Lost Coast, found treasure
waves crash, sea lions grunt, cobbles roll
forest, sand, surf meet
This time last week, I was hiking the Lost Coast trail, a 24.6 mile stretch of seaside and beach trail in the King Range National Conservation Area, which is managed by the BLM Arcata Field Office. Whenever anyone would ask how it was, my synopsis was this: “It is unreal how beautiful the Lost Coast is.” Not the most elegant phrasing, but the honest truth. Enjoy the pictures my friends, and if you like to backpack, put this trail on your bucket list.
Lighthouse sentinel
Once for sailors, now wildlife
Whales, seals, sea lions, more!
On July 8, I had the pleasure of touring the Piedras Blancas Light Station along with BLM office newbies and interns. This even counted as work! #LivingTheDream 🙂
The light station is a focal point of the Piedras Blancas Outstanding Natural Area, one of the special management areas within the Bakersfield Field Office jurisdiction. (This is why it counted for work.)
As BLM-insiders, we had the VIP opportunity of climbing to the top of the lighthouse – very windy up there!
In the background of the above photo, you can see one of the Piedras Blancas, which translates to “white rocks” in Spanish. The rock acquired its whitish hue from centuries of guano deposits, or in less technical terms: seabird poo.
These large offshore rocks provide excellent refuge to marine animals large and small. While we were at the Light Station, we saw:
We also saw sea otters, but I was not able to get a picture this trip. I will definitely be back. For more history of the light station, you can visit piedrasblancas.org. – or you can visit me and I will take you there!
Trinidad retreat
Beach, BIG trees, Banana slugs,
WHALE of a good time!
On my last weekend as a Redding resident, we indulged in a three-day Trinidad retreat (north coast of California). We rented a gorgeous house with this view from the backyard:
There were delicious home cooked meals with fireplace peep s’mores for dessert. We walked on the beach…
and through the forest. In the picture below, my friends humored me when I suggested they spell “BIG” with their bodies in front of what is known as the “BIG Tree.” Good people 🙂
We even surfed a fallen giant!
WE SAW WHALES!!!!
I literally jumped for joy when I heard from another beach visitor that there were whales within sight of shore. We also saw whales from that beautiful backyard oasis pictured above and that happens to be where these pictures were taken. This was a dream come true, and it inspired the first draft of the haiku for this post:
Not to be outdone by its massive marine mammal competition, the redwood forest banana slugs put on quite a display. This little guy is a mighty muncher!
This one was the funniest of the bunch:
It was a grand way to end my time as a northern California resident. Thanks friends!