September 27, 2025 - Go to Roseburg, Moriah’s Wedding

 

Title: September 27, 2025 - Go to Roseburg, Moriah’s Wedding
Hike Info : Description

Hike Info:

Type:Car

 

Description:

Today we went to Roseburg to attend my best man’s daughter’s wedding. But first I need to get up. We are hoping to leave at 8. So I get up around 6. David and I talk a bit, nothing earth-shaking, just a bit of brother to brother talking. I have granola for breakfast. Sherri gets up at 7.

We did not leave at 8. Kevin, David’s friend, comes by about 8:30 to pick him up to go to clean their church for the Sunday service. We leave a minute before they do, about 8:45. They manage to get ahead of us and we follow them until they turn off at one of their favorite stores not named Costco. We continue on past Arcata, going towards Redwood National Park. We have some choices and decide to spend an extra 15 minutes going up Drury Road. It is more scenic, but much slower than 101. We enjoyed the side trip and rejoined 101 about 10 miles up the road.

At Klamath we stop at the Pen-Mey gas station to put 8 gallons into the tank. Then off to Crescent City. I stopped at a Starbucks there. Sherri gets coffee and then we start off again with Sherri driving.

The Smith River is a beautiful drive. Being a passenger lets me view it with both eyes, which I am thankful for. These are redwood trees on a windy road. When we got to Cave Junction, we would usually stop at Taylor Sausage. But they do take a bit of time, so we go across the street and enjoy a meal at Dairy Queen.

Then I drove all the way to Roseburg. We go to our hotel, Sleep Inn, arriving about 2:25. We had asked for an early check in, but they were not quite ready for us. By 2:40, we got into our room. We spent a few minutes resting, then changing into the clothes for the wedding this evening.

Moriah’s wedding is at Delfino Winery in back of the ridge where Dennis and Bonnie live. It takes us about 20 minutes to drive there. We arrived there and then mingled. The first person whom we meet is Jeremy, Dennis’ son. He is directing parking. After signing the guest picture, we talked with Bonnie and Dennis. The wedding gets off a little late-one of the bride’s maids is sick so there is a substitute being set up.

But when all is said and done, Moriah and Alex do get married which is the point of the whole thing. We enjoy this as we have watched Moriah grow up over the many years. We meet friends of Dennis and Bonnie and talk with them a lot of the evening. There is dancing on a platform which Dennis has made. By 9, we are ready to go back to our hotel and sleep, which we do. We have a long drive tomorrow.

September 26, 2025 - Eureka

 

Title: September 26, 2025 - Eureka
Hike Info : Description : Flowers and Plants

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking 

Trail head: 

Trail: Headwaters

Destination:  None specified

Actual Destination:  First Bridge

Distance: 4.26 miles

Start Time: 11:08

End Time:    1:37

Travel Time: 2:28  (1.73 mph)

Moving Time: 1:50   (2.32 mph)

Elevation Rise:  543'

Descent: 482‘

Maximum Elevation: 281'

GPS Tracks

Description:

The Trail

I got up at 7 feeling pretty refreshed. This was after 9 hours of sleep. David is up. I write for a while and then David and I talk about things such as estate planning. It is an easy morning. Both Sherri and I have cereal for breakfast. Then a bit more easy time just talking about things.

We decided to go on a hike to the Headwaters. This is a favorite as it is close by. The area is lush. Often it is wet after a rain, but David points out that it has been dry here for a while. We leave David’s house a little before 11 and get our boots onto the trail, not dirt, by 11:15.

Sherri and I get our boots on, even though the trail truly does not need it. We have gone down this trail before. The mile is paved. David said that since Eureka has been pretty dry, so is the trail beyond. Usually this area gives the impression of rain forest, being perpetually damp .Today, it definitely is an overgrown forest, but maybe not like it would take you over. Still where the former town of Falk was, there is no trace.

We continue our walk past the pavement. We meet a few people, but not a lot, after all most humans still need to work on Fridays. It is enjoyable walking this. After another mile, we get to the first bridge and decide to have lunch there.

Moss covered branches

In a former life, Sherri and I would have been gung ho to continue on. But neither of us have done much hiking this Summer, so we decided this would be a good place to turn around. It is amazing what you can see on a return trip, just by observing. There are a few blackberries on vines, the sun coming through the leaves and a banana slug or two cross our paths.

When we got back to David’s car, I think Sherri and I both realized while we could have gone on further, this was a good length for a hike at our stage of fitness. On the way back, David stops at his chain saw place where he has gotten his chain sharpened. Then we stop at the Humboldt Smokehouse to pick up dinner for tonight. David and Sherri share a Cadillac Burrito, I get a Texas Sandwich.

