Gary-Summer: January 22, 2022 – Eureka: Headwaters

Saturday, January 22, 2022

January 22, 2022 – Eureka: Headwaters

Title: January 22, 2022 – Eureka: Headwaters
Hike Info : Description : Extra Photo's : Animals : Flowers and Plants

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking
Trail: Headwaters/Elk RiverTrail
Trail head:Headwaters Parking Lot

Destination: As far as we want to go.
Actual Destination:
Distance: 6.69 miles ' ¹
Start Time: 10:44
End Time:    3:26
Travel Time:  4:26 (1.51 mph)
Moving Time:  3:26 (1.95 mph)

Elevation Rise: 938'
Maximum Elevation: 924

GPS Tracks
¹There probably is a third of a mile more. My GPS tracks did not start until at least the first time we went down to the Elk River. Also the readings on my GPS said in the upper 9 miles; other phones were saying about 10 miles traveled. These readings seem a bit out of range.

Description:

Ferns catching the morning light

I got up around 7:30 and read for a bit. My breakfast was granola. When Sherri got, she also ate granola. Andrea and Lawrence joined us around 9:30 and we left to go to a place called the Headwaters of the Elk River. David has found out about this trail on BLM land since he returned to Eureka. He took Andrea and Lawrence there last weekend and I think Andrea is excited to show us this trail today.

Before we leave, Kevin, David’s friend, joins us. The first part of the trail is paved. But we quickly turn off onto a side path. Salmon use the Elk River to spawn in and that is a major draw to this trail. On the first little overlook yields a live salmon facing upstream. There is also a distinct smell: a dead salmon also lays on the far bank. This shows us a bit about the life of salmon: spawn, give life to your spawn, go out to the sea, come back in a couple of years, spawn and die. You wonder, do they ever wonder is this all there is?

Finding a spot to view salmon

We continue on. Both David and Kevin are eagle eye looking for salmon-dead or alive, with Lawrence being the junior member. I just tag along, looking at what they observe, trying in vain to find a salmon they have not spotted already. Andrea and Sherri also converse and look.

Even if this trail did not have the presence of salmon, it would be a great walk. Unlike our forests in the Sierra, this is much more vibrancy. It is much more than trees, bush and a few small plants. There is moss hanging everywhere, berry vines fight for every conceivable spot where sunlight hits, and water drops from overhead throughout the day.

Dead salmon

As we walk along the paved portion of the trail, we see a sign saying this used to be the town of Falk. An old picture shows the town right where we are standing. Not a building is visible. (It is said that a ghost inhabits the area.) But in the picture the whole area had been denuded of plant life and only buildings, saws and dirt are visible. I wonder about a lot of things as we walk along. How permanent are we? If we can no longer see any vestige of human activity here after 120 years, will the earth remember us a hundred thousand years from now, just a fraction of a percentage in the time this planet has been around? O Lord, you have created us and this planet. Help me not to think bigger of myself than what I am in your eyes.

Kevin admiring the forest

I am also amazed at the recovery of the area. To my untrained eyes, the growth is fully grown back. Has the forest repaired itself back to how it was 120 years ago? Or are we missing other life? Or did it allow other growth in, eliminating old life, no longer a balance? And maybe the $24 question, how much can you devastate an area and have it recover? Things to ponder with the old growth questions and controversy.

Kevin turns back at Falk. After Falk, the paved trail ends and the trail turns more single track. A marker says we went a mile, but all of our electronic devices have in the upper 2 or lower 3 mile readings. I do not think we wandered that much. What strange vortex caused this to happen?

Sometimes we are able to walk side by side, or times single file. I continually have my head on a swivel, looking first at the river for salmon, then up in the trees at the moss or peering into the brush for things of interest. This part of the trail is a bit more exposed to the sun. Feels really good being in the sun without losing the vibrancy.

After the two mile bridge, we begin to look for a place in the sun to eat lunch. About a quarter mile further, we find a wide spot in the sun and we plop down, eat and rest. The question is: do we continue on or return? We feel good so we go on. David and I talk as we walk. We both feel fortunate on how our life has worked out. It is good to converse.

Sherri, David. Andrea, and Lawrence

When we come to the three mile bridge, we decide this is a good place to turn back. There is something about moving water which causes us to linger, converse in low tones and enjoy each other and the surroundings. On the return trip, Andrea and I fall in and talk about a variety of things: her progress in finding a livable location and the relationship between workers, management and a company. Just a good walk and talk time.

We make it back to the car around 3:30 and I drive the 20 minutes back to David’s house. Lawrence, and Andrea, go back to there place to make schchi soup-a Russian concoction. David prepares pork chops for tonight dinner. And I? Well I lay down and read for awhile. Before dinner, David shows some of his videos from snorkeling in Hawaii last December. On this TV, everything seems like you are there, up close to the life on the ocean floor.

Andrea and Lawrence come back a little after 7 and we settle down to eat and then talk for an extended length of time. By about 10pm, I am ready for bed.