If you thought California was a bubbling, bustling and foaming sea of humanity, take some time off and drive north to the Pacific Northwest. If you thought that even the National Parks in California had more visitors per year than most urban Zoos, take some time off and drive to the Pacific Northwest. If you thought that your friendly neighborhood AAA tow-truck will be available for help along any Californian pavement, try some of the gravel roads in the Pacific Northwest. If you think you have seen the tallest trees in the world by touring the pilgrimage at the General Sherman tree, transport yourself to the Pacific Northwest. If Point Lobos and Point Reyes National Seashore seem commonplace to you, try the precipitous coastlines of the Pacific Northwest.

If you would like to escape the chaos of a 4th of July holiday weekend, drive to the Pacific Northwest. Try as hard as you may, but there are very few places left on this monstrous western state which can provide a visually spectacular yet mentally serene three-day weekend. Having seen the swolen crowds for two straight normal weekends at Yosemite and Sequoia/Kings, escapism was top priority in our bones.

Wednesday, 3th July, 2002

Escaping wasn't as easy as I thought, though. We left work early on Wednesday, 3rd July, 2002. By the time we reached San Francisco at around 4pm, traffic was crawling along 101-North. It took us 30 minutes to clear the Golden Gate bridge span, and enter the truly hellish traffic of Marin county. From there on till about San Rafael was pure torture. Road construction, a few fender-benders and a couple of overturned SUVs here and there pushed us into San Rafael at around 6:00pm. Yahoo! maps claimed that the trip from San Francisco to Eureka would take approximately 6 hours, which placed our arrival time at Eureka to midnight.

The good news was that US-101 from Santa Rosa till Ukiah was a straight stretch of pristine pavement with very little traffic. After Ukiah, the road started winding its way through the hills, slowing down our driving a little. Surprisingly, the biggest stop on 101 between Santa Rosa and the Redwood region seemed to be Willits, well-equipped with a full-fledged strip mall, complete with a Safeway. Therefore, it was time to stock up on munchables. Apart from Willits, there was very little civilization between Santa Rosa and Ferndale.

Twilight was upon us and it was already 8:30pm by the time we started out again. As the skies turned slate gray and pink, we entered Humboldt Redwoods State Park. We saw the signs for the Avenue of the Giants, but it was quite pointless traversing it at dusk. So we sped on through the rising redwoods silhouetted against the salmon sky. The next few hours were quite un-eventful, primarily since the darkness veiled us from the beauty which we would witness while driving back. Our energy levels were dimishing with each passing mile, but we finally made it to downtown Eureka.

Our first weariness-induced impression of Eureka was that of a dreary and industrial town with no life of its own. That was about to change over the next two days though. Red Lion Inn seemed like the best hotel in town, courtesy, of course, Priceline. It was time to hit the hay, as it would be a long day tomorrow.

Thursday, 4th July, 2002

On Thursday, 4th of July, the plan was to cover Patricks Point State Park and then Prairie Creek State Park, along with Fern Canyon. We were then planning on driving down to the Klamath river estuary. Finally, we hoped that this would give us enough ammunition to return to one of the Parks' beaches for sunset, before driving back to Eureka for the night.

Highway 101 in the Redwood country (from somewhere north of Willits) is the smoothest stretch of black asphalt I have ever experienced (well, Highway 49 from Lassen Volcanic National Park to Redding is a close second). It seemed as if the engineers used a spirit level to pave this road. Not a scratch! In fact, there were a couple of sections where the pavement did go an inch above or below the spirit-level, but these portions had a big sign forewarning drivers of the bump ahead! What metric are these guys using to define the bumps? Why aren't these engineers available in the Bay Area? We encountered one such bump as we took the exit towards Patricks Point State Park.

At the entrance station to the Park, we learnt that the fee for a particular state park is valid for other state parks on the same day. $3 for day access and $1 for a trail map, and we were all set to go. The first two stops were the small trails to Moss Rock and Wedding Rock. The first thing that stuns you is the abundance of color in your retinas. The green foliage, the azure skies, the turquoise Pacific dotted with black-and-white rock-water interplay. A stunningly clear day undoubtedly helped in this display. The second thing which surprises you (and thou shalt find this out very quickly and often in this cold breezy climate) is the abundance of very clean and full-featured restrooms in every park and every vista point parking lot in this region - complete with hand driers.

Probably the best attraction of this park is Agate Beach. From the parking lot, you can see the black beach sprawling for miles in front of you, disappearing into the wispy fog near Humboldt Lagoon. From the top, the descent to the water seems steep and strenuous, but in reality its almost cakewalk. On the beach we found a fair number of people crouching in the sunshine and sifting through the gravelly sand. As we later found out, the favorite pastime at Agate Beach is searching for - agates! After asking six different people on what to really search for, we still weren't sure about the exact description of agate. In the end, Rachna managed to gather as many shiny colorful stones as she could possibly fit into her jacket pocket.