When we get back toDavid’s house, it is nap time. Then a bit of chatting, followed by dinner-what we picked up from the Smokehouse. Contentment. A good visit. We chatted some more and then off to bed by 9.

 

Flowers and Plants

September 25, 2025 - Eureka

 

Title: September 25, 2025 - Eureka

Hike Info : Description : Extra Photo's : Animals : Flowers and Plants

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking

Trail: Trails within Humboldt Botanical Gardens

Description:

Coneflowers

It is Sherri’s and mine anniversary. As I put out on Facebook, it is our 111x111 binary anniversary. Or for those of you who are not programmer types, our 7 squared years. Or for those who do not like math, it is 49 years together today.

I slept 10 hours, I am not sure when I have slept that long. We had our breakfast and then played what do you want to do today. I suggested Humboldt Botanical Gardens. David has not been yet. When we were in Atlanta, we had gotten a membership to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens-it was not that much more than the entrance fee. This membership allows us to us a reciprocal agreement with any American Horticultural Society gardens which the Humboldt one is. So free entrance it will be. As it turns out, the entrance cost is only $7 to get into the Humboldt Gardens for seniors.

 

David among the flowers

About noon we leave for the gardens. I think we mostly doddled before that. The Gardens are located on the College of the Redwoods campus. Kevin, David’s close friend used to teach here and lives just over the ridge from it. When you go someplace for the first time, you have a set of expectations. I was thinking it was going to be a small, underdeveloped area with a few mangy beds.

Instead the initial area is well laid out on a slope where there are colorful beds and well maintained. We came at the end of the season, so some of the plants, such as the Coneflowers are at the end of their bloom. Still there is enough color for the eyes to enjoy. We wander the beds, enjoying the sites, looking for identifications for plants which look interesting and wondering how many of these we could introduce to the heat in Fresno.

A little bit of the gardens

While this developed area may be the star of the Gardens, it takes up only a small part of the land which the Gardens resides on. There are three miles of trails. Where there is a trail,our feet try to find their way along it. We take a series of paths towards the end of the Gardens which the volunteer at the entry station noted.

It is called Santino's “All Happy Now” Earth Sculpture. This is a hill which is a hemisphere. They have overlaid a Fermat Spiral over this. So there are two paths to the top, each starting at opposite sides of the hill. The spiral is made so each path runs side by side until they meet at the top. Each will go an equal distance. And that is what Sherri and I do, start at each starting place and meet at the top. The idea is to do this more as a place of calming and meditation rather than as a hike or a competition. I will admit, I did it more as a walk than a meditation. Maybe if I was to do it again, I would look more as a meditation.

Sherri on the Happy Hill

 

 

We then start back along the service road. Maybe the only real fault which I have to the Gardens is the lack of a restroom. The only place where there is an outhouse is at the start-and I needed to go, so I went back to the start, leaving David and Sherri to meander down a few other paths. When I emerged, they had made it back to the terrace area.

We go back to David’s house. David cooks us a meal worthy of our anniversary dinner. He cooks us top sirloin with bread, veggies and a salad. Pretty good. Then more talking and into bed around 9.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Extra Photo's

View from the Happy Hill

 

Heather

 Animals

Banana Slug

Banana Slug

 
Flowers and Plants

September 26, 2024 - Eureka

 

Title: September 26, 2024 - Eureka
Hike Info : Description

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking

Trail head: Herrick Avenue Park&Ride

Trail:  Eureka Waterfront Trail

Destination: Spruce Point

Distance:  2.8 miles 1

Elevation Rise: 180 '

Descent: 180‘

Maximum Elevation: 20'

GPS Tracks

 ¹The above information is from plotting our route on Google Earth. I did not attempt to plot the route in the forest behind David’s house. It is too dense to see the pathways.

Description:

I initially woke up about 5:40 and saw that there was no lightning, then went back to sleep. I must have been tired since I finally got up about a quarter to eight. I sat in the front room until David got back from his walk. Sherri got up and I fixed our oatmeal.

David had brought down one of his redwoods a month ago and is cutting some of the wood into 1” slabs. He has enough to side a whole house with I think. My “help” consists of stacking each slab after he cuts them. After half a dozen cuts, he is ready to take a break. Besides, he needs to take the whole apparatus-chainsaw and his Alaskan mill to Don’s house.

Don is someone whom I met in Hawaii and have enjoyed. Don and another friend are cutting a downed tree into usable pieces and will be needing the mill today. After talking for a while, David and I go and get a chain which was sharpened at a local place-Kris Kingle (That is the name of the person, really). We come back and drop off the chain, then head back to David’s house.

