We took off on a journey of exploration today by driving south on 101 from our spot on the Klamath River with our first pull off just a couple miles south where we took the ramp that leads to the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway. Newton must have had some problems because it was closed. We knew the Parkway had a southern component so we hopped back on 101 south down to Prairie Creek Redwoods SP where we should have been able to get at the southern portion of this scenic road. It was closed.
In Prairie Creek we did run across a pretty good size elk herd with a couple 4-point bulls, some forked horns and some spikes along with about 30 cows. They were calmly browsing around in the field adjacent to the highway. We also spotted a few deer lurking in the same area.
After lingering at Prairie Creek for a while we got back on 101 south and went down to the Lagoons a bit south of Ophir. The Lagoons are big freshwater ponds trapped behind sand bars with the furious Pacific on the other side. We spotted some birds and some big waves here but not much else. We headed back north to the Klamath River where we took Klamath Beach Road back toward our camp spot but we ended up hooking a left onto Alder Camp Road. This road takes you on a stunning drive through a stand of coastal redwoods and some magnificent but terribly steep canyons before turning north onto a one-way gravel road that runs from Alder Camp initially to the High Bluff Overlook which, strangely, is an overlook where you can spot a high bluff of rock that drops a long way directly into the waves. We got out of Charlotte and did a little hiking here to check out the coastal views and we were rewarded with some amazing views of the tortured Pacific trying to erode the land. It looks like the Pacific will ultimately win.
Leaving the overlook, we again headed north down the one-lane road to a gravel turnout on the side of the road where the coastline north of the Klamath River, the River and the headlands south of the River are all visible and they make for a stunning view. After getting out the binoculars we were able to spot a road running alongside the north bank of the Klamath so we went on a hunt for it. We got on 101 north across the Klamath River, past the Indian…uuuhh, scratch that…Native American casino and kept going until we turned west on Requa Road. We followed Requa until we emerged high above the beach and River looking south down the spectacular coastline. I’m not a good surf height estimator but I would surmise the waves breaking along both sides of the outlet of the Klamath were around 25 feet. This part of the world is full of absolutely magnificent scenery. During the last 40 years or so I have driven through this area maybe 40 times but I never had the time to pull off and enjoy the scenery on the side roads. I was stupid.
We got some pix today which you can see if you click here