Patrick's Point State Park, Trinidad

Almost as soon as we cross in to CA, the nature of the coast changes a bit. The severe rocky cliffs of Oregon are gone in favor of long, wide grey sand beaches, some of which are met by freshwater lakes on their inland side. No less scenic.

The redwood trees appear too, almost as soon as we crossed in to CA. Even the “younger” ones that line the highway through Orrick (about 30 miles from the border) are breathtakingly tall and imposing. Very much look forward to seeing for the first time the old growth trees further south.

By 6:30 or so, we found our campsite in PPSP. Set smack in the middle of a redwood forest, this is certainly the most unique and beautiful camping I’ve done. Our tent space is set back about 50 feet from the picnic table/fire pit area and is covered with thick, bright green moss. Very spongy and soft; the perfect place for sleeping. The tops of the trees cover just about every inch of sky, setting the entire campsite in shadows almost 24 hours a day. Of course, this means that getting warm is near impossible. The chill here is deep, a fact that adds to my outdoorsy experience.

Set-up/cooking no real hassle at all. We’re old pros! Once again, LVL does much of the work while I go out for firewood and supplies. The next town over, Trinidad, is not really even a town. The only store I could find was the lobby of set of roadside cabins. Canned chili for din-din and a few hours by a raging fire. LVL suffers through a bone-chilling cold shower, and heads straight to bed. I follow her almost immediately after the fire dies. Pitch blackness make for an interesting walk to the tent, even with my lamp.

After a very early wake-up, we immediately start cleaning up/packing. Not a great night for either of us, but especially LVL. I think the ice cold sort-of shower right before bed put her in a bad way, and the noisy neighbors and bad bathroom set-up (very far away, pitch black campsite) didn’t help. On our way out of the campsite we took a slight detour within the park to check out Agate beach and the Rim Trail. Parked to take pictures/ogle at what the books and signs call Wedding Rock.

Wedding Rock is several rock formations on and just off shore, with an amazing view of the coastline added in. So great to get out from the shade of the trees and the chill of the campsite and into the sun. Gorgeous pictures, esp the ones we set up with our camera’s timer. Both climbed all over the rocks, getting as close to the shore as possible. A great stop.