Finally, my various obligations have been handled, and it’s time to get away!
Monday (Aug 17)
Except for the very tiresome 20 minute road repair stoppage in the 95° sun south of Susanville, it was an easy drive to a new campground for me – Hat Creek. I have camped on Hat Creek many times, but at other campgrounds, usually Cave CG, since it’s the only one open October – May.
WHUFU page for: Hat Creek Campground
Finally stayed here, after driving by so many times! So far, I like Cave CG better, but it's quiet and big enough to find an uncrowded spot, and Hat Creek is perhaps even more awesome here!
tonight:
Finally stayed here, after driving by so many times! So far, I like Cave CG better, but it's quiet and big enough to find an uncrowded spot, and Hat Creek is perhaps even more awesome here!
Very quiet. The road seems to angle away a bit, I am in a flat little valley with the river 100 yards behind me, and a little ridge in front of me, which hides some of the road noise. In fact, there is not much road noise. There has not been a single vehicle drive past my spot since I got here, really not much activity at all, despite the fact that there are a quite number of RVs around the edge of the clearing. I’m guessing everybody’s fishing till sunset.
Really a cool place. Not as woodsy as Cave. Other side of the creek is a nice meadow, a little hill one could hike up for a nice vista and sunset. All of it is that strange recent lava flow terrain, where the violence of its creation seems just days ago.
Tuesday
38° last night around sunrise. 97° at noon. Now I know why all the campers are clustered in a little ghetto, because that’s where the daytime shade is. My spot is becoming unbearably hot, so I secure my gear enough to drive around the corner for a shady spot to finish out the morning. Worked great! I got another hour or so of pleasant existence in this beautiful place before I descended into the hot box of the Central Valley.
Redding is seasonally hot – nothing special, just 104° or so. I kind of want to go to In’nOut, but I don’t want to leave the van in that giant blacktop hell of a shopping area to soak up radiant heat for a half hour. So, I blast straight on through to Brew (alliteration!). After caffeination I execute a back alley pickup of a roast beef sando at the Sandwichery, and I’m good to go for the evening.
It’s still 102° 60 miles on from Redding, and the light haze of forest fire smoke is getting pretty thick and bad.
I drive past good ole Pigeon Point, with the idea of finally staying at Hayden Flats. But when I get there and pull into the campground I start to get the feeling that this isn’t going to happen. I’m sitting at a picnic table in the downhill, river view part of the campground, thinking about my options when a fire truck does a drive-thru. I flag him down, here is our conversation:
He says the fire is “just over there”.
me: Should I stay here?
him: “I wouldn’t”.
me: Will the fire close 299?
him: eloquent shrug.
I’m getting out of here!
For future reference there are a couple of real sweet sites, with their picnic tables looking right at the river, but … it’s about 50′ above the river, accessible by a rocky, dusty trail at the far end of the campground. So it’s a significant little jaunt from site to river. All in all, Pigeon Point is better I think.
Wednesday – Saturday
So I’m in Eureka a day early, but all is well with the family. Martha is making her yummy enchiladas, Rylan is noticeably more mobile and talkative than two months ago.
Both grown-ups have very busy days, and Tyler is old enough that he has friends in the neighborhood and sort of auto-maintains, so I am on my own in the daytime of my days here. As at home, sigh, I tend to sleep through the morning, having coffee in the early afternoon. Here that means Katie’s place, Because Coffee.
Wednesday evening I took Tyler to the Adorno Center, Eureka’s very pleasant free public gym down by the Harbor. We had fun and I shot baskets, which I haven’t done for months(!) and I got much needed exercise.
Thursday we went out for ice cream and discovered a rock concert down the harbor in a big parking lot in front of the new restaurant Jack’s. I went back later and had a very pleasant beer at the Shanty for old time’s sake.
Friday we all packed in the minivan and went to Trinidad for burgers at the Lighthouse Grill then the beach. Very nice, the perfect place for energetic little kids to burn off energy.
Saturday
Outside the Eureka homestead was very crowded this morning. Brian (another grandpa) arrived at 10, so we juggled 4 vehicles for the few hours until I left .. which I did around noon. I thought I slept well enough last night, but I am very tired now. Actually visiting people, being a good guest, does wear one out. Pull off on that long straightaway at Freshwater Lagoon for a little chill time, stop at McD’s in Crescent City for a fish sando and wifi, then on to Brookings. It’s still middle of the afternoon, so I hang out in the harbor for an hour before heading up the Chetco River.