Avenue of the Giants

Avenue of the Giants, California

May 4 - May 10, 2025

We were happy to leave Clear Lake behind and head into the Redwoods State and National Parks. This part of 101 sometimes winds between Giant Redwoods right at the edge of the road!  Unlike Clear Lake, everything in the Redwoods is pristine. A nice change. We stayed at Ancient Trees RV Park in the midst of Humboldt Redwoods State Park. The camp hosts were incredible - always mowing, trimming, cleaning! Laundry room = 8.5 out of 10.

Our campsite was gorgeous with views of the redwoods right out our windshield front window. Neighbors were quiet and basically like us...old. Lots of dogs. Cool thing is - and we forgot to take pic of this - one couple had two cats who chilled outside in two net enclosures connected by a tube! Our neighbor also had a cat who was allowed to explore while hooked up the RV. We had to make sure we were not allowing animal outings at the same time as Klaus is a ferocious and skilled cat hunter. grrr ... someone got ahold of the keyboard.

In our tree bowl campsite we were able to have campfires again! As we get further north, the sunset comes later. It was very strange waiting till 8:30 to start the campfire and it wasn't fully dark till almost 9. By the time we get to Canada, sunset won't be until almost 10.

You know you're in Humboldt...

We are getting pretty good at getting everything set up after we land and try not to kill each other backing in/guiding in to our site. Every couple does this! It is basically gender based roles which Sue is embarrassed about -- (not driving the RV) but oh well. 

Is this the first RV?

After camp setup, we drove to the nearest Redwoods Park visitor center. They had the "Travel Log", a motor home built in 1917 by Charles Kellogg(1) fashioned out of a single hollowed out redwood log. (I had to put the Travel Log in our travelogue)

The first full day there, we hiked a few miles of the Lost Coast trail. This part started up  in the hills in the norther end of the trail and wound down to a pristine beach littered with driftwood. We then drove the Ferndale to Petrolia Road. An often one-lane road that winds for 30 miles with mountains, valleys, and coastal vistas. Very beautiful but also very long (read: tedious). It concluded with driving through the heart of Humboldt Redwoods State Park winding between old giants of this forest.

Lost Coast Trail Pano shot

National Parks generally do not allow dogs so Sue did several hikes alone while Denis was working. 

The trees go up forever!

Hiking in the Redwoods is interesting as everything basically looks the same. But it's all gorgeous.  /Did she get lost in a loop? Yes. But the signage was shit.  First banana slug sighting! She also went to the Cal Poly Humboldt Campus to visit the Natural History Museum. All due respect but it was the size of our living room. It only cost $6 tho! Then to Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary. That was pretty cool. It had a guided path demonstrating local plant and birdlife. Halfway through there was a hobo lying across the path. :(   The Humboldt Coastal Nature Center was cool as it Sue's was the only car in the parking lot. This is not uncommon. 

Dogs frolicking on Lost Coast

Another day trip took to her Ferndale an historic Victorian town. It was super cute. This was right after she hiked in Ross Park. Sue had carefully packed her backpack: (Sierra Club Wilderness Basics "ten essentials" this is stuff like compass, emergency blanket, whistle, headlamp and batteries, snack, water, signal mirror, etc. plus dog water, dog bowl. She left it at home! So dogs were happy to come across communal dog water bowls. 

At least they have a food court?

A few day trips to the town of Eureka which has a Walmart that shares a mall with the DMV! This blows the mind! We have seen many storefront DMVs but not yet one in a mall! 

Food: we made a nice ground pork green bean and shiitake mushroom stir fry. We also had Japanese Curry, grilled mini-ribeyes, and other decent fare. Our only outing for dinner was to the  famous Lost Coast Brewery for a Brewbin sandwich and Ahi salad.

Bro!

Driftwood "skeletons" are all over

Denis took Friday off so we took a long drive to the official Redwood National and State Parks!(3). This was cool as we had our first Elk sighting! We went to Gold Bluffs beach for a little off leash Poodle action. There is nothing happier than a prancing Poodle kicking his heels up on the beach.

Miles and miles of empty beach!

Murray rejecting Klaus' Pawcation Request

During this week Murray had a lot of paperwork to go through. He worked diligently for about 18 minutes per day which for a dog is full-time. Klaus does his best to assist but Murray commented it's like asking a baby to play a violin. 

Tick on Sue's shoe

Sue is a bit obsessed with ticks. She checks the dogs after every hike. Hasn't found one on them yet but she one on herself in Pismo and one on her shoe in the Redwoods. They are dog ticks. The dogs repel them cause they are on flea and tick meds. Hmmm...should Sue explore ...?

Next Week we'll be on the Oregon coast!

Here is a Photo dump.

So Many trees!

Elk in a field! Well, right next to a house actually. But cool!

Famous Ma-le'l Dunes

When you are doing a long walk on the beach with only one exit you make yourself an arrow from sand crab corpses. 

More Valella Valella. Incorrectly listed as Varella Varella in our Pismo post. 

Seal made of cigarette butts. Saw a few of these. 

Earth House at Humboldt Coast Nature Center

lil' Banana Slug

Redwoods view from our front window. 

Lots of bridges like this 

So many lovely wildflowers. 

Along with lots and lots of cows (see pic below ) spotted this little cutie on way to Ferndale. 

The Stamps' Earthhouse

Redwood cones are tiny!

Footnotes

(1) Charles Kellogg apparently was Born with an “unusual larynx,” with a 12-octave vocal range, and could sing so high it was inaudible to human ears. He was also a best selling recording artist for his bird sounds recordings.

(2) Earth Homes are houses with earth surrounding the walls or buried underground. They use the Earth's insulating properties to maintain a consistent temperature, reducing energy costs.

(3) Redwoods National and State Parks is not a single place but a collection of state and national parks. We were able to use our National Parks pass in the state parks as well.