March 21, 2026 - Go to Bandon

 

Title: March  21, 2026 - Go to Bandon
Hike Info : Description : Background : Extra Photo's : Flowers and Plants

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking  : Car 

Trail head: Howland Hill Road

Trail: Grove of the Titans

Destination: Grove of the Titans

Distance:  3.17  miles

Start Time: 12:16

End Time:    2:11

Travel Time: 1:55  (1.66 mph)

Moving Time: 1:40   (1.90 mph)

Elevation Rise:  381'

Descent: 405‘

Maximum Elevation: 431'

Minimum Elevation: 235'

GPS Tracks

Description:

Trail of the Titans

 

I woke up at 7:00 and had my breakfast. We are leaving David’s today to go up and meet Andrea and Lawrence in Bandon. Once Sherri got up, I got packed. Sherri did the same. This has been a short visit with my brother, but I enjoy being with him whether it is a short or longer visit.

About 9:40 we left David’s with me driving-that will be true all of today. We went straight up 101 without incident. After crossing the Klamath, we get about $30 of gas at Pem-Mey a Yurok tribe gas station. The thought is that we have not gotten gas since Elk Grove and I do not want to run out when we go to our next stop. As it turned out, that would not have happened. Still I would rather have that extra insurance.

Both David and Andrea had told us about a place called the Grove of the Titans. It is part of Jedediah Smith State Park. To get to it, we cut off before Crescent City and eventually end up on a dirt road called Howland Hill Road. This is mostly a dirt road. After the initial half of a mile of climbing, we start being gobsmacked with redwoods surrounding us. There is some sort of run going on today as there is a sign saying watch for runners on the road.

Forest and Ferns

I had seen that there was another trail called the Boy Scout Tree Trail. It looks like it is a 5+ mile trail. I also saw that until the end of May only a mile of it is open. There are a few cars parked there. Andrea noted that she and Lawrence did hike it several years ago and it was an OK walk.

We went on. About a half of a mile later we find lots of cars parked. This must be it. We found a slot to park the Highlander in and get out and start walking. The trail is only about a mile or so with lots of boardwalk.^* We decided not to put on our boots and just hike in our tennis shoes. This was not a mistake.

A docent is at the entrance and she gives us an overview. Apparently not only is this the trail for the Titans, but also goes along Mill Creek. As popular as it is, I was expecting a nice little gentle trail. While not steep, it did rise up pretty good. But the trail was kind; it was not challenging, just more than we were expecting. There was a bit of lushness to the walk. Not only redwoods provide overhead, but there are also lots of ferns and greenery. About mid-trail, the trail starts to descend. We come to the bottom and there is a downed redwood which you walk single file by. Beautiful. All along, we go over a wire grate boardwalk when it passes over sensitive areas. Now that we are on the bottom, the trail is completely boardwalked.

 

Mill Creek

We then reach the Grove of the Titans to find a crowd of people. The Titans are awesome even with the lack of solitude.. The docent said that the tallest is over 300’ tall and 1500-2000 years old. While the height is impressive, the age is a youngster next to some of the Gigantia we are used to. We hang around there for a while and the groups disappear. The true magnificence of the Grove appears when we are alone. There is a peace which seems to descend on the Grove when us humans disappear from the area. We just stand there, enjoying the light and silence. After about ten minutes others come along and we leave.

When we leave, we go a short way along the Mill Creek Trail until we come to the actual creek. We decided we did not want to turn this two mile round trip into a six mile journey. So we head back. Along the way, we pass several school age groups led by Titaneers-trail docents. As we pass one group, Ferne-a docent-asks what did we like about the time. Of course the trees and plant life were favorites. I say the trail is what I really appreciated, along with the redwoods. She was really struck that someone noticed the trail. She said that it was created four years ago, mostly with volunteer help. People would walk in the grates and equipment. I am very much impressed by the amount of work this entailed.

Sherri at the end of the Trail

We made it back to the car around 2:10 and continued down Howland Hill Road until we hit Highway 199.There we turned west and shortly hit Highway 197. This leads us back to 101 shortly before the Oregon border. Sherri is able to get some sleep while I drive. It really seems longer than the 90 miles from the border to Bandon. But there are a lot of curves and turns to navigate. It is a pleasurable drive. Since we did not have lunch, Sherri and I munch on almonds and Catalina Crunch like we did yesterday.

We get to Bandon and our, or should I say Lawrence and Andrea’s, BnB about 5:00pm. Once we figured out which building, we quickly got in and got most of our stuff unloaded. Lawrence and Andrea come up about 5:30 and we unload them as well as it was starting to rain. I for one am pretty tired and I vegetate for a good hour. We have my homemade lasagna for dinner. Then talk until 9:00 when we go to bed.

