R R 2023 California Part 2

Rangeley in Crescent City California.

Roaming Rangeley Fall 2023 California

Saturday – November 11, 2023

We have had a change in plans, really back to plan A. Instead of going up into Oregon, we are going to head over to the California coast. This will be much less driving. Redwood National Forest is on the coast and dog friendly, so we will have extra time to explore that area a bit more.

Yesterday we did drive north to Mt Shasta, CA. I have been here twice to climb the mountain Mt Shasta and Elizabeth and I (and Rangeley) drove through here on our journeys. It is a great small town. The day (Friday) was uneventful. We got a slow start out of Mariposa so I could catch up on the journal and take care of a few work items.

This morning we headed up the access road to the Bunny Flat Trailhead. This is where I started my second climb. The first time I went up the “back” side of the mountain. The trailhead is at 7,000′. Dogs are not allowed on the route to the top so Rangeley and I took an alternate trail. Being a beautiful Saturday morning I kept him on leash most of the time. We didn’t see anyone till we headed back down, so it worked out great. At our turn around spot we just hung out and enjoyed being in the woods. Of course – Rangeley always loves where he is. You can’t help but smile as he just shows such joy at being out and about.

After returning to the car we had a 220 mile drive to get to Crescent City, CA. As the crow flies it is only 100 miles, there just aren’t any roads through the mountains in this area. We actually drove up into Oregon, then back down into California. For those of you who are curious – starting this August you can pump your own gas in Oregon. New Jersey is now the only state that does not allow self service gas stations.

Once we got to Redwoods National Park we headed up Walker Road. It is a dirt road that dogs are allowed to walk on. It follows the Smith River, so obviously we had to make a stop there. The redwoods are very impressive, but very hard to take pictures of, especially by yourself. You need a person for perspective and be a distance away. Rangeley was more excited about a small stream beside the road than any big tree.

Our motel is right next to a huge dog friendly (off lead) beach. When we were there for sunset we didn’t see anyone else. I know it is November, but it is a beautiful Saturday night. All the beaches in Crescent City are dog friendly. There are also several beaches that are part of Redwoods National Park that are dog friendly (on lead) as well.

Sunday November 12, 2023

Today was basically a day off from our travels. I caught up on work, updated this journal, figured out our schedule for this week, purchased food for Rangeley for the remainder of the trip and watched some football. I did all this between taking Rangeley out to run on the beach. I think this is his new favorite place. He just loves the open space and obviously the water. From our room we can hear the waves, so he was constantly bugging me to take him out.

Monday November 13, 2023

A yesterday morning Rangeley found an old ball which made for a perfect toy here as it rolls on the hard sand. When we were done playing I put it in the bushes right next to where we go to the beach. Sure enough, last night Rangeley went straight to the bushes and found “his” ball. We played with it for a while then we left by climbing up some rocks to get to a different road. It was dark and when I went to put him on his leash he didn’t have his ball. I told him it was probably gone now. This morning we started our day like every other here, with a trip to the beach. I let Rangeley go and to my surprise, right in the middle of the beach is his ball. The tide had come up in the night, so the sand was smooth with no tracks anywhere and his ball just sitting there.

After our walk we drove north into Oregon to explore the coast a bit. The Oregon coast is beautiful and very accessible. It seems like there is a pull off every mile or so. We decided to drive north and stop on the way south so we didn’t need to cross traffic every time we stopped. On two of our stops we did some hiking out to a point. Rangeley liked the stops by the water better. We stopped in Gold Coast at a food truck for lunch. The woman cooking loved Rangeley. Her lab passed away about a year ago. Rangeley is always an ice breaker when we are in public. It still amazes me how many people talk to me where ever we go. We have joked in the past that Rangeley makes very good eye contact with people. I do think that is part of it. He is also very well behaved around others.

We continued south back into California and headed back into the northern part of Redwood National Park. There is a dirt road we didn’t drive when we were here before, so that is where we headed. Rangeley had already had tons of exercise today so I left him in the car when I stopped to take pictures. It was than back to our motel for the evening.

We did go back to the beach for an evening run. Rangeley ran, I walked. His ball was no where to be found. Not sure if the tide grabbed it or another pup. He sure does love the beach. It is 6:30PM as I am typing this and he is crashed. Hopefully he sleeps all night since he is starting his night so early.

Tomorrow we will visit the southern portion of the National Park and continue south to Fort Bragg. I was planning on continuing down the coast and crossing the Golden Gate on Wednesday, but Biden and Xi are meeting downtown San Francisco so I will probably avoid that area. I don’t really want to get on I5 south.

Once the travel bug bites, there is no known antidote….unknown