday and Friday. We drove back to the redwoods to walk some other trails we found. Letter Loop and Ellsworth Loop were on our list of things to do. The trees and the area are amazing. It is one more of the temperate rain forests we have visited this trip--the Cascades and Cape Perpetua are the others. The trail was well marked and well used.

We were in the shade most of the walk. The sun filters down through the upper canopy and occasionally makes it through with no filter.

There are bridges over wet areas or I should say areas that are wet in winter and spring. Now they are drying in the summer heat.Bob found a gnarly tree that may soon have another tree growing from the burl.

This tree was burned many years ago. Redwoods don't catch fire quickly, but if the fire gets to the heart of the tree, the inside burns quickly, leaving the outer bark!

To give you an idea of the size of the burned out tree, here we are against the far wall!
We returned to our campground a decided it was time to eat at the lodge. We walked over early in the evening and had a great meal--Bob had steak and I had beef tournados.

July 4th came and went without much hoopla. Fireworks were banned in the area due to the California fires. We stayed at the campground and late in the afternoon we walked over to the lodge for some fat tires. We enjoyed sitting at the bar watching the cars go by.
As we walked back to camp, we took a picture of another of the CCC buildings still standing at Patrick Creek. This was near the swimming hole the CCC built. The wall that delineated the swimming hole was washed away in the flood of 1964.
You can walk through the swimming and fishing area and along the rocks near the creek.

Saturday was another lazy day. We ventured down the coast to see more of the redwoods, but didn't go too far. The smoke is still noticeable on the coast.

We stayed at Patrick Creek Campground until Sunday. Several of the sites were reserved, but never occupied. Gas prices may have kept people away.

We have been lucky to have nice weather--not too hot or cold for July. The temperatures have hit the mid 70s during the day and the low 60s at night. I have the feeling that will change as we move away from the coast.

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