Tag: Fern Canyon

Exploring Oregon Coast: A Family Road Trip Adventure

On July 1 we pointed our rig north for a road trip up the Oregon coast with the destination of Whidbey Island, where we would join family for a reunion. We had marked out 17 days to give us time to explore part of the Oregon coast and time to visit with family and to have a leisurely return drive.

For our first night we had reservations for Abalone Campground at Sue-Meg State Park, site 40. We arrived shortly before 6 pm, logging 295 miles over six hours.

The next morning, we woke up to fog and overcast and took our time getting started. We had reservations for Fern Canyon, a popular hike, just a short drive from our camp. The drive out to Fern Canyon is a one lane dirt road for the most part, and not a road I’d want to drive with much traffic, since passing oncoming traffic can be an issue in some places.

The hike up Fern Canyon is well worth the effort. The canyon walls are graced with ferns. We were advised to wear water shoes, since you are walking up the creek and likely to get your feet wet. We wore our regular walking shoes and carried our water shoes. There were plenty of boards to walk on and rocks to hop and we managed the hike without getting our feet wet. We logged 1.4 miles. Not bad for my gimpy knees. In hindsight I would have gotten an earlier start. The trail gets quite busy in the late morning which means that getting photos of the canyon without people is a challenge, and the light is a bit softer earlier in the morning. I carried my iPhone 14 and my Sony RX100 with a tripod. I was anticipating long exposures in the confines of the canyon. The canyon opens at 9:00 am.

Following two nights at Sue-Meg, on July 3 we were off to Bullards Beach State Park on the Oregon Coast, a well-established campground. From our camp we walked out to the beach to watch the sunset. It was very windy on the beach, so we took refuge in a makeshift driftwood shelter somebody had made.

The next day we explored the Coquille River Lighthouse and took a short walk on the beach. The wind and blowing sand discouraged us from spending much time on the beach. Bullards Beach State Park has over 100 camp sites and caters to equestrians and bicyclists. More photos from this trip are available in an online gallery.

A Hike in Fern Canyon

We spent the week of September 12 in Mendocino with members of our kayaking club. On Wednesday the 14th we took a break from paddling to go for a hike in Fern Canyon.

This is a lovely hike that follows the Little River. The trail winds along the river, crossing the stream a number of times on bridges and meandering through tall redwoods and the fern-lined canyon. Once we had hiked up the canyon, we opted to continue on the trail up to the Pygmy Forest. Here the tall redwoods give way to pines and cypresses stunted by extremely acidic, low-nutrient soil that sits on top of a layer of low-drainage iron hardpan.

We were happy to have some overcast since it can be quite warm in the Pygmy Forest. The soft light from the overcast also made for excellent photography. I prefer the soft light to the harsh shadows and highlights that can happen with direct sun. I also found that the railings on the bridges were a perfect place to park my Gorilla Pod and my trusty Sony RX100 camera in lieu of my tripod. Walking through the dwarf trees feels like walking through an enchanted forest.

We returned to Fern Canyon by an alternate trail, making a loop. When we returned to camp we had logged 11 miles. You can view more photos of our hike here and you can view more details of our track here.

Mendo Madness 2021

Each year our kayaking club, BASK (Bay Area Sea Kayakers) takes over a number of camping sites at Van Damme State Park for a week of camping and kayaking.

This year’s adventure started Sunday morning, September 12. With our kayaks on top of our camper we hit the road. Before we got very far we discovered that our camping reservations didn’t start until Monday. What to do for Sunday night? We pulled off the road to consider the options and Joann booked us a night at the Seagull Inn. Hey, I’m not going to complain about breakfast being served.

After breakfast we drove the short distance north to Russian Gulch. The prediction was for high surf, but the beach at Russian Gulch is quite protected, so getting on the water was not a problem. In poking around the cove though, we decided it was too rough to venture out. After a very pleasant paddle on the cove we checked into our campsite. That’s our Four Wheel Pop-Up Camper with the kayas on top parked next to the trees.

In the morning we fired up the Dutch Oven. Here’s Joann serving up Hash Brown Crusted Goat Cheese and Scallion Quiche. Yum! With rough water predicted on the coast we opted for a paddle on the Big River, and we found a few BASK members happy to join us. We logged 12 miles paddling up the river and back. A very pleasant paddle in an enchanted forest.

Wednesday, September 15, we put on our hiking boots and hiked up Fern Canyon to the Pygmy Forest. Another enchanting trail up a canyon lined with ferns and redwoods. The hike in itself is worthy of a separate blog post so stay tuned.

On Thursday with the conditions on the coast continuing to look daunting, we opted to paddle on the Albion River. We managed to pull together a group of eight people to paddle up the river. That brings us to Friday, our last day in Mendocino and it was time to paddle the coast. Conditions were much calmer than earlier in the week so we launched from Van Damme Beach and poked around a few rocks and paddled through a few caves. Hard to condense a week’s worth of adventures into one short blog post so stay tuned. I’ll be posting separate stories with more details. You can view more photos of our adventures here.