Wednesday 4th October - day 15.
Cape Blanco to The Avenue of Giants, North California.
Lots of driving today, however we started the day well with a run through the forest, along the headland and down onto the beach. From here there were idyllic views of the lighthouse and also of
Needle rock and Humbug mountain to the south.
It was very peaceful down on the black sand beach with blue skies over a smooth sea and the sun gradually rising over the headland behind us. We returned to the RV ready for a quick shower, coffee and an early departure. We planned to stop for breakfast 45 minutes down the road at Indian Creek Cafe near Gold Beach. This was our first mistake of the day - it was awful. We didn’t stay.
Instead we headed up into Cape Sebastian, seven miles south of Gold Beach with stupendous views north to Humbug mountain and south to California. We set out our camp chairs and enjoyed a peaceful cooked breakfast in the sun.
The next stretch of coastline today was billed as being the most scenic in Oregon - the Samuel H Boardman State Scenic Corridor, between Port Orford and Brookings. It did not disappoint (although we think the Three Capes came pretty close). We drove south in beautiful sunshine, with every possible beautiful coastal vista to our right - high cliffs, sea stacks, beaches with tide pools, beaches with dunes and rolling surf. All stunning. We stopped at Whaleshead Beach and walked down the steep track to the beach to look for the eponymous rock that is said to look like a whale spouting when the surf is crashing into the far side of it. We saw the rock but no spout! Nevertheless, we enjoyed the beautiful beach and the swim!
We drove into Brookings in search of The Hungry Clam restaurant. Another disappointment, and so we drove on into California and to Crescent beach for a picnic lunch sitting on a bleached tree trunk on the white sand.
A visit to the Redwood State Park Visitor Centre in Crescent City was our next essential stop, and armed with map and guide, and plenty of warm-hearted and enthusiastic advice from the ranger, we struck out for the famous Redwood forests.
Highway 101 runs straight through the impressive Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park - an incredibly scenic drive through forests full of Redwoods and Sequoia up to 379feet(115m) high - a really unique and unforgettable experience. Next, we deviated off the 102 onto the Newton B Drury Scenic Parkway through the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. Another stunning drive. This time we stopped and hiked on a couple of trails through the forest to see the trees close up. Amazing.
We drove on south with a view to staying overnight just north of the Avenue of Giants in the Humboldt Redwoods State Park.
We stopped too briefly at the beautiful Clam Beach and then headed on into the industrial / retail wasteland of Arcata and Eureka followed by a wall of sea fog at the junction with Highway 299, which pretty much removed all chance of seeing what had promised to be a spectacular sunset.
The third mistake of the day was swiftly followed by a fourth - searching in the dark for a non-existent campsite that seemingly closed in 2007...
In the darkness and confusion of maps without gps or internet we turned into the next RV park we saw, and opened a bottle of red wine. Tomorrow we can try again!