After more than 15 years I finally had a chance to camp just up the road from Benbow Lake State Park where I used to camp with my family every summer and it was awesome!
Humboldt Redwoods State Park
My buddy Ilya had organized the trip and planned for us to drive up Friday afternoon, camp at Burlington Campground in Humboldt Redwood State Park and then backpack to Grasshopper camp on Saturday. The trip started out with me picking up Miguel and Elizabeth from Walnut Creek who I had never met before but turned out to be the coolest people. I’ll admit, I was a bit nervous about making the drive up with a married couple (I figured it might be awkward) but both of them were such great conversationalists the 6.5 hour trip just flew by. =)
We got to Burlington Campground around 9:15 at night and armed with headlamps we set out to pitch our tents and get some sleep. Ilya, Rita and Craig showed up about 30 minutes later with leftover pizza from their dinner. Thanks for the slice guys! Mmm, delicious. =)
The next morning we packed up our tents, ate breakfast, and headed over to the ranger station to get our permits.
Craig, Val and Ilya at breakfast.
Ilya captures the morning crowd at breakfast. What a great way to start the day. =)
Unfortunately we learned that we would not be able to make the trip we had planned because the seasonal bridges required to get to our campsite had not been put out yet. To make matters worse the only road that would give us access to another entrance was closed for repaving in preparation for the Humboldt Redwoods Marathon. Really?? Bummer…
Oh no! Don't tell me we're not going to be able to do a backpacking trip!
After it became apparent that the people at the ranger station weren’t going to be able to help us we went over to the visitor center where for nearly an hour Ilya, Val and Miguel tried to figure out a plan. I occupied my time checking out all the cool things in the visitor center including a weather rock out front, animal pelts you could feel, and a very unique vehicle called “The Travel Log” that was used to bring awareness to the masses about the importance of preserving the redwoods. Visitor centers rock. =)
The Weather Rock - http://www.windycreek.com/weatherrock.html
The Travel Log - carved from a redwood log and taken on tour by Charles Kellogg in an effort to bring awareness to saving the redwoods. Cool!
Thankfully Ilya, Val and Miguel’s persistence paid off when they learned that at 11am and 4:30pm Mattole Road would be opened to allow a caravan of vehicles through. Hurray! Let the trip officially begin!
After 15 years of lobbying to get Mattole Road repaved, they finally got approval and it just happened to be the same weekend we had planned our trip. What timing, eh? 😉
The trip got off to a bit of a shaky start but once we made our way to the trailhead it was smooth sailing the rest of the way. Let me rephrase that. We didn’t run into any more problems but I did stop about a million time to get pictures of all the amazing flowers and scenery starting. 😉
We kicked things off with a group photo and then I set out to collect as many photos of wildflowers as I could (I only posted 8).
Our Crew - Back row: Rita, Craig, Val, Miguel, and Elizabeth Front row: Ilya, me
Just one of the many examples of redwoods (this one scorched by fire) that we saw on our trip.
Miguel saw this flower ("Calypso Orchid") at the beginning of the trail. Absolutely amazing. =)
Delicate white/blue flowers dotted the meadows.
Not sure what this is but it was really pretty.
Miguel spotted this (and many other) flowers ("Trillium").
Another beautiful trillium along a stream.
A clover flower. I didn't realize clover had a flower. Very pretty.
A really neat mushroom.
Anybody know what this is cause I have no idea. 😉
We also saw a bit of wildlife along the way. On the first day I found a deer jaw bone that of course I had to pick up and check out. Cool!
Bones! A deer jaw to be specific. Fascinating. =)
By the time we got to camp I was ready to take a break and take in all the beauty around us. But first I had to setup my tent.
My awesome REI Quarterdome T2 tent. It's so roomy and easy to setup. Love it!
My home away from home.
After getting my tent setup, Val came by to chat. She’s so awesome. I really respect the person she is and how she lives her life. Very inspiring. =)
Ilya captured this picture of Val and me chatting. He titled it "Women Talk". I think we were talking about a trip Val had chaperoned for a bunch of girls so he was kind of right. =)
After taking this picture Ilya and Rita came by and we all shared some excellent vodka while relaxing in the sun. Yes, most excellent. We then headed over to Ilya and Rita’s camp to cook dinner and watch the sun go down.
Shortly before it got dark I got lucky with this shot. Watch out, that jet is going to crash into the moon!
The next morning we experienced what Craig, who follows an all raw diet, experiences every day which is a cold breakfast since the water taps hadn’t been turned back on after the winter. Although we’d have to hike a few miles we knew we’d be able to get water from a creek on our way back down the trail.
Craig has his raw food breakfast and we marvel that he can sustain himself without warm food.
Since we didn’t have a water source at the camp we packed up fairly quickly and headed back down the trail. We took a slightly different trail back which led us past some beautiful streams.
My "bridge" friends. =)
We also saw this amazing guy, an owl that obliged us by posing for our cameras.
Hello... =)
On the way back I had a chance to talk more with Craig who is also a very amazing person. I learned more about how in addition to investing in oil futures (although he drives a Prius), he does grief counseling which has helped him confront the reality of his own mortality and turned that into a commitment to healthy living and making the most of every day. Pretty incredible.
At the end of the trail we had a chance to walk through the “tourist-y” side of the state park and posed next to this giant tree. My feet had completely broken down (bad boots) so I was kind of dying at this point. I still managed a smile for the camera.
Can you believe how huge this tree is? The sign said it's circumference was 53.2ft. Crazy!
Thanks to Ilya for planning and leading a fantastic trip through the redwoods. I had an amazing time and can’t wait for the next trip. =)
Speaking of, the next backpacking trip I have planned is a weeklong trip to Olympic National Park led by “V” in Washington state. In order to make sure I don’t have the same foot problems I had on this trip I researched a bunch of different boots and bought a super nice pair of Zamberlan 310 Skill GT hiking boots from REI. I can’t wait.
To see all the pictures from the trip, check out the following albums:
- My Picasa album
- Ilya’s Flickr album – Great pictures
- Miguel’s Flickr album – Great group photo picture among others
C’mon, Jenny, the group footwear brand is Asolo 🙂
Thanks for good trip report. It was great to have you on board.
Ha! I did try the Asolos at REI and they felt too narrow. I’m totally scared of having my feet break down again and based on how the Zamberlans felt and what the reviewers had said I’m hoping these (and some Superfeet) are going to be the magic bullet for my backpacking feet problems. We’ll see. I don’t want a repeat of how mopey I was at the end of the Humboldt trip because my feet were killing me. I’m still part of the crew though, right? 😉