If Friday was epic, then Saturday was enchanted. The Tall Trees Trail, with it's secret passcode and Jurassic landscape was an amazing site, with its gray North Coast skies and the feeling that the sky was always on the verge of opening up. On Saturday, the sun came out with a vengeance! And, it was glorious.
We made our way north to Prairie Creek, where we took a 4-mile stroll through the sun-dappled forest, surrounded by the redwood giants.
But, as beautiful as that was, it was the next adventure that truly knocked our socks off. North of Prairie Creek was a coastal scenic drive to Klamath that led us along a one-way dirt path that made me truly grateful that we'd invested in 4-wheel drive. The ocean vistas were incredible, but what really blew us away was turning a corner and finding ourselves face to face with a young black bear, making his way across the path.
Clearly un-phased by us, he ambled off into the bush, making his way down to one of the most amazing beaches I've ever seen. We pulled the car forward to see where he'd gone, and, as we looked down the cliffs, we saw that he was heading toward a sea lion haul out site. Sea lion for lunch? I don't know, but it made for an unforgettable moment.
To round out the day, we made a final stop at a nearby beach that featured the Fern Canyon trail. At the trailhead, we learned a valuable lesson: don't mess with the elk here.
Apparently the females want to kill you because they think you're messing with their kids. The males want to kill you because they think you're messing with their ladies. Either way, we kept ourselves to ourselves and didn't run into any trouble with the local elk. But we did have an amazing hike in Fern Canyon.
Since we were right by the beach, we strolled out to see the sun set over the water and were rewarded with another amazing view. We were also serenaded by the local sea lions (who had apparently escaped our bear friend).
After a long day, it was time to settle into a the hot tub and start thinking about what Sunday may hold in store.
Imagine if I'd been there, I'd almost have been killed by elks!
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