# Northern Calfornia.



## Herbicidal (Aug 29, 2003)

We're off to Prairie Creek State Park tomorrow morning bright and early. I figure it will be about an 8 hour drive including stops. This is one of my all time favorite campgrounds. In fact, I have been camping here for over 40 years!!! Also, before I was born, my father worked a summer here as a reclamation engineer&#8230;errr&#8230;.garbage man while going to school at Humboldt state.

This will be our first time here with the Outback. Last time we were here we had a Starcraft tent trailer.







This state park is now on site specific reservations through Reserve America. However, there are relatively few sites that will accommodate our 26' Outback. Folks with smaller trailers will have more choices. Chances are real good we'll see some Roosevelt Elk out on the "prairie" next to the campground. There are many excellent hiking trails amongst the towering Redwoods. Boy, do they make you feel small. Fern Canyone is not to be missed either! In fact, one of the scenes in a Star Wars movie was filmed in this canyon.

On Saturday, we'll be driving up to Gold Beach, Oregon to ride the Rogue River Mail jet boats. We have reservations for the 4 of us on the noon ride. It will be about four hours round trip on the Rogue River. Then we head back home on Sunday.

Man, where has the summer gone?







The wife and kids are back in school on August 21st. Be safe everyone!


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## 4ME (Sep 11, 2006)

Have a Blast!
I wish I was going!


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

Have a great time and bring back pictures!!! One of these years I'll get out to that area.


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## h2oman (Nov 17, 2005)

Rogue River Jet Boasts are a blast. Great Brewing Company there too. Have fun and post pics.

John


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## Chabbie1 (Dec 3, 2006)

Herbicidal,
Hope you have a great time. We are leaving on Sun morning for Fort Bragg, MacKerricher State Park. (not quite as far north as you will be) 
We are also dreading going back to school on the 21st.
Happy Camping


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## Herbicidal (Aug 29, 2003)

Thanks everyone! I'll post some pictures upon our return. Have a safe trip Chabbie1 and have fun! I love that area of the coast too. My grandfather used to live in Albion.


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## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

Have a fun and safe trip








I'm looking forward to some stories and photos!

I've lived in California all my life and have never been to the Redwoods...shame on me


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Have a GREAT trip....and welcome to Oregon.


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## pjb2cool (Apr 8, 2004)

Herbicidal said:


> Thanks everyone! I'll post some pictures upon our return.


 I hope you have a blast, and look forward to your pictures


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## Scrib (Jun 28, 2005)

That's going to be a great time! I love it up there - especially when it's 90-something-degrees down here in San Jose. We were at Jed Smith SP last summer and saw 5 Bulls one morning.

Have fun!







(I just wanted to use this smiley)


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## the eubies (Sep 7, 2006)

The Jet boats are a blast. We absolutely love the redwoods. Camp there as often as we can.

Have a great time.


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## Herbicidal (Aug 29, 2003)

Hello everyone!

We made it back safely and without incident. Whew! We arrived at Prairie Creek State Park around 2:30 pm this past Wednesday and setup camp. I was pleasantly surprised with our site. I had not camped in this section of the campground before. Site # 62 is on the inside of a loop, so to have our door open toward the site I had to drive in the wrong way. Oh well. It worked out great! We ended up with a water faucet right next to us which made for an easy fill up. The campground has many trails of varying lengths that are perfect for easy hikes amongst the Redwoods. The whole place was just 'dripping' in green. Beautiful! Some mornings there was fog and other's the day started out perfectly clear.

On Thursday we drove over to Fern Canyon and did the short hike. It's a gorgeous place! On the drive over we saw numerous Roosevelt Elk. The boys still had some velvet hanging off their antlers. Later, we played at a nearby beach. There were numerous seals swimming right next to the shore catching fish. We even saw a whale breaching and splashing a ways out in the ocean. I thought it was totally the wrong time of year, but there was one out there. I don't know what kind, however.

On Friday we drove about 20 miles north on hwy 101 to the Trees of Mystery. It kinda looks like a tourist trap (nice and clean, however), but in fact, we had a good time there. After paying the entrance fee, you can walk on various trails through this privately owned property. There is information about some of the unusual trees growing here. There is also a 6 person tram called the Sky Trail that takes you on about a 7 minute ride to a ridge top with an elevated viewing platform. From here you can see the ocean and in the opposite direction a tall tree off in the distance with an Osprey's nest, complete with Osprey. You can either walk a trail back down or just hop back on the tram.

On Saturday we drove up to Gold Beach Oregon for the Mail Boat jet boat ride based at the mouth of the Rogue River. This was a four hour, 80 mile round trip with a 25 minute break near the middle of the trip. We had a blast! Our guide was very knowledgeable about the river, animals, trees and points of interest. The jet boat has 3 motors totaling just over 1,000 hp!!! It can get up and move! Our guide did numerous 180 - 360 degree 'spins' with the boat which entertained everyone. We saw quite a few Osprey, a family of river otters and two Bald Eagles. There was a second boat that traveled with us and that driver threw out a fish and one of the Bald Eagles flew down from the nest and snatched it from the water right in front of us! Very cool! I did not get a picture to post as I was taking video at the time. We blasted up rapids and sometimes he would turn the boat around and take us back down then do a spin and shoot us back up. Just about everyone ended up wet at one time or another. Good times! The kids really enjoyed the wild ride. Four hours was pretty much the perfect length of time.

Sunday we slept in a little bit, packed up and headed for home. We rolled in around 8:30 pm and pretty much unpacked nothing. I did unhitch the trailer so I wouldn't have to take it to work in the morning.

Pictures are *here*. Enjoy!


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## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

Hi Herb!

It looks like you had a wonderful time! Your photos are both beautiful and amazing! 
Now I really have to get up there to see it for myself.
Thank you so much for sharing your photos and welcome home!


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

The pictures from Prairie Creek are great....makes me want to head down there someday.


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## Herbicidal (Aug 29, 2003)

Thanks Dawn and Jim, glad I could share. I've been camping there for over 40 years now and it feels like coming home everytime I go. The 'old growth' forests in that area are really something else to walk through. Truely a special place for me.


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## Mgonzo2u (Aug 3, 2004)

Looks like a great time was had in a beautiful location.

Great pics.


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