We woke up this morning to overcast skies and a chill in the air. One of those mornings when it would feel great to curl up under a blanket with a hot cup of coffee, doing our daily puzzles and reading. Watching the flat light outside from the comfort of Livvy.
But today was not that day. Today Daisy had an appointment with a groomer!
Our campsite is located in the tiny town of Hiouchi, which sits less than 9 miles as the crow flies from the Pacific Ocean. I’ve always wondered why that term mentions a “crow”. Why not some other bird? Anyway, we are not far from the ocean. Nestled along the coast, less than a 20 minute drive from here, is the town of Crescent City.
The dog groomer Karen found is located there, and looking at the area previously on Google Maps, it looked like a quaint, cute, Northern California seaside town. There is beach galore, plenty of parking, and a very highly rated brewery as a lunch destination. Not only that, but there is a dock where we could watch sea lions. How perfect! We were excited to get there early and take Daisy to the beach before her bath and cut.
We left the campground and turned west toward Crescent City. We were surprised to find that a Redwood NP sign was only 0.2 miles down the road, and the visitor center was only 0.4 miles further. That meant we could walk there in the afternoon and get our sign picture and passport book stamped. Plus there are trails we could hike without driving.
We hit the Pacific coast north of downtown Crescent City. The fog was still heavy over the ocean and the sea was calm. It was eerie! The roadway sat up higher than the narrow, rocky beach in this area. The shallows were dotted with large rocks jutting out from the water. Two of the largest rock “islands” even had trees on them. At low tide, they are accessible from the mainland. But today they were surrounded by the surf.
The homes along the ocean were modest in size, very unlike the mansions that cover Malibu. And in almost all cases they sat across the road from the beach, giving them wonderful views without risk of eroding into the Pacific. It was a very cute area, so we knew downtown would be lovely. However…
I an trying to think of the best way to describe Crescent City. Depressed would certainly fit. Sad would as well. Run down, unkempt, and raw. But what fits best for me is “forgotten”. Like, we could see what the town perhaps was at one time, or at least what it wanted to be. But people and time had moved on and forgotten this coastal village. What remains is a shell, a skeleton, of what may have once been.
We were disheartened.
But, we knew there was a pier to watch sea lions, so all was not lost. And it did not disappoint!! Just offshore two large floating docks had been erected for use by sea lions and seals. It was similar to what had been done at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. This gave the animals a place to get some sun while keeping them away from the working docks.
Watching sea lions is one of Karen’s favorite things to do, and she laughs almost the entire time. If you’ve never experienced it, the sea lions nearly continuously bark, grunt, and growl at one another. If a new one tries to access the dock from the bay, the ones already there start bitching. When they bump into one another, they bang heads and bark. It is so entertaining! Daisy was so excited watching them that she was shivering. Truly a highlight of this trip.
We dropped off Daisy at the only mildly sketchy-looking groomer at 11:00 a.m. Knowing we’d have about 2 hours to kill, we drove back to the beach north of town to take in the views for a bit. We knew we wanted to have lunch at SeaQuake Brewing which opened at 11:30, so we made our way there when they opened.
Sitting at the bar (our favorite place to sit, after all), we each chose a beer flight, meaning we got to at least taste 8 different draughts. SeaQuake is known for its fish tacos and fish and chips, so that’s what we picked for lunch. We could sit back and enjoy ourselves while Daisy was away.
The beers were all very good, especially the IPAs. Karen’s favorite was the Red Sky IRA (India Red Ale), a seasonal ale that has the bite of an IPA. Excellent! The best of my flight was the Wicked Aunt Tammy, a high alcohol double IPA. As bitter as a Browns fan. The food was wonderful as well. Both dishes featured fresh, locally caught fish so we expected it to be good. SeaQuest did not disappoint.
After picking up Daisy from the sketchy groomer, we made a quick stop for a couple necessities at Walmart before heading back to camp. After getting Livvy set back up, we put on our hiking boots and headed to the visitors center.
Redwood National Park is very different in that it is tightly intertwined with several State parks. In many cases, management of the areas is shared between the government agencies, and it can be difficult to tell if you’re in the National Park or a State Park. But the one thing both share is a beautiful grandeur.
We hiked for a few miles in and out of groves of some of the biggest trees we’ve ever seen. We saw gigantic trees in Sequoia last year, but these were even taller.
(As an aside – sequoia trees are the largest trees in the world by total volume. Their trunks are incredibly thick, and that thickness diminishes little over their 200 foot height. Coastal redwoods, by contrast, have tapering trunks, but their heights are routinely 300 feet tall.)
The forest floor is covered in mosses and ferns, very much like we say in Olympic and Rainier. The staggering heights of the giant redwoods makes it impossible to see their tops from below. Just a massive, twisting trunk reaching for the sky. Breathtaking.
We packed a lot into today and got just enough taste of Redwoods to whet our appetite for the next 4 days here. The temps have cooled rapidly as the sun begins disappearing behind the ocean to our west. We have already planned out our day for tomorrow and look forward to what it will bring.
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