We planned a stop in Arcata as it was on our route and it is also close to Redwood National Park. We scheduled a day to enjoy the Redwoods. On our way to Patrick's Point it was so scenic to view the Pacific Ocean rolling up close to the road!!
Patrick's Point State Park has a shoreline that ranges from broad sandy stretch of Agate Beach to sheer cliffs that rise high above the sea. Much of the year it is shrouded in fog but we luckily had a clear day.
In the visitors center they had a very impressively large whale skull and cute stuffed black bear.
The ranger recommended a hike out to Wedding Rock. We enjoyed the beautiful trail...
...and the scenery along the way!!
Wedding Rock which is a viewpoint of the spring and fall migrations of the California Gray Whale. The whales were migrating but, sadly, we did not see one.
We made it to the top and a nice lady from California took our "we were there" photo.
We were surprised to see the ocean change color (from brown to green to blue) as it got farther out. We saw three different colors and we don't know what causes the changes - one might be ocean depth??
No whales but a beautiful view!
As we traveled to Redwood National Park we came upon a campground appropriately named Elk Country Campground. As you can see, right by the RVs is a herd of Elk!!
We have come to our 36th of the 59 National Parks, Redwood National Park!
We saw an interesting video on Redwoods in the visitors center and then took a walk out the back door and we were right on the beach!!
At the visitor's center the ranger recommended we hike Lady Bird Grove to see the Redwoods. On 11/25/68 Redwood National Park was dedicated. On 8/22/69 Richard Nixon named the grove in Lady Bird Johnson's honor for her devoted service to the cause of preserving and enhancing America's natural beauty for the enjoyment of all people.
The trail starts with a bridge that crosses the entrance road and takes you right into the grove.
To put the height of redwoods in perspective: The giant sequoia is the most massive tree. For example, the General Sherman, that we saw in Sequoia National Park, has an estimated volume of 50,000 cubic feet. But, Sequoias only grow to abut 314 feet. The Coast Redwood grows to 379 feet. They are tall!! They thrive here because of the dense fog. This fog waters the tree from the top down as the fog condenses on the upper leaves and drips down the tree.
We also learned on the video that although they have a tiny cone that drops seeds, they also reproduce from a burl, that grows on the side of the tree and will form a new tree, just like this one did. It looks like two but it is just one tree.
The grove is just beautiful!!
To give you a sense of the size of a redwood tree here is Mark inside the bottom of one!
No "we were there" photo so here are two separate views of us.
One last look at these towering giants.
That's it for our stop in Arcata, now its time to move on to our next stop: Central Point, Oregon.
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