Background

*Trail of the Titans. In reality, the trail is a little over a mile and a half

Extra Photo's

Shadow and Mosses

Unnamed creek behind the Titan Grove

Titans

Moss

Burl making a face

Sherri on the Trail of the Titans

Trail in the Grove of the Titans

 
Flowers and Plants

Trillium

July 19, 2021 - Park Ridge Lookout

 

Title: July 19, 2021 - Park Ridge Lookout
Hike Info : Description : Background :: Extra Photo's 

Hike Info:

Type: Lookout

 

Sun and Cloud patterns on the ground

Description:

Woke up at 0540. Turns out that today will be like the Chicago song, Thunder and Lightning. Did the lightning report. Much easier with a good WiFi connection, unlike last week at a hotel. LAL=3, which means there will be significant lightning happening. I also had a text conversation with Kathy about clouds forming and the possibility of lightning.

I was able to go for a twenty minute walk just up the road and around. By the time I get back, it is 0750. At 0800, we go into service with Porterville-the Hume Lake Ranger District is on extended hours-seems like we are getting a lot of that this Summer. Both Delilah and Buck Rock

Water Dog

go in-service shortly after we do. Oatmeal is breakfast this morning-I think I made too much.

At 0814, I get the first lightning text alert from the vendor which I do my lightning report from-this is for Buck Rock. Ten minutes later, there is some lighting around Stoney Creek. So Park Ridge Lookout gets an alert as well. Buck Rock kicks in with a weather report of some precip and sounds of thunder from the Shell Mountain area. Shortly afterwards, we started seeing flashes around Shell Mountain. Then beyond Big Baldy we see some flashes-looking at a lightning map, they show up right in a line from Yucca Pt (which I really think is Yucca Mountain as Yucca Pt is off of the Kings rather than the Kaweah) to Chimney Rock and then just the other side of Big Baldy. There are still clouds threatening to throw bolts from the sky. Sure enough, now a strike is directly west of us. A few minutes later, one happens to the northwest of us. That second one looked a bit stronger and on McKinzie Ridge. Far enough away to not feel threatened, but close enough that it is exciting. We do radio in the strikes we see, probably a bit more accurately with the lightning map aiding us.

 

 

Smoke or What?

To the east, I see a cloud of white through the haze. We gaze at it for a few minutes and it is still there. But we are unsure. So we ask Buck Rock if they have eyes on the area. She does not see anything. We make a note to continue to monitor that area. And then there is something which looks like a low cloud among the few trees on top of Poop-Out Pass. It does not rise up, so we also put that down as something to check back on. In the meantime, water dogs start to rise up all over the place. Several against Big Baldy down by Redwood Canyon, several in the Eshom area, and some in the Grant Grove area. We check back on the”smoke” we see to the east. The haze has cleared a bit-it is only sun glistening off of wet granite.

 

 

Which is a real smoke? Answer in Background

The “cloud” near Poop-Out Pass is still hanging in there, but getting smaller. What is this? A real smoke or a water dog? Then our attention gets drawn to a dirty cloud just beyond Grant Grove, some place going down into Mill Flat. Is this another water dog or a real smoke? It is in the direction of the strike to the northwest of us. Then back to Poop-Out. The cloud is gone. Guess it must have been a water dog. After that, would a real smoke disappear? Speaking of disappearing, so does the cloud over the ridge behind the Grant Grove area. Throughout the day we would look over at these spots a bit apprehensively.

Around 1045 we hear a radio call to Ash Mountain Fire from maintenance. He had seen smoke in the Redwood Canyon area. He was having a bit of a difficult time describing where they were and what kinds of clouds we were seeing. Later we radio Ash Mountain Fire saying we have seen water dogs in that area as well.

Red-Fire, Blue=Lightning strikes; light Blue-Water Dogs

Then at 1133, a Park crew reports seeing smoke from the Big Baldy area. We say we do not see anything on our side of Big Baldy. Then they narrow it down to the Chimney Rock area. Turns out it is on the Forest side of Chimney Rock. But each agency helps the other. After all, a fire can affect everyone. This will be called the Rock Fire. It will be worked on the rest of the day Monday and all day Tuesday. Wednesday they will pull hoses and put it into patrol status. The fire is less than an acre. But I think they are very concerned about how fast this fire could spread. It is reported that the fire was started by a lightning strike-maybe one of those which we saw.

