Trippin' with Steph: Day 7-CA to OR

Bird prints on
beach sand

Day 7/Orick, CA to Coos Bay, OR
Distance today: 264 miles
Total to date: 2239 miles

Today was another really great day! Got a good night's sleep in a comfortable, clean bed.

former Yurok village site

First thing we did was go down to the ocean, looking for information on the Redwood Forest. But the office was closed so we checked out a site where the Yurok tribe had a former village. Unfortunately there is nothing there now at all.

former Yurok village site

According to the Yurok Tribe website this tribe is currently the largest Tribe in California, with more than 5,000 enrolled members & that, " they were known as great fishermen, eelers, basket weavers, canoe makers, storytellers, singers, dancers, healers and strong medicine people.

found some headphones here
that were perfect for my iphone!

We continued north, up the coast & through the Redwood National Forest. Was neat because the coastline was foggy since this was about 0845 & the sun hadn't burned the fog off yet.

I was so very moved by the trees along this route that I literally shed some tears of wonderment at these ancient ones & their majestic presence. Words seem simply inadequate to describe their beauty. But this route wound us through this band of forest, right along the coast. Well worth going on again!

We got to Crescent City & found another National Park information center, where one of the employees told us how to get to some dirt road that cut through the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park.

This was a fantastic journey! My only complaint was that navigating the bike on this single lane dirt road (but had traffic going both ways) & through the trees where at times there was barely room for one car was a challange & was a distraction from looking at the trees.

I took a zillion pictures & there was complete silence, except the occasional bird sound. Will let the pics below speak for themselves.

After this incredible experience, we continued north. We could not locate a two lane road we were trying to cut across west on, so got lost around Grant's Pass but eventually we figured it out & got on 42 which was another very beautiful, twisty road through more very scenic woods with a river right alongside the road. This took us right to Coos Bay. Wikipedia sez that tribal members of the Coos, Lower Umpqua,Siuslaw and Coquille tribes lived, fished, hunted and gathered along Coos Bay and its estuaries, along rivers, and in meadows and forests. I am learning about all sorts of NW nations I hadn't even heard of!

Tomorrow we will traverse to WA, right up 101 to Aberdeen, then head back eastward. Should be awesome following the coast line. Hopefully we won't get too lost! At least we don't have to worry about heading west & getting lost!!