Sea Lions Take Over

Blog Draft – Mar 1, 2015

I haven't written on my blog for quite a while. Why? Who knows? I'll skip around some to touch some spots I remember.

Valerie and I enjoyed the California coast, driving along the shore – Pacific Grove, Monterey, Carmel, Big Sur. We went along the 17 mile drive which started in Pacific Grove and continued through Monterey and beside Pebble Beach.   And we drove the windy coast by Big Sur – without the rig, which was my choice. I would do it now, though. I have taken it over many windy turns since then because I had no choice.Just how many pictures can you take of the beautiful California coast?

I keep seeing great wave explosions, rock formations and silly little seagull poses. I'm fortunate that I had opportunities to spend time at the ocean – the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Indian. My choice was never to buy a place; nor could I afford what I wanted. But as I have been traveling the Pacific, that yearning to have a place by the sea returns frequently. I also keep wanting to go back for a few months to this great place by the ocean in South Africa, which was quite reasonable. This trip I have spent much time driving the coast, walking on the beach, watching surfers, and thoroughly enjoying the ocean.

While Valerie and I stayed in San Francisco, we took some time to see the city. One day we drove in to Pier 39, in the Fisherman's wharf area, where there are stores and restaurants galore and you can see Alcatraz out in the bay. As we were checking out the stores we started to hear all this noise – argk, argk, argk. We went around a corner and there were hundreds of sea lions “hauled out” on Pier 39's K-Dock. In October, 1989 following an earthquake that hit San Francisco, a few California sea lions started flopping up onto K-Dock. They thought this was great.There was plenty of food in the bay, and California laws protect them, so they had no predators hanging around trying to feed on them. Thus, they put out the word. Within a few months there were 300. In November, 2009 they hit a record high of 1,701. These sea lions have migration patterns from Vancouver to the southern tip of Baja, but many of them stop in San Francisco to check out the tourists and provide a little show. In the summer and early fall naturalists provide information. All we got was a brochure and lots of argk, argk, argk.

The last day of Valerie's stay we went to Muir Woods. This is an old-growth, un-cut stand of coast redwoods. The coast redwoods are the tallest trees around,found on the California and Oregon coasts. Sequoia redwoods, also found in California, but on the interior, tend to be larger in girth, but not as tall. There is one more type of redwood, found only in China. These trees are big, and since they are so tall they provide a redwood canopy of shade. The fog and moisture are also prevalent in this ancient forest. I followed the redwoods up the coast, stopping to see one of the trees through which cars are driven. No. I didn't drive my rig through it. I saw many trees that were old, even a few claimed to be over 1,000 years of age. The trees weren't claiming that; the naturalists were – just to be clear.

Redwoods are beautiful. Often you can't see the top, and you have to be careful about falling backwards as you try. Or at least I do. Redwoods have burls all over them. These burls will often sprout and you will see a family of trees in very close proximity with children from the burls. While I was on the northern shore I heard on the news that burls were being stolen. These are also sold and used for carvings. The talk on the radio was urging a large fine be attached to any burls being taken off trees. Many of the trees have withstood fires and lightning strikes, but losing their burls limits the regeneration of trees and increases the risk of disease, pests, etc. Luckily we have some preservations like Muir Woods to allow future generations to see these redwoods which once covered California coastal valleys.

I visited a sea glass museum outside of Ft Bragg, owned and managed by a man who seemed to be one of the world's experts on sea glass. At Ft Bragg, they used to throw the trash in the ocean. I know!!!! How could they make the seacoast a dump??!! The sea took all those glasses and bottles and polished them and sent them back to the beaches. Ft. Bragg was well-known for its sea glass beaches, but after all these years they've been picked clean. Thank God, the coast was cleaned up and no longer used for a dump.

