07/04/13 – Fourth of July – Avenue of the Giants (North California) and Klamath
Link to Avenue of the GIants / Klamath Facebook Pictures
So we have experienced the fourth of July on the road! To start the day, we continued driving up the coast. We made our way to a small town to get gas (can’t remember the name of it) and there was an actual brush fire going on below a bridge. There were a ton of firetrucks, and even a helicopter carrying water to dump on the fire. Naturally, we pulled over and took pictures. We met an older guy that was from the area we were in. He was definitely an old hippy. He had the long grey hair, round glasses, and totally embraced that hippy look. We knew we were in Mendocino when he said “I saw [helicopters] flying yesterday, and didn’t know if they were carrying water or marijuana!”
On a tip by this man, we continued up the 101 and turned off at a scenic byway called the “Avenue of the Giants”. This is a section of massive redwoods, with a small, windy, shaded two-lane road running directly through it. We pulled off to take pictures at a few different spots. Ended up spending a couple hours in this area. There was a fallen redwood tree that we could climb on top of, and inside of. Those things are MASSIVE. Standing by one is one thing – climbing inside of it is an entirely different experience.
We kept driving up the Avenue of the Giants and ended up back on the 101. It was mid-afternoon now, and we wanted to be able to find a place to camp. California has been making us pretty frustrated in that respect: there are a TON of signs for camping / campgrounds all around, BUT then you figure out that they are either RV parks or overpriced tent sites.
At one point, we were driving along the highway and saw a sign that said “Elk Crossing”. Figuring it was like the 1000’s of other “Animal Crossing” signs that we have encountered thus far, I didn’t think much of it. I turned a corner, looked to the right, and saw the biggest herd of elk I’ve ever seen! There is an RV park situated right in the middle of where this elk herd lives, and they were just hanging out in the field in front of it, which happened to be DIRECTLY off of a highway. We stopped and took pictures, then continued on.
Shortly after, we saw another congregation of pulled-over vehicles on the side of the road. This time, they were all along the beach, right against the Pacific Ocean. We stopped, and I had to stand on the trunk of the Honda to get a good picture of them with the ocean in the background. It was beautiful!!
At a picnic area that we stopped at, I walked up to a parked Park Ranger and asked her where we could do dispersed camping around here. She recommended that I go about 20 miles up the 101, to a town called Klamath. She wasn’t sure of the legality of doing it, but she said everyone disperse camps up there. We got to Klamath, and immediately saw a fenced in area with an emu in it. Molly wanted to get out and take pictures of the emus, and then another local was walking by. He told us about a 4th of July party going on down by the river, which was where we were planning on going anyway. We drove down to the city of Klamath and then kept going, eventually getting into a large gravel area of paths. Some of the paths were too rough for the Honda, but I eventually made my way down by the river, where we set up camp for the night.
It’s noticeably colder up here in northern California! The weather is still nice, but I might have to pull my pants out, here in the next few days! We went to bed with a TON of fireworks going off in the distance. Being down by the river, the sound from the fireworks really echoed and carried well. I have never heard that many fireworks go off, not even in Atlanta or Stone Mountain. The population of the city of Klamath is only about 800, so someone had to be putting out some MONEY to have that many. Another night of camping = a success in my book!