Then at 1452 we heard that there was a smoke in the Millwood area. Do we see it? No. But remember that smoke we saw this morning? It is in the same general direction. This fire will be called the Drainage Fire. Patrols were converging from several areas-some coming in from the road into Delilah, another from the Abbott Creek area. Buck Rock can see it (we still cannot be) and describes it as drifting, dirty and puffy. But so far it is very localized. Turns out two trees are burning with a burn area smoldering of 30’x10’. This has been confirmed to be caused by a lightning strike.

At 1800 we went out of service with Ash Mountain Fire. But we will stay on until 2000 with Porterville.

Buck Rock sighting from Park Ridge

You know that other “interesting” cloud we saw earlier? The one on top of Poop-Out Pass? It was reported at 1822 there was a smoke reported up there. We saw this smoke and then it disappeared. It is too late to bring someone in today. But early tomorrow a team will be hiking to Poop-Out Pass.

During all of this, the Hume Lake Ranger District went into what is called lightning plan. I had heard the term before, but it had been awhile back and my confession is that it was a bit abstract for me. This at first can be a bit confusing, but the idea is to simplify command and make it local. The idea is that once there are multiple fires in an area, the command should be consolidated. Fire communications would go through the duty officer.

At 2000, we went out of service with Porterville. We have had a long day, a very long day. But it had been a good one. There is only about 40 minutes before it gets dark. So we get the cab cleaned up and everything put away. Then go on out and enjoy the sunset and the stars before going to bed.

 

 

Background

Water Dogs: The basic technique we use is to observe their behavior. If they form into a column-smoke, If they seem more light and ethereal, water dog. That one to the northwest of us a bit troublesome. At first it looks dirty, in the direction of our strike to the northwest. It just seemed to set there and eventually it disappeared. Turns out we should have called it in. But this is not fool proof as you can read above.

As far as the quiz is concerned, the definite answers are that A) is the results of a logging operations. D) is the lightning strike which resulted in the Drainage Fire. B), C) and E) are all probably water dogs, but there is some dispute from experienced fire lookouts on what we are seeing.

LAL (Lightning Activity Level):

 

 

Lightning Plan: This gets activated when there are multiple lightning caused fires in a District, such as the Hume Lake Ranger District. The idea is to treat all of these fires a single fire with a single Lightning Coordinator/Incident Commander-there may be ones who will manage the individual fires. The lookouts and those involved with the fire will report to the Lightning Coordinator. This way we will have a heads up on what is happening with the fires and not involve the rest of the forest with our radio calls.

 

 Extra Photo's

Helicopter flying in front of Park Ridge Lookout

Looking East at rain clouds

Smoke for what would become the Drainage Fire

Looking south-rain falling beyond Big Baldy

March 13, 2021 - Davis Road

 

Title: March 13, 2021 - Davis Road
Hike Info : Description :  Extra Photo's : Animals : Flowers and Plants

Trail head: Mill Creek Campground

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking
Trail:  Davis Road
Destination:  Davis Flat
Distance:  8.70 miles¹
Start Time:  10:02
End Time:     4:25
Travel Time:  6:23 (1.36 mph)
Moving Time:  5:12  (1.67 mph)
Elevation Rise:  1,350'
Descent: 1,343‘
Maximum Elevation: 2,085'  

GPS Tracks
 ¹I carried both of our GPS’: Garmin 60CSX and Foretex401. After adjusting a bit for the location wobbles when we were stationary, they both came out very close together. Rose’s phone registers a little above 9.5 miles

Description:

Gary at the start

Our first “real” hike in awhile, even though it is on a road. We have Rose with us; Betty has other obligations. But more important than me?

Even though it is less than 60 miles from our house, it is almost two hours of driving. So we meet at 8:00am and get on the road pretty quickly after that. We go through a maze of foothill roads until we reach Pine Flat Reservoir. Our destination is on the other side of Pine Flat at Mill Flat campground. We reach that at 9:50. The temp is 51^o at the start. But the sun is shining on us, so I go down to a T-shirt and shorts. There is a feeling of coolness, not cold. A great feeling to hike with.

 

 

Poppy Field

And now onward with our hike. During the summer and fall when Sherri and I are in Delilah Lookout , the area seems so brown, dry and hot. But during the Winter and early Spring, it is a magical wonderland full of emerald colored hills, flowers and water flowing. This is Rose’s first time in the area and we stop every couple of minutes to examine some new marvel, such as a newly blossomed plant. The road will go gradually up for the first two miles. But, not evenly, it is on a rolling incline. So I am thankful for these small breaks to enjoy these mirific times.