The next day I went back to Ft Bragg and took a train up through beautiful redwood forests. I didn't make a reservation because it was winter and their schedule was dramatically shortened. I'm glad I didn't wait for the conductor to call "all aboard" because I got the last seat. Quite a few people brought their dogs, which surprised me. There was an observation car and a food car and people were walking about. It's a good thing because if a dog were sitting on my last seat available, I would have asked the dog to move or pay me the money for the ticket. This was called the Skunk Train.In the olden days they used one type of fuel to run the train and another to run the “kitchen.” The combination created a train that you could smell before you could see. This train also takes campers out to camp “on the NOYO.” You have to stay at least 2 nights. The 

tents, cooking kits, canoes, kayaks, etc. are all provided. You can ONLY arrive and depart by the train. If you stay a while the train delivers your groceries too. We went past a 1000+ year old redwood which survived through the first cutting of this forest. It had a huge scar down one side which was probably caused by a lightning strike. That ugly scar kept it alive for who knows how many more years. We went by an orchard and found out the owner of much of the land who had cleared many acres was trying to get settlers to move to the area. He offered land to families who would plant a crop and raise cattle or sheep. (In the old west wasn't it cattle OR sheep?) Apples grew well in the area and this was one of the original orchards still going strong.

I continued up the coast to Eureka. I never found out for sure, but I think a fellow was panning for gold, found a big nugget, and yelled “Eureka!!” And thus a town was born!! On one of my short drives along the ocean I was really glad I wasn't driving the motorhome. I wasn't sure the car was going to make it. The road was narrow, slanting toward the ocean, and consisted of soft dirt, so I was sliding around a bit. But we made it! And on the other side I found a number of surfers parked. This was a spot where the surfers changed into their wet suits and climbed down the rocks/path to surf. Of course they all came in from the other side. It was a beautiful spot. I drove up to Oregon that day just to make sure the coast was just as beautiful as in California, and it is. 

That same day I was driving back to my home away from home, and spotted a herd of elk. I pulled over to watch them for a time, and then continued down the road and saw another herd. I guess they travel through these meadows at dusk. I love seeing wildlife in their own environment. I feel privileged.

I visited a hatchery in Blue Lake. They had just let loose a huge number of trout into the river, and there were many fisherpeople out trying to hook them. There were also a couple blue heron hanging around the hatchery with the same idea. Fishing is big business in this area. The hatchery raised rainbow and steelhead trout. They have a fish ladder to bring the steelhead trout up.They then by hand take the males and squeeze out the sperm. They take a syringe and push the sperm into the females. Ughhh!!! The little trout get their nourishment off the egg sac until they're on their own and get bigger and bigger until they are released. I had many questions without someone around to answer. So I have to look this up and learn more about this hatchery.

I was in Crescent City at low tide and decided to cross over to the Battery Point lighthouse. I have so much trouble now keeping my balance, I'm sure I provide onlookers amusement as I try to stay on the rocks with my arms waving, and then just give in and walk in the water. It was a nice walk and once again a beautiful view. When I got back I felt like I was back in Alaska or the Maritimes. A guy asked me if I saw the whale. I should have been there “10 minutes ago.” Of course, the whale is gone now. I sometimes think these people hang around for an hour telling everyone they should have been there “10 minutes ago.”

The last few days I have been in Redding. They have a beautiful sundial pedestrian bridge over the Sacramento River. It was designed to carry all the weight above the water and not place columns down into the fish spawning area under the bridge.
It is the tallest working sundial in the world, made of a glass deck, a 217' pylon and massive cables. It was designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, and is quite beautiful.

I also went to the Shasta Dam. Massive!! This was built between 1937 and 1944, by 5,000 people. Shasta Lake when filled by the dam covered 6-7 towns and villages. It was a critical need for the war effort. In a videotape they talked to some of the people who worked on the dam. You could see how proud they were of their work. They had a Shasta Dam village with all the services. After the dam was completed many of the houses from that village were bought by local people and transported to their land. It is considered a great success - stopped the flooding, provides hydroelectric power, provides water for irrigation. There is also a hatchery attached to it and it has managed the temperature of the water for the fish.