reached out and caught some in my hand, and they did not melt, but stayed there like small basra pearls. So I suddenly had incentive to go for the lecture. Imagine then, an absolutely deserted street, dark skies, and the orange glow of sodium-vapour lamps with three figures walking hurriedly in the silence. Beautiful! And the next day, the sun was out! but the ice had not melted, and the whole world was sparkling.Got back on the 30th, spent New Year’s with Kenny and Diane (so nice- had fun, fun, fun). Am now curled up on my sofa with a pot of black-tea-and-lavender. Today is a relatively warm day (5 °C), so I have all the windows of my house wide open. And am playing Farida Khanum on my comp as I write. Can life be more perfect? But now of my holiday:
When and where:
Went to say hello to the redwood forests along the North California coast. I was out from the 22nd to the 30th of December.
People I met:
Ernie: driver of the Redwood Coast Transit Buses. He took me to the hostel and by a lovely coincidence, brought me back to Arcata. Stops when he drops people off at lonely places till someone comes to pick them up. Also stopped to show me some elk grazing in a clearing. Plays Christmas songs full volume and sings along.
barbonthebeach: Pharmacist. Distils her own medicines and cleaning agents. Got the NPS to allow alternative cleaning agents as long as they are proven effective. Arranged a ride for me which made it possible for me to see the old growth forests
Katherine and Kristina: mother-daughter pair. Take a holiday together once a year. Missed home. Spoke lots to them
Gary: met him on the Arcata-Klamath route. Absolutely fun person. Was going to Klamath to meet family for Christmas, and looking forward to living it up at Crescent City later. He took as much delight in my reaction to the first views of the coast as I did in the views themselves. Is a sufferer of something I am not sure of, so he needs to walk on crutches and has a problem with fine motor skills, but still absolutely independent. I had fun travelling with him.
Nice Iranian-Indian: Lived in Camp, Pune! Still has friends there! Is Irani, but thinks of India as home after spending all his life there. Now in Iran with family.
The Forests:
I am not quite sure I have taken them in yet. I knew they are huge, but so much! In some of my photos you can see them towering over the ferns. Well, those are sword ferns and they are 5’ tall! The forests are quiet, and old, and lovely. Once you enter, the world is made of myriad shades of red and green, with the sky a unobtrusive, pale grey. The floor is composed of a thick layer of fallen leaves so it is coloured a lovely, deep rust and one’s footsteps are deadened. The air smells like the loveliest compost. The only sounds are the occasional gurgle of a stream somewhere.
But those were the redwoods. Also spent some time walking along the coast. Here the trees are different. Some conifers (pine?) and lots and lots of mosses. Grasses along the coast. And wild flowers- Hayflowers, False-lily-of-the-valley, blackberry. Mushrooms- bracket fungi, lovely amber fungi with tasselled ends, white mushrooms with oval cups looking like a clutch of eggs out on a hike, brown mushrooms so delicate that i was afraid to breathe near them, fat cream mushrooms begging for a resident pixie. You see, of course, from my extremely scientific description why i do not pick and eat mushrooms.
Walking was nice. I was usually alone, except for passing people on popular routes, and when I went to the Stout Grove, I went with two other women. I saw two days of sunshine, one of hail (!! So pretty!) and two of rain. Was out on all those days.
I saw elk. Of the birds, brown pelicans, herring gulls, a poor dead western grebe. I still need to identify some brown birds that would accompany me on my hikes. A lot like the Indian robin, but smaller and rounder. They were in the undergrowth along the coast. I came across an owl on the highway. Mottled shades of brown, approximately 20 cm length. It was run over, poor thing, and I was too squeamish to turn it over to look at the face.
The sea:
I spent perhaps more time looking out on to the sea than in the forest. My favourite walk took me along a cliff facing the sea. At one point, there was a bench where I would have lunch- a granola bar and a swig of water- and look at the sea.
