Tuesday 4 September 2018
Apparently, if one wishes to hike among redwoods, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park is the place to go. We begin the day by having breakfast in Crescent City and checking out of our motel. We spent a peaceful night at Jedediah Smith State Park last night, but it was cheaper to keep our two night motel reservation than to change to a one night stay as the original reservation was made so far in advance.
After breakfast we drive back down Route 101 to the Newton B. Drury Parkway, the original 101, and now the scenic route to Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. We stop at the visitor center here and are advised on local hikes by a very knowledgeable woman. O and I elect to do some shorter hikes today and a longer hike tomorrow. First, we return to Vincent to get our boots on and grab our daypacks. Our first circuit is several miles along the Prairie Creek Trail, up to Corkscrew Tree, across the parkway to Big Tree and then back to the visitor center on Cathedral Trees Trail, in all, approximately a three mile walk through towering redwoods. Apparently coastal redwoods are the only conifer to reproduce both by seed and by rhizome, that is sending by up shoots from roots. We pass older trees along the path with young slender trees growing alongside their wide diameter trunks. We pass the Corkscrew Tree where trunks have twisted about one another. We arrive at Big Tree and I feel as if I might tip over looking up to its crown. The Cathedral Trees Trail winds up a hillside through a forest of more big trees.
After completing this circuit we drive north again on the Newton B. Drury Parkway to Coastal Drive where we find the Carruthers Cove Trail. We hike almost a mile down to a secluded cove where angry waves crash against the rocks offshore. It is quite cool on the beach in the wind and we do not linger long. Then it’s 176 meters in elevation gain back up the trail to Vincent and back to camp for dinner. Here we enjoy the warmth of the sun as we cook, until too soon, the sun drops behind the tall pines across the Smith River.