It is time for a walk. David takes us to the Herrick Ave Park&Ride. We picked up the Eureka Waterfront Trail. It is a paved walkway, following alongside an unused railway. David said the railway carried lumber to various mills around Eureka. We are about a mile and half from its southern end, which is where we head.

On one side are the sloughs and marsh lands. The other is Humboldt Bay. Since the path only roughly follows the railway, there are some ups and downs but never very much. I cannot say it is level, but it is easy walking. After the long drive yesterday I needed to unwind.

On the slough side of the trail, we see an assortment of birds. The main attraction is a great egret picking through the mud, looking for grubs to feed on. But there are ducks or are they geese? Also some mud living avifauna-I learned a new word today. On the other side of the breakwall, we see water splashing up high.

We stop at the local WinCo, both for David to gain a few items for tonight’s rib-eye and for us to stock up on things we forgot. By the time we return to David’s place, it is time to have lunch. Then a short afternoon nap.

In back of David’s place is a forest which David says has been recently sold by a logging concern to a developer. So David takes us on an afternoon jaunt down into the forest. A steep own is the phrase I would use on this pathway. The path takes us through a thick coating of forest overhead down to a tributary of a creek called Martin Slough. I ask David why we have not gone down here before? He says that it is because I did not want to. I cannot imagine that, or can I?

It is pretty serene down here, someplace a person could just enjoy sitting or wandering. We circle around to the southwest side of the ravine and start climbing up the other side. Not steep, but enough to know you are going up. At one point David says that a couple of days before he went further and it got pretty muddy. So we retrace our steps back. You know that steep downhill going in? We now need to climb it. It is pretty steep and I stop several times to take a breath.

When we get back, David gets our dinner ready to be served. He has been smoking some rib-eye all afternoon and now they are ready, and so are we to eat them. This is in celebration of our 48th anniversary. He would have cooked them yesterday, but we would have gotten in too late. Tasty meal. That is my brother, a pretty good cook, treating us well.

We talk for a bit longer and then go to bed. It will be a long day tomorrow, so I need to get some rest.

 

March 21, 2024 - Eureka: Ferndale and Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge

 

Title: March 21, 2024 - Eureka: Ferndale and Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge

Hike Info : Description : Trail Lessons : Background : Extra Photo's : Animals 

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking : Car

Trail head:  Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center

Trail: Unnamed

Destination: None

Distance:  1.7 miles ¹

 ¹I did not track on the GPS. The mileage is from plotting out the route on Google Earth. The relative elevation gain or loss was negligible.

Hadley Gardens

Description:

Last night my slumber, and Sherri’s, was interrupted by my blood sugar monitor going off. I took care of that but it certainly breaks up the sleep. I think it was a false alarm-at least 90% of them are and I was not feeling like I had anything going on. After falling asleep for a couple more hours, I did manage to get up at 7:30. I have been sleeping a bit long the past couple of days.

I had my breakfast and then played like a dog and followed David around as he reworked my jigsaw puzzle tray. He does such good work-he got talent. We did a few things but mostly just lounging and enjoying each other’s company.

Downtown Ferndale

 

 

Today we will at least go to Ferndale. At 10:25 we leave David’s house for Ferndale. Even though Ferndale is not too far away, it does involve crossing the famous Ferndale Bridge-sorry, no pictures. Shortly, we get to Ferndale.

David parks right in front of Hadley Gardens. This is a pretty small park. Being little does not mean it is for children, even though it has a miniature Victorian house. The park seems like it is both a demonstration area as well as a quiet place just to rest your mind at. There are local plants growing as well as a nice lawn area. Also a solar powered flower is employed to power all of the park, including the waterfall, and feeds into the power for Ferndale. 

An Abrakas hat

 

Went up and down main street, stopping at various stores like the Golden Gait Mercantile and the Ferndale Fine Arts-where we looked over the exhibits of various local artists. Confession: 90% of the work was not anything which I was interested in. Maybe the most interesting place was Abrakas. In the back they had hats, and more hats, and still more hats. We stayed in the back for a good length of time. Confession #2: After being in several stores for a few minutes, I would go out to the street and enjoy the sun and read.

 

 

It is getting to be about noontime and we are a bit hungry. David spots a place called Ferndale Meat Company

Sherri spotting wildlife

. The building looks old-I think you have to have that in Ferndale. Once inside, I had the feeling of a butcher shop from the 1950’s. There was not a whole bunch of decor to it. But you cannot eat decor, the question is, do they serve sandwiches and do they taste good? The answer is yes to both. Though they are inexpensive, this is a winner of a place. I had a pastrami sandwich and was satisfied. If you are looking for a full line of lunch selection or a comfortable dining experience, this is not it. The eating section is more of a back office area with a capacity of about ten. That is OK after all you cannot taste ambience it is the food which matters and the food is good.

