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| California Sea Lions |
Date: July 23, 2021
Place: Humbug Mountain State Park, Oregon
Coordinates: 42.683328, -124.421846
Length: 1.6 miles
Level: easy
The last time I was in the coastal region of Oregon was during the later part of a road trip I went on with my chikas and their friend in the summer of 2021. On this trip we drove north along the Cascades, visiting Mount Rainier and Mount Saint Helens, then we moved west, visiting Olympic National Park and eventually drove south along the coast, taking our time to camp and explore along the way. The last stop we had in Oregon was in Humbug Mountain State Park, where we had a short and lovely hike. We didn't have the time for a big hike though, since we had planned to reach California that evening and still had some ways to go. We didn't want to just drive the whole day and so I found Humbug Mountain State Park by the tried and true method of, 'let's check out that green spot on the map' and we went on a short hike.
Before heading to park at the trailhead we stopped at a pullout off the road and regarded the pretty rocks that littered the water near the shore, and their inhabitants.
The rocks were white-washed with guano but the birds we saw weren't perching there at the moment, but swimming in the ocean nearby.
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| Pigeon Guillemot |
A solitary harbor seal was swimming near the flock pigeon guillemot birds. It bobbed up and down in the water, and eventually took a dive and disappeared from our view.
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| Harbor Seal |
There were a few cormorants and gulls on the main mass of rocks but the most numerous beings there, and also the noisiest, were the California sea lions. Most of them were lying down or scampering by, either quietly or while making noises that to me sounded like complaints. A few sea lions were swimming near the shore, their wet fur sleek and shiny.
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| California Sea Lions |
From the vista point we continued to an inner road and parked at the small parking lot of the park where the trailhead was. We took only a little water and our cameras - we didn't plan to remain there for too long.
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| Our hike as captured by my GPS |
As we came down to the trail we had a view of the Highway 1 we just came by, stretching above us on a cement bridge that was supported by a few thin pillars.
The trail followed Brush Creek. The creek was flowing very nicely, or at least so I believed. It was a bad drought year in the West Coast and for Oregon that creek may have been quite low. If it was in California it would have been considered a very nice flow.
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| Brush Creek |
Brush Creek flowed under direct sunlight but for the most part the trail was well shaded. The undergrowth below the trees wasn't very thick and consisted mainly of ferns.
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| Western Maidenhair Fern, Adiantum aleuticum |
There were a few wildflowers here and there, some I identifies but most I did not know on the spot and had to identify from photos back at my home.
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| Ragwort, Jacobaea vulgaris |
We continued along the creek and I noticed that there were places in which the bushes were growing well over the water, shading parts of the creek as well. As it was, the trail was completely shaded and we were grateful for it because the day was hot.
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| Brush Creek |
We were slowly ascending now as the trail was going up the hillside, which was the slope of Humbug Mountain. A large tree leaned low over the trail and we had to bend to pass below it.
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| Trail |
Then the trail turned much steeper and more overgrown with vegetation. We decided that it was time to start back downhill.
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| Western Sword Fern, Polystichum mutinum |
Coming down back on the same trail I had the opportunity to see wildflowers that I missed on the way up. One of them was the Oregon woodsorrel, which resembled much the redwood sorrel that I often see in the woods of Northern California.
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| Oregon Woodsorrel, Oxalis oregana |
Then there were those red flowers that I saw blooming near Brush Creek below. These plants I recognized from many a garden or yard. They are cultivated plants that were introduced for landscaping and made their escape into the wild.
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| Some garden runaway flowers |
We followed the beautiful Brush Creek back to the parking area, where we sat down for a picnic lunch before commencing our drive south to California.
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| Brush Creek |
Our stop at Humbug Mountain State Park was the last hike we did in Oregon. I haven't been in that part of Oregon since and going over these photos again reminds me that it is time to revisit that beautiful area gain. Hopefully soon.
That evening we crossed back into California and stayed the night in the area of Crescent City. The following they was our final day of the trip . We stopped for a nice birding walk at the Arcata Marsh Preserve, a place we already knew quite well and we continued straight home after that. All and all our northern road trip was a good one, and inspired me to take the youth on one more big road trip again in the following summer of 2022 to Utah, a trip of which I haven't posted yet.
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