Long day today but worth the time. After spending more time walking in Jedediah Smith Redwoods we headed south on Route 101, the Redwood Highway, to intersect with the Newton Drury Scenic Road. We had stopped in Klamath at a ranger station to clarify the meaning of "no trailers on this road". No one there and the three rangers took a lot of time explaining why no trailers on unmaintained pothole back roads. They did point out several they felt the TC could handle without rocking so much it tore the cabinets out of the wall. Someone recently tried to sue the NFS for rough roads, hopefully not a TCer.
Newton Drury road goes right through a redwood forest for miles with many turnouts and trails to walk. We were mostly all alone walking through these giants, with only bird calls and the sound of dripping water around us.
Stoppepd and saw the biggest redwood named Big Tree - Diameter 21 1/2 feet, 304 feet tall and 1500 years old. Lunch was enjoyed while watching a herd of elk grazing.
Back on Route 101 we drove just about straight up to the Lady Bird Johnson redwood area. I think the grade was about 15% or so it felt and no good place to park at the top so we just pulled into a grass area and took a short walk.
Beaches everywhere on 101 as we continued south. We really enjoyed the sand at Clam Beach since it was the closest we'd seen to Northeastern sand beaches. No we didn't try to dig clams.
Finally cut east headed in the general direction of Yosemite. I'd already called and there are no reservations to be had there except first come but we are going to try it anyway. Route 299 is another mountain, twisty, turny, up, down, sideways road with log trucks and terrified drivers. Again, fabulous scenery but if you get carsick, don't go there. Not many places to cut east/west in northern CA which is similar to ME/NH/VT. Took hours to go from Blue Lake to just before Whiskeyville. We're "camped" or should I say parked in the Oak Creek National campground RV section. It consists of nine spots lined out on the edge of a huge paved parking lot where the boaters put their trucks and boat trailers. Hey - it was $7.00, we couldn't have driven any further and it's clean and quiet. Joe just finished cooking a steak and all is right with the world.
Tomorrow, we head towards Yosemite.
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June 18 - Whiskeytown to Jackson, CA
Did you all hear me screaming today? Oh Reddog1, you live in this general area. How on earth do you travel these roads all the time. These are the tightest, steepest, closest together curves we've traveled in almost 5,500 miles.
First group came south of Auburn, CA on Route 49/193. If we were to get carsick this would have done it. However..... once we got on Route 89 there were a series that made Route 49 look like a straight away. Hats off to any of you who travel these roads as a commute.
Today was a travel day, planned as such. We are headed to Yosemite and have reservations for Friday and Saturday night. Figured we'd get a good part of the mileage done today.
Now I can understand why so much of CA burns often. All along our route today we saw vast fields of dry grass that had to be knee high.
Folks we talked to said they hadn't had a bad grass fire for 30 years, that most of the big fires are south of here. No idea how a fire here would ever be stopped as the dry grass goes for endless miles.
Tonight we splurged especially after our $7 asphalt campsite last night. We are in "Jackson Rancheria RV Park" in Jackson, CA. Plush, not expensive but we are the only TC here. Lots of those huge bus sizes, 5th wheels and a few travel trailers. The RV Park has a mandated black water dump as you enter. They do it and give you a bio friendly black tank treatment bottle. We're going to take the shuttle bus over to the casino and watch people throw money away. Good chance to catch up on TC chores and, since it is 94F degrees, we're going to enjoy the electricity tonight with AC.
Tomorrow - on to Yosemite where we will take the TC off and enjoy exploring for a couple of days.
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