I just had to cross the road to get to a beach- the False Klamath cove. 150-200 metres south along the highway, and I would come across the Lagoon creek beach. This was perhaps my favourite. The parking was a little far away, so fewer people came here. It had huge logs on it and I could happily sit on them and just look. And of course, there was Hidden Beach. One goes down a steep trail and comes across the tiniest little toy beach. It is not more than a hundred metres in length and 10-15 metres across at high tide. And it is absolutely filled with driftwood- huge logs, tiny twigs, and one lonely slipper. It is not just possible, but necessary to walk the length of the beach without once touching the ground.
One thing I missed was wildlife. At home, the beaches are filled with things- starfish, the occasional washed up fish or seasnake, sea anemones, sandworms, ghost crabs, pea crabs, one’s toes are kissed by fish if one is lucky, mussels, other bivalves, those funny little univalves that are black and white and leave trails along the sand, jewel-like little univalves in every colour of the rainbow, gulls, terns, fishing eagles, crows. Here, some of the rocks had acorn barnacles and two types of seaweed, but I didn’t see anything else. And oh, there were a couple of gulls and I saw a grebe. Is it natural for shores so far north, or is it a sign of pollution or something?
The travel bit:
I greyhounded all the way. It was interesting, because I was missing my sis, who likes the idea of taking the bus across the states, and I was wondering what she would say if she saw it as I did the first time. It was a bad time to travel, what with the snow in the North, and the Christmas rush.
Kipling had written that India is the only truly democratic country in the world and it is when I was sitting there that i realised just what he meant. In India, everyone travels by bus. Ok, so there are state buses and private carriers, and some people do drive between cities. But when in a bus-stand, there is enough of a cross-section of society so that one feels at home whether a pilgrim, or a business traveller. There is also more of a struggle, perhaps, but less animosity. Or maybe i just feel like that because that is home. Here it was different. Atleast on the routes between cities (Seattle-Sacramento) there were far too many combat outfits, and vacant gazes, and swearing. It wasn’t directed, and that’s probably just a style of speaking, but I was tired, and the bus was delayed by 4 hours, and i was going to miss my connections. So i was not very comfortable there.
But, yes, I did make my connections, and the last-but-one was especially interesting. There is only one bus every evening from Oakland to Arcata, and if i didn’t catch it, i would need to stay one night in heaven-knows-where, forfeit my booked room at Arcata, AND miss one day in the forest. I said as much to the driver, and he took it as a personal quest. We took the backroads through Davis to miss a traffic jam, and everyone cheered when he confirmed that the Arcata bus was waiting for me!
A day in the life of CVL, with a description of where she stayed:
I lived at the Redwoods hostel, which is on the beach, in the forest, and close to most of the National and State parks. When it comes to location, this is king! The hostel is also great when it comes to liveability- absolutely clean (barefoot in the bathroom standards), absolutely charming. Run by Kaci and Barb, who are a great deal of fun and very resourceful. And no, they have not bribed me to ensure a favourable review.
Like most hostels, it has a great sense of community, and this has the added advantage of having the loveliest living room to be social in. Huge sofas to curl up in, a fireplace with a stone hearth, more travel books than one can possibly read, a book swap, and a fully stocked kitchen. Most of the other travellers were families on vacation, so that at one time there were far too many children running along. But other than that, it was Fun!
I took my food with me, and they have condiments and things galore, so people would actually come sniffing around my oatmeal and instant noodles- “ooh you are cooking up a storm here!” The dorms are smallish-sleeping six, and so quite nice. And clean, clean, clean.
I would get up around 7.30, make my oatmeal and tea and eat it looking at the sea. Then off I go! I would be back around four, dry up a little, make some more tea and out to the beach for the sunset! Back around six, bathe, and select a book for the evening. Spend all evening drinking herbal tea and reading, with a short break for dinner and back to bed. Is that not a nice routine? I only changed it once when I caught the bus to Crescent city. Ostensibly my trip was for sightseeing, but actually I wanted to eat some food that did not come out of a can. I actually walked 1.5 miles one way in the rain and freezing cold for a bit of grilled cod. Was it worth it? Yesh.
Travel moments:
