Newton Drury Scenic Highway and ELK!

Hi, everybody! We are at Sounds of the Sea RV park, 5 miles north of Trinidad CA, just off highway 101. Well, it's not quite the ocean view we had in mind. The website is probably deliberately vague on their descriptions of what the actual campground looks like. It's  not on the ocean side as the photos would have you believe. When checking out the website, it seems as if it is, but the descriptions never quite say that. The campground is on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean through a dense canopy of big spruces, hemlocks and other greenery. You can barely see the ocean. If you want to get to the beach, you have to walk at least 20 min. to get there, or drive to several different ones. There are PLENTY of beaches here, they're just not accessible at this park. Phooey! But wait till you see what you can see if you don't mind driving about 10-20-45 minutes! Plenty of hiking trails, some biking trails, so Sparky is a happy camper! Our first scenic drive, here it comes........

If you drive about a half an hour north of Sounds of the Sea RV Park (which is 5 miles north of Trinidad, CA) off Highway 101, there is a scenic drive called the Newton Drury Scenic Highway. All along this drive are the California redwoods--grove after grove after grove. Humboldt County, where we are located at the moment, is home to the tallest and largest stands of old growth redwoods. You've got the Redwood National and State Parks, AND Humboldt Redwoods State Park. And all these parks have hiking trails that  go back into the deep woods with beautiful ferns, mosses and trillium surrounding you....We checked out a couple of those trails today just to see the gigantic and majestic redwoods. We even rode our bikes for a little bit to check out one of the trails. It was like being in Jurassic Park, the mosses coating and covering the vines and branches of lower trees, huge ferns growing underneath the trees, and lush greenery everywhere you look...We also checked some of the overlooks on the coast as well, in hopes of seeing some more whales on a calmer day. No luck with whales at the Requa Road vista overlook off highway 101, which was recommended in this area for some good whale watching. Beautiful scenery, however on the trails in the woods and the scenic drive....

WOW! You just can't capture the humongous stature of these trees in a photo.....Wish we could! The height and girth of these trees are jaw dropping! The biggest redwoods are in Redwood National and State Parks, and Humboldt Redwoods State Park, as I mentioned. The Newton Drury Scenic Parkway takes you through the heart of the redwoods. It's a beautiful  ten mile drive. This drive is just north of Orick and rivals the Avenue of the Giants for tremendous redwoods. (Avenue of the Giants--a tourist destination of humongous redwoods) is quite a bit further south on 101.) We bypassed it on our way here. Today we saw mammoth trees named Big Tree and Corkscrew, which was a twisting, gnarled big redwood that you could climb inside the middle of as it twists around.

We saw half-ton Roosevelt elk in meadows along the way as well! I think the elk were just as big a thrill as seeing the giant California redwoods. They were HUGE! Sometimes they were by themselves, sometimes they were in herds of 20 or more.....

We saw big herds of elk on our way BACK on highway 101....Unlike other reclusive animals, elk like to be out in meadows in the daytime, grazing or resting while their stomachs digest.

Here's a big dude.....We aren't quite sure why he still has a mature rack, but maybe he hasn't lost it yet. They usually shed their antlers in late winter and start growing new ones in the spring....

By the end of our scenic drive, we were in Klamath, a town that has the distinction of having the Tour-Thru Tree...you can drive your car through the heart of a redwood tree--just barely! The tree is 735 years old, and some time ago was scarred by fire. The tunnel through the tree was made in May, 1976, and for five bucks, you can drive your car through it in about ten seconds. We saw the sign  as we were driving so we just had to stop and check it out! We had to put in our side mirrors on the car just to be sure. What a thrill! (Uh, we've had lots bigger thrills, Sparky!)  Yes, we have, dear.....but it was still fun....

Our little Honda CRV made it thru ok....We'll leave you with some of our views from various outlooks off highway 101....

Love the papery thin blossoms with the veins showing through...we saw these on our walks through paths to the local beaches and vista points along highway 101. And here's the pounding surf......

 We'll see what we can find tomorrow..it's been a spectacular visit so far!