2/22/2021 the coast of northern california

woke up thursday morning on the coast near mendocino. enjoyed our coastal camping spot the night before by making some tacos with beans and stir fry from our free compost veggies :)

continued truckin up the coast thursday, passing through fort bragg before heading inland though the redwoods. stopped in some random parking lot because we saw our first giant redwood. chilled with the trees for a bit then found our way to a river, where we tried to bathe a bit but we didn’t have towels. went back to the parking lot to grab our towels and some random dude told us that there was a waterfall right across the street!! so we used the waterfall for it’s true purpose: a shower. the best showers out on the road are the ones in nature, and this one was a bit chilly but much much needed.

after cleaning up, we headed into humbolt redwood state park along the avenue of giants. such a sick drive, just picture an actual avenue of the hugest trees you have ever seen. pulled off to a few spots to check out these massive beings. each grove in the park felt so different. some were very heavily wooded, others had mossy streams, and others were more open with huge trees occupying random spots in the forest. eventually ended up in rockefeller forest, where we saw one of the most massive trees in the world. giant tree. so incredible to be in a place like this surrounded by the giants.

slept just south of eureka thursday night. went for a little beach run in the morning on a secluded beach that felt like heaven. it seemed to go on forever. there were no footprints besides for the ones left by critters, massive pieces of driftwood lined the shores, and beautiful rocks turned up in every direction. very very neat place. did some shopping in eureka before checking out the samoa sand dunes beach area, also super sick. tried to get indian food for dinner, but it was closed so we made a little salad before sleeping in a boat yard on a little coastal island 🌊

friday was a unique day.. planned on heading up the coast again but the towns of arcata and eureka and the people in them had an energy that kept us in the area. explored another beach before heading to the farmers market to stock up. got some good free mustard greens from a lovely couple of farmers, rainbow carrots, and some crystals. planned on leaving once again but we ended up forgetting a sticker at a hippie store in the mall. luckily one of the sweetest workers there had my number, so she let me know and we headed back into eureka. ended up spending the day with a new friend who showed us a cool park in town and cooked indian food for us 🥕 how perfect !!

finally left eureka at night, but we could have stayed for much longer. so many cool people here, very refreshing 🧚 definitely will be back sooner or later

explored trinidad beaches and a state park on the coast on sunday morning. found some free oranges and a bag of lentils on our beautiful morning beach hike to college cove. then met a mushroom hunter who showed us what mushrooms we can and can’t eat as well as some secret trails at patrick’s point state park🍄 collected some turkey tail, oyster, hedgehog, and cantrelle mushrooms and some herbal moss for tea. finally made it to the redwoods national park in the afternoon to check out the tall trees grove that we had to make a reservation for :) so insane to wander through the worlds tallest trees. time flew by so fast on this hike, but we made it out just before sunset.

headed to a beach campground for the night, where we cooked up the mushrooms from earlier in the day as well as some veggies in a stir fry. such a good feeling to cook and eat the food that we got right from the ground (even if i may have burnt the shroomies a bit). brought out the hammock to sleep in under the redwoods, such a beautiful night sleep.

the next day we got lost in the redwoods first thing in the morning. the best way to start the day🌲 a morning run on the beach led us to a magical fern canyon and so many trails through crazy tall trees. felt like a fairy the whole day. at some point i stumbled upon 10 redwoods growing from the same roots, so so nuts. they made a castle, and i made that castle my home for the moment;) when we finally got back to the campsite, we made a stew from some turkey tail from patrick’s point and the lentils we found the day before, along with some veggies we also got for free somewhere along the way. best soup i’ve ever had. spent the remaining time of sunlight reading in the hammock and chilling on the beach until the sun set ☮️🧡

the northern california coast has definitely stolen our hearts 🧚 one of the most magical places ever. the weather is perfect, never too cold because of the ocean and just the tiniest bit humid which makes it even warmer. the redwoods tower above the cliffs that line rugged tan coast. not even to mention the power of the ocean. feeling like we are right where we’re meant to be 🐸