We spent the morning exploring a few waterfalls and rivers
near where we were staying in Prospect. Avenue of the Giant Boulders was created during the eruption of Mt. Mazama
(Crater Lake). These boulders were thrown 20 miles away into what is now the
upper section of the Rogue River. We followed trails down to the boulders which
required quite a lot of scrambling up and down the giant rocks (and avoiding
the roaring river below!) At the top of the trail there are views of Mill Creek
Falls which cascades 53m down into the Rogue River. Further down Rogue River
there is a “natural bridge” created by lava tubes. The lava flow from Mt.
Mazama filled the river’s canyon but when the surface stopped moving, the
molten rock underneath kept on flowing leaving long caves. At the “natural
bridge” the Rogue River funnels through one of these caves and billows out the
other side cascading down as raging whitewater. We then drove back towards the
coast stopping at Lost Creek Lake, a reservoir located on the Rogue River, for
a quick swim and lunch.
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| Avenue of the Giant Boulders |
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| Avenue of the Giant Boulders and the Rogue River |
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| Mill Creek Falls |
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| Mill Creek Falls |
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| Mill Creek Falls |
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| Natural Bridge |
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| Lost Creek Lake |
The weather difference as we headed back to the coast was
remarkable, having been 33°C
in Prospect, Oregon, by the time we arrived in Crescent City, California it was
down to 15°C. We entered California via Redwood Highway, an 80 mile stretch of road which
meanders through Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, with either side of the
road flanked by dense and tall Redwood Groves. We stopped for the night in
Crescent City, and we for a very brisk walk on the beach (it was windy!)
to look over the Castle Rock National Wildlife Refuge. It is half a mile
offshore and covers approximately 14 acres and is the northernmost breeding
colony of Northern Elephant Seals. Elephant
seals are huge and make an extraordinarily loud roaring noise which we could
hear from the shore.
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| Redwood Highway |
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| Castle Rock National Wildlife Reserve |
With California’s economy still in crisis I think the local government has found a new way to earn some dollar. I was ID’d twice in the supermarket – once to buy some beers and once to use the credit card to by those beers. (Apparently they do it to reduce credit card fraud…err try introducing chip and pin…) Then when I checked the receipt I noticed they added a 30 cent charge under “ID CHECK”. Amazing behaviour. Apparently the beer was worth it though.
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| Locally brewed beer |
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| Prospect to Crescent City |
Total distance: 1380 miles
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