Pop and Meemee on the road: Northern California

We made it safely to Klamath, California Saturday after a trip from Coos Bay that was mostly in the rain and fog. The skies were cloudy all day which did little to enhance the beautiful scenic coast line of southern Oregon and northern California. This area is in the heart of the Giant Redwoods, which we got a taste of just south of Crescent City. Some of these majestic trees are literally just inches off the highway and one must be careful when traveling this road to avoid hitting them (especially when towing). Sunday, we packed a picnic lunch and headed back north on US101 to see what we could find. The first stop was the Klamath Overlook on Requa Road. This overlook is 650 feet above the ocean floor and has a dynamic view of the area where the Klamth River empties into the Pacific. The Klamath is the second largest river in California. Unfortunately, it was cloudy while we were there, but the view was still great. It was low tide, and we could see (through binoculars) industrious fishermen crabbing in the area that had been underwater during high tide. This is a favorite area for whale watching on the west coast, but again, we failed to spot any. From there we traveled North on 101 to Crescent City to find the two lighthouses in the area. The first one was the Battery Point Lighthouse perched on the rocks of Battery Point. The walkway from the parking lot to the lighthouse and museum was under water due to high tide. I assume you have to time your visit to coincide with low tide. The other lighthouse is the St. George Reef Lighthouse, which is about six miles offshore. The only access is by helicopter which has been recently suspended as the landing site has not been approved and a new helipad has to be built before landings there can be resumed. This was the most expensive lighthouse ever constructed in the US. Our last stop was to explore the Gigantic Redwood Trees at the Trees of Mystery, which is a touristy type of place, but does have beautiful Redwoods in an unusual setting. It's the type place that you are glad you saw, but probably wouldn't go back again.There is a huge likeness of Paul Bunyan and Babe, the blue ox in front of the business.

That brings us to today (Monday). We had about 220 miles to travel today to make our overnight destination in Ukiah, Ca. The trip today was long and exhausting due to road conditions, but thankfully, we had a safe journey and will hit the road again in the morning. We're staying at a decent park at the Redwood Empire Fairgrounds Campground. This is an overnight stop on the way to Santa Rosa, California, which will be our staging area to explore San Francisco.

Our Camp Site At Chinook RV Resort, Klamath, Ca.

View of the Klamath River from our Camp Site.

View of junction of Klamath River joining the Pacific Ocean.

Battery Point Lighthouse. Notice the walkway under water.

View of fisherman crabbing.

Closeup of Battery Point Lighthouse.

Battery Point Lighthouse from a Northern viewpoint.

Cape St. George's lighthouse which is 6 miles offshore.

Giant Redwoods alongside Highway 101.

Crickett and Paul Bunyan.

Paul and Blue Babe

Largest Redwood at the Trees of Mystery. There were a crew of 5 members filming a documentary about the Giant Redwoods while we were there. They have been near the top of the tree. This tree is reportedly over 300 feet tall and is in excess of 3,000 years old.

Gondola ride to the top of Trees of Mystery

Ride through the trees.

I think someone was skeered!

At the top

Pacific Ocean view from the top.

Grouping of Giant Redwoods known as "The Cathedral". Many weddings have been held here. The pictures don't do justice to the beauty of the trees.

Pretty large stump.

The Redwoods are extremely resilient trees. The main body of this tree has fallen to the ground but new shoots have grown upward off the fallen trunk. We saw several stumps where the trees had been harvested with new growth growing out of the stumps like the above picture.