Exploring

California Road Trip 2016, Part 3

Lost Coast, Continued

We enjoyed a quiet night at Needle Rock.  After sitting around the fire and watching falling stars we called it a night and somewhere between then and the morning a rainstorm passed.  If it needs to rain, night is the perfect time, but I did get to wondering about the steep narrow windy road on the way out.  Before departing we checked out some of the history stored in the visitors museum.  It was quite amazing to see the amount of development from over a hundred years ago in what now appears to be nearly untouched wilderness. Before too long we packed up and headed south and were able to get out of the steep section without issue.  We were told that Usal road going south was closed for the season.  As we understood it Usal Road is even more interesting than some of the other roads we had already traversed and considering the rain we didn’t even check, we just headed inland to highway 101 and south to Leggett where we took highway 1 to the south end of Usal road.  Luckily we had stopped for fuel in Leggett and the attendant described the turnoff from highway 1 to Usal.  We never did see the ‘tiny’ sign he described but the rest of his information was enough to find the road with just barely missing it on our first pass.  From there we made our way north on Usal road for the few miles the road was open to Usal campground.

Usal Overlook
Usal Overlook

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California Road Trip 2016, Part 1

Did you know that this year if you (I) took off at Veterans Day and didn’t return to work until the end of the Thanksgiving weekend you (I) would only need to take 8 days off work?  That’s 17 days for the price of 8.  Sold!  We hit the road.  17 days and 16 nights on the road and in the camper.  But where to go?  How about south along the California coast, then loop back up north along a couple parks along the Sierra Nevada.  We were off on an epic trip, 2450 miles later we’re back home, here’s the story.

Up Early

We hit the road in the dark, how most good road trips start at least in my memory, and headed over the Cascades and on to the redwood coast.  One stop in Grants Pass at Ma Mosa’s for a stellar breakfast and then on to the redwoods down highway 199.  We were foiled last year on a quest to camp at Gold Bluffs Beach, due to what we were told was a landslide although we saw little evidence of anything that wouldn’t have been passable, but we weren’t turned around this year.  We quickly learned, don’t believe any sign you see (or book you read) in your travels, verify.  The road is closed, the campground is full, etc. no it isn’t, check it out for yourself.  We arrived just after noon, secured our site and headed to Fern Canyon.

Fern Canyon
Fern Canyon

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North Fork John Day, October 2016

Typically the last days of October are reserved for fishing, fishing and fishing.  Until this year October 31 was the last day to wet a line in most water bodies I frequent.  The combination of no more close to the season, a chest freezer full to the brim with kokanee, salmon, halibut and tuna, along with a weather forecast that wasn’t conducive to being in a boat on a high mountain lake led us in a different direction.  We headed to northeast Oregon for an extended weekend of exploring with a couple of potential hikes on our minds.

Last of the Fall, Blue Mountains, Oregon
Last of the Fall, Blue Mountains, Oregon

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