After hitting another bump, we were back on 101-North gliding towards Prairie Creek State Park. We wanted to visit Fern Canyon on our way to the main entrance to the Park, which was further north. The signs to Davison road which leads to Fern Canyon are swift and confusing, so we found ourselves on Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway near Elk Prairie. A stunning meadow by itself, the Prairie draws visitors due to the small collection of Roosevelt Elk that are protected in the Park. Visitors stop by on their way through the Parkway, only to stand and make loud noises just to catch a glimpse of the elk as they raise their head out of curiousity.

It was at the visitor center near Elk Prairie, that the photographic calamity started. We decided to take the puny which showcased some old growth redwood. There were streams, wooden bridges, huge fern, and tall redwoods. There was a spectacular interplay of the thin beams of streaming sunlight against a backdrop of maple trees. Photo-poetry! But the slow f/4.5 Zoom on my Canon EOS 7E needed the support of a tripod in order to capture the translucent magic. Moreover, the magic required a vertical composition.

Let this incident be a moral for all budding photographers out there. Be wise, and buy a good tall sturdy tripod before you buy any other accesory for your camera. It took me 15 frustrating minutes to crouch under the small lightweight tripod to frame the translucent maple leaves against the dark bark of a redwood. And then, a huge group of schoolchildren came waddling through the narrow trail, forcing me to move the tripod away. Back to square one. After another futile 15 minutes, I had things set up again when a slight breeze began swaying the maple branches. We waited for another 5 minutes but the breeze was relentless. Finally, I gave up and kicked my tripod down to the red floor in frustration.

We turned back towards the parking lot, and after another quick snap of the massive meadow, we were on our way to Davison Road and Fern Canyon. This time around, we were very cautious, and made the turn into Davison Road just in time. For the first few feet, the road is well paved and very broad, with meadows on both sides. After the first impression, though, the road narrows considerably and becomes rougher. But its still wasn't that bad. After around 5 miles, you hit Gold's Beach, and the road turns into gravel. After the next 2 miles, you come across a thin running stream! The idea of crossing over the stream in your car was probably more fascinating and exciting than the actual act itself. A few more gravel filled miles, and almost 35 minutes from 101-North, we were parked at the Fern Canyon parking lot on Gold's Beach. At first it was disbelief. It then turned into frustration. Finally, helplessness. I had left my tripod back at Elk Prarie.

For Rachna, disbelief quickly metamorphosed into blame. She claimed that I had subconsciously left the tripod back at Elk Prairie because deep inside I knew that it was worthless. She might have been right. In any case, I had a dark and deep fern-laden canyon to photograph, using my slow zooms, without any kind of tripod. Nothing defines hell better. And there was no way we could go back another 40 minutes over the hills and far away to fetch the tripod. For all we knew, maybe someone else was using it already. Moreover, the sun was setting fast, and it would be too late by the time we came back.

So, re-united with my fate, I snapped heavily shaken views of the incredibly lush and gorgeous canyon with my lens at wide open. Did you know that quite a few scenes from Jurassic Park: The Lost World were shot in this canyon? I knew, and it made my life even more miserable. A broken redwood trunk, a wooden bridge, a jutting boulder - I used everything possible to steady my camera in my fight against light.

Dejected, but seriously impressed, we headed back to Elk Prairie with very little hope. As I have mentioned before, this wasn't Yosemite. The place is deserted most of the time. And I had a cheap tripod. A winning combination. We saw it standing near the parking lot where I had left it as we rushed out towards Fern Canyon - untouched. Elated, we flew through Newton B Drury Parkway towards the Klamath River estuary.

Two miles north of the town of Klamath, lookout for Requa Road towards the west. A 15 minute drive over a well-paved 4 mile stretch on Requa Road will take you to the Klamath River Overlook. The sight of the Klamath River meeting the Pacific is near the top of the list of the most impressive natural sights I have come across. The grandness of the confluence is inexplicable. We just stood there in awe for almost ten minutes, watching the golden rays of the setting sun caressing the sand-filled estuary. We could barely make out a few trucks near the confluence, so it should be possible to reach the mouth of the river. Due to the approaching twilight, we decided against it, and set out in search of a scenic beach instead, where we could anchor ourselves for what could be a spectacular summer sunset.