We shortly come to the first checkpoint: the unnamed creek, maybe about half a mile up the road. I told Rose this is a creek I have called Disappointment Creek, mostly because every time I have taken a picture of it I have been disappointed. But on the topo map there is no name so I can call it what I want. I think Rose is drawing the line on me calling a cement water drain a natural formation.

 

 

Rose and Sherri at "Disappointment Creek"

  We continue to enjoy the emerald colored hills. But beyond them, we are seeing snow, looking like it starting around 3,000’. This is from a recent storm, so it may melt off quickly.

The road now turns east and we stop at Crabtree for a break time-it is way past elevenses. I devour a Clif bar; Sherri has an Access bar. Three bicyclists pass us-of course we chit-chat with them (Sherri might say it was more of a chinwag on my part. At least it could be a step up from pontificating.) They may be reaching their limits on hill climbing as this is their first outing.

 

 

Delilah Lookout from Davis Road

Even though this is our first hike of the season, we will not be stopping here. I figure another hour and a half until we reach my turn-around time. This part of the road, we start rising up really good. But the previous couple of miles I think has loosened my muscles so we can even talk a bit while doing this climb. Another bicyclist passes us-we see him a short ways up chatting to the other three bicyclists. He will pass us again later on.

 

 

 

Davis Flat

One benefit about climbing is that those snow covered mountains are even clearer to see. Even around the Converse Mtn area-not sure if we see the mountain or not-is showing, inviting us to come back and snowshoe, but that is another day.

We now change to the Davis Creek drainage-definitely a smaller creek than Mill Flat Creek. Still there is beauty there. The creek is far beneath us allowing for us to get a good view to the north. Even though we go up pretty good, the creek rises faster. We go around a hill while the creek goes another way. 

 

Whose Pants?

When we meet up again, the creek is at our level. But there is something else which I start looking for: Delilah Lookout and I found it! Today it seems a lot clearer than when I have seen it before from this road. Also I know that we are close to Davis Flat.

This is good, because I really would like to sit, eat and rest. You can probably guess why. We cross Davis Creek and find the rocks we are familiar with. Time to enjoy lunch, which we do. As we look around us, there is a pair of jeans neatly laid out. The mystery, where are the legs which went into these pants? I do wander to look at the old mine and the shack which we have seen there before.

 

 

Rose and Sherri walking the road

It is 2:00pm and now it is time to head back, I am a bit stiff, but as I start walking, the stiffness works out. I fall back as I stop and examine things and even try taking a few pictures. Even with it being easier going down, I fall behind Rose and Sherri. That is OK as I enjoy my time of quiet. With my hiking I enjoy time of friendship, being among those whom I care for. But I also enjoy walking through beauty with my own thoughts and ponderings. On this hike I am getting both-I am blessed. By the way, my thoughts are not great, just enjoying.

Gary in search of a newt

The bike who passed us earlier comes down. We chat for a few minutes. He made it to the approach to Goat Saddle before going through snow got to him. That is a pretty good journey up-about a 2,000’ climb. He goes on and I catch up to Rose and Sherri at Crabtree.

On our final 2+ miles, it is time for some wildlife. No not that kind. First we see a Sierra Newt. This time living. We have seen several dehydrated and squashed-not sure which happened first. Always fun to see them. Then a large bird is circling overhead. It might be an eagle. Or it could be a raven. To me it could be either. An eagle sounds so much better. Then another newt. When I get up from my picture taking, my shovel easily slides down between my underwear and skin. You do not know how thrilling that can be.

We end up at the car with it still being light, around 4:25. We say goodbye to Rose and head off with her following. It has been a good day, tiring though. When we get home after 6:30, Sherri goes out and gets what is becoming our traditional after hike meal, Habit Burger. When I lay down for a few minutes, the next thing I know, Sherri is waking me up to go to bed. I guess I really was tired.

 

 

 

 Extra Photo's

Mill Flat Creek

 

Davis Road a bit lower at start

Looking north across the Kings

Flowers at Gary's "Disappointment Creek"

Looking towards Converse Mountain

California Golden Poppies

Poppies on a hillside

Flower Photographers

 

Hills of green

Hillside earth strata

Entrance of Davis Mine

Shack at Davis Flat

Delilah Lookout

Top of where Delilah Lookout sits

Patterson Bluffs

 Animals

Newts

Eagle or Raven

 
Flowers and Plants

Lupine

Phlox

Wood Fern-down a canyon and across Davis Creek

Mountain Monkey Flower

Fern

California Golden Poppy

Redbud

Liveforever

Henderson Shooting Star

Baby Blue Eyes