Finding Your Coast

When you hit the northernmost part of California your drive becomes all about the redwood trees – nature’s true giants. They can be taller than the Statue of Liberty and larger around than a Greyhound bus. I guess outside of the random dinosaur, they are the largest living thing on earth. So we skipped Oceanworld in order to get to the Trees of Mystery just outside of Crescent City, before it closed. It just sounded too cool to miss- something Clark Griswold would be proud to visit. A jolly giant Paul Bunyan greeted and joked with visitors at the entrance and for $15/pp we strolled through a forest, road a “Sky Tram” to an incredible vista, hiked a steep trail back to the base and roamed around the Trail of Tall Tales where we heard the story of Paul Bunyan and his friends. It wasn’t at all cheesy if you do the hike and appreciate your scenery.
The mile decline through a moist dirt path, shaded over by those thousand-year-old redwoods was certainly more fun than walking the asphalt trail at Zion NP. It was also one of the few times we got some real exercise. At this point I would have given anything to get my ass out of the passenger seat. Not for your average RVer, the hike was downright treacherous in spots. For the less adventurous you could opt to ride the Sky Tram back down but then, yeah, kinda cheesy. Sage whined a bit and wanted us to carry her (no way) but the exercise tuckered the pup and her in a good way.
We finished by sundown, famished. Ryan was ready for a more substantial meal after our night of quesadillas so we stumbled into the Sea Grill in Eureka. Quite the find! The prices were reasonable, the plate large and the food, which comes with the salad bar, especially yummy. The only thing that wasn’t the bomb was the dessert. The bourbon pecan torte was like a plain brick of dark chocolate.
We thought about spending the night in Eureka but moved on to nearby Fortuna for fear of our lives. Eureka is not the cleanest or most livable city in Northern Cali. We felt like we were driving through a depressed inner city instead of this gateway to majestic redwoods.
In the morning we packed it up and made out for the Avenue of the Giants. More redwoods. It seems the Trees of Mystery were just a warm up. The scenic byway (SR 254) runs through Humboldt Redwoods State Park for about 30 miles with numerous spots to pull out for minihikes (one to three miles). The place is so magical even George Lucas used it as the backdrop for Return of the Jedi.