Looking at the very detailed Rand McNally Northern California map, we spotted a beach a few miles north of Klamath near Lagoon Creek which seemed to possess a few fairly large seastacks. We decided to give it a try, and as chance would have it, the beach was very impressive. Having decided that this would be our last stop before heading back to Eureka, we sat on the rocky seashore fascinated by the orange and purple of the summer sky.

By 9:30 pm we were cruising near Humboldt Bay at Trinidad, when the 4th of July fireworks at Eureka started reflecting off the Bay. It kept us company till we reached Eureka 15 minutes later. For what its worth, personally I felt that this was a better display than what we get at San Francisco, or maybe this was due to my unique vantage point. Back in downtown Eureka, we barely beat the crowds to dinner as they swarmed in through the narrow streets.

Friday, 5th July, 2002

The next morning, the plan was to discover downtown Eureka and its famous Victorian houses, and then drive down to the Victorian town of Ferndale in time for lunch. From there on, we planned to drive through the Avenue of the Giants (especially stopping at Founders Grove and the Rockefeller Forest), and finally make one last effort to soak in the view of the Lost Coast of California, before heading back to San Jose.

The plan went like clockwork for the first hour or so. Downtown Eureka had some really impressive Victorians, the biggest being the Carson Mansion, manor of the lumber baron William Carson. Be sure to visit this west-facing mansion in the evening, when sunlight hits the mansion itself and not your eyes. On the other hand, the smaller Pink Lady across the Carson Mansion willingly reflects the morning light. After the regulatory Been There Done That photo session, we were on our way to Ferndale.

Back on 101-South, on a whim we decided to visit the Humboldt Bay Wildlife Refuge, just south of Eureka. After promptly taking the exit towards Lolita, we made a complete northbound circle and emerged back on 101-North. Where was the refuge? After 2 more such iterations (I was high on patience for that day), we finally figured out the invisible fork in the Ranch Road off-ramp that took us into the Refuge. After all that effort, and after walking halfway through the 2 mile trail, we decided that it wasn't interesting enough, gave up, and continued back on 101-South. It was definitely not the best use of our time, and reinforced the fact that Refuges are best suited for wildlife, not photographers.

All this pointless excitement had us starving. So we decided to visit The Victorian Town of Ferndale [TM] to have lunch. There are very few places on the West Coast that could boast of a cute small-European-town feel, and Ferndale captures that feeling immaculately. And if you ever stop in Ferndale for lunch or dinner, I highly recommend Restaurant Matias. Run by a couple, the place was cozy, neat and served excellent Mexican cuisine. Energized, we hit the gas again and sped our way towards the Avenue of the Giants.

For a very touristy study of the Redwoods, head straight to the Founders Grove, where a 30 minute interpretive walk will let you explore the entire life cycle of the tallest living things on this planet. Here you can stand next to the Founders Tree which towers over you at 360 feet. You can walk through a redwood that has had its bark hollowed out due to a fire caused by a lightning strike. You could also wonder at the fallen Dyerville Giant, which used to be the tallest tree in the neighborhood. Since the roots of the redwood grow only a couple of feet deep, but almost 200 feet horizontally, they can easily get damaged by the hordes of tourists flocking to snap pictures below them. This has prompted the Park officials to keep the new tree height measurements a secret.

For a not so touristy study, but a much more awe-inspiring look at the Redwoods, you should take the detour to Rockefeller Forest, off on Mattole Road which loops back through the forest to Ferndale. This forest has the largest tract of old-growth redwoods in the region. Taste the deafening silence of any of its groves, and you would never want to go back to the irritating hum of computer equipment in your office cube. But we had to leave. In a last ditch effort to escape from reality, we wanted to take a detour to the mysterious Lost Coast of California.

The Lost Coast of California extends from the northwest edge of Mendocino County to just south of Ferndale in Humboldt County. Much of the area is preserved in the King Range Conservation Area and Sinkyone Wilderness State Park. This area is so remote that there is only one organized community near it: Shelter Cove. The rest of the conservation area is virtually uninhabited with the King Mountains sealing it off from the east. To reach this rugged coast, the easiest route is to take the Redwood Drive exit towards Garberville on Highway 101. After almost 22 miles of continuous climbs and drops over the multiple layers of the Kings Range, you eventually make one last climb to find 16 miles of breathtaking pristine coastline in front of your eyes. At the parking lot in Shelter Cove, we soaked in the calm for almost an hour till the sun disappeared below the ocean.

Tired, but mentally refreshed, we began the arduous task of driving back through the ranges in total darkness, till we reached the familiarity of traffic on 101. From then onwards, it was relentless driving southwards towards Marin county, through the Golden Gate bridge and the Presidio, to the cacophony of the Bay Area.