I think we have had enough of Ferndale. David asks, Are we up to doing a bit of walking? Yes! So he takes us up 101 aways to the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge. While the visitor center is not open, the outdoor area is. We hung around the visitor center, looking at signs and through a telescope. Then headed out into the refuge, along well marked trails.

Our walk is definitely not at a march pace, or even at hike speed. Probably someplace around a stroll or saunter. But then again, we are not out to make time or miles. Instead we investigate every bird, from a seagull to an egret to ducks and geese to even a whimbrel, whatever that may be.We stopped to take pictures of whatever moved and some things which didn’t. It is good to have curiosity and even better things to be curious about. This occupies us for a couple of hours. After only going 1 ¾ miles, I am tired and glad to be back at David’s.

Usually at the end of the day, I will write a few bullets about what we did during this day to remind myself of what I felt was important. Today, I did not write anything down. So as I am writing this up two weeks out, I have forgotten what happened after we returned, including what we had for dinner. I do know that we packed and got ourselves ready to go for an early start tomorrow.

Trail Lesson: It is good to have curiosity and even better to have things to be curious about.

Background

Trip Advisor: Ferndale Meat Company. The building looks old-I think you have to have that in Ferndale. Once inside, I had the feeling of a butcher shop from the 1950’s. There was not a whole bunch of decor to it. But you cannot eat decor, the question is, do they serve sandwiches and do they taste good? The answer is yes to both. Though they are inexpensive, this is a winner of a place. I had a pastrami sandwich and was satisfied. If you are looking for a full line of lunch selection or a comfortable dining experience, this is not it. The eating section is more of a back office area with a capacity of about ten. That is OK after all you cannot taste ambience it is the food which matters and the food is good.

Extra Photo's

Animals

Geese

Turkey Vulture

Turkey Vulture

Whimbrel

Egret

 

 

 

 

 

 

Places: CA-Humboldt

 

 

Humboldt Bay-0' (Eureka) (40.7498484, -124.2095057)
Legal: T__S, R__E, Sec__

Fort Humboldt-43' (Eureka) (40.7766667, -124.1875000)
Legal: T__S, R__E, Sec__

Humboldt Creek-0' (Shelter Cove) (40.0459764, -124.0808654 )
Legal: T__S, R__E, Sec__

Humboldt Hill-645' (Fields Landing) (40.7087337, -124.1942119)
Legal: T__S, R__E, Sec__

Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge-___' (Quad) (40.71651°N 124.21783°W)
Legal: T__S, R__E, Sec__

Description : Trips : References : Pictures 


Description:

From GNIS: Humboldt Bay also called:

• Wiki from Place Names of Humboldt County, California: a Compendium, 1542 – 1992 - Turner, Dennis W.
  
• Bay of Rezanof from Place Names of Humboldt County, California: a Compendium, 1542 – 1992 - Turner, Dennis W.
• Bay of Indians from Place Names of Humboldt County, California: a Compendium, 1542 – 1992 - Turner, Dennis W.
• Clear Water Bay from Place Names of Humboldt County, California: a Compendium, 1542 – 1992 - Turner, Dennis W.
• Resanof from Place Names of Humboldt County, California: a Compendium, 1542 – 1992 - Turner, Dennis W.
• Bay of the Indian From Historic Spots in California-3rd edition. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1966. - Hoover, Mildred B., et al.
• Humboldt Harbor From Historic Spots in California-3rd edition. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1966. - Hoover, Mildred B., et al.
• Humboldt Harbour From Historic Spots in California-3rd edition. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1966. - Hoover, Mildred B., et al.
• Mendocino Bay From Historic Spots in California-3rd edition. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1966. - Hoover, Mildred B., et al.
• Qual-a-wa-loo From Historic Spots in California-3rd edition. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1966. - Hoover, Mildred B., et al.
• Trinity Bay From Historic Spots in California-3rd edition. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1966. - Hoover, Mildred B., et al.
• Wike From Historic Spots in California-3rd edition. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1966. - Hoover, Mildred B., et al.
  
   

Trips:

• September 26, 2024 - Sherri, David and Gary walked part of the  Eureka Waterfront Trail.
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References:

• Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge web site
• Wikipedia
• Visit Redwoods
• Facebook
• 
  

Pictures:

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