A Fitting Presidential Legacy: Hiking at the Lady Bird Johnson Grove

Coastal Redwood, Sequoia sempervirens

Date: November 29, 2019
Place: Lady Bird Johnson Grove, Redwood National Park, Orick, California
Coordinates: 41.303376, -124.018061
Link to trailhead
Length: 1.6 miles
Level: easy

Last Thanksgiving break was a split deal for us. On the first three days the chikas were out of school but Pappa Quail was still at work. Those days we were in the Redding and Shasta Area where we explored Pluto's Cave and hiked at the Turtle Bay Nature Area.
When Pappa Quail got his holiday we traveled again to Northern California, but this time along the coast.
It's a long drive to Redwood National Park but there are a number of beautiful redwood groves along the way. We stopped at the Lady Bird Johnson Grove where we had a very nice first hike for this trip.

Our hike as captured by my GPS

A narrow and winding road leads up to the grove. The parking lot is tiny,and it was nearly full when we arrived there. We were fortunate to find the very last parking slot. 

It was surprisingly chilly outside, despite the sunshine. Expecting the forest's shade, we dressed in layers and crossed the foot bridge where the trailhead was.

Indeed, as soon as we crossed the foot bridge into the grove we were in the forest's shade. The sunlight rays filtered through the canopies forming dancing light spots on the trail but for the most part, we were well under the cover of vegetation.

Trying to see the redwood canopies is always a neck-straining ordeal. It is hard to appreciate how high these trees really are.

Coastal Redwood, Sequoia sempervirens

It was easier to focus on the base of these giants' trunks which too are quite impressive. Good ones for a communal hug.

Coastal Redwood, Sequoia sempervirens

The North California coast is one of our top destination choices for Thanksgiving time much because it is the mushroom bloom season. The fall of 2019 was very dry however, and the mushroom bloom was very limited compared with previous years we've been there. I didn't expect to see many mushrooms and indeed there weren't many. But there were a few and I was happy to see them.

Some were harder to photograph than others - they hid in the dark deep underneath the shrubs.

Fungus

What was happening outside and over the shrubs was no less interesting and perhaps even more fascinating: old decomposing logs of fallen redwoods supporting new life as planters for other plants. In this case - California huckleberry, one of the common epiphytic plants growing on redwood pedestals.

California Huckleberry, Vaccinium ovatum 

After about a third of a mile we reached the main loop trail within the grove. There stood a plaque with the grove's dedication by former president Richard Nixon to Lady Bird Johnson, the former first lady of president Lindon Johnson.

There were plenty of real birds in the grove but they were difficult to see and a challenge to photograph among all that vegetation. Pappa Quail scored one hermit thrush that landed on the trail and remained exposed there long enough for a few shots.

Hermit Thrush

In general it wasn't easy to take good photos on that hike. Illumination is always a challenge in the deep forest, especially when the canopies allow enough light through to confuse the camera.
It was a feast to the eyes, however.

There were also many other epiphytes (plants that grow on other plants) beside the huckleberry. Another common one was the bracken fern.

All these epiphytes begin small: I could see on the fallen logs at my eye level the small epiphytic gardens that given time would be dominated by one or a few bigger plants.

The day warmed up as we made our way around the loop trail. The elder chika was miffed about not seeing birds and the younger one whom I set to look for banana slugs for me was running that she couldn't see any. I let them follow Pappa Quail ahead while I remained lagging behind to walk in the peace of the forest.

We found a hollow redwood, which had a good effect on the chikas. They paused their bickering long enough to pose inside the tree for some photographs. Then I too went into the hole.
These holes are caused by fires, often ignited by lightning. The redwood is more fire-resistant than other trees due to its high content of tannic acid, the same chemical that gives it its red color. High tannins concentration also render the redwoods more resistant to pests. Too bad it doesn't make it resistant to human saws.

Redwood Hole 

Another redwood tree had a huckleberry bush growing right out of its trunk. Perhaps it sprouted there and grew as an epiphyte. Perhaps it sprouted on the ground next to the redwood and the tree engulfed it with its ever growing bark.Either way, both plants seem content and healthy with this setting.

California Huckleberry, Vaccinium ovatum growing out of a living redwood

The chikas called me to hurry up and join them - they had spotted another mushroom for me to see. I think I had trained them well.

It is really hard to get an impression of the size of an old growth redwood tree from photos. But I never cease to be impressed by these wonderful giants.

Between the redwoods

We completed the loop trail and turned back toward where the parking lot was. The day had warmed u but the wind intensified as well, and we could see the canopies moving way up above. Despite the sunshine, we remained bundled up in our winter wear.
A weird looking tree caught my attention as we were getting near the end of our hike. It was the biggest epiphyte huckleberry I've seen that day.

A most resilient redwood

I wonder how this tree planter will look like in a few decades. Perhaps I'll even be there to see for myself.

Redwoods in the Rain, Again: Stout Grove at Jedediah Smith State Park

 

Date: November 28, 2014
Place: Jedediah Smith State Park, Crescent City, California
Length: 1.3 miles
Level: easy

After our our wet hike at Myrtle Creek no one had any desire to leave the car for another hike. We drove slowly along the Smith River on a narrow, muddy, not all paved road that was the long way back to Crescent City. The heater was on full power and the rain tapped incessantly on our car. I tried to convince myself that I should be happy with the hike we did do and not glum over those we didn't get to do.                      
But the rain eventually east off and by the time we arrived at the little pullout which was the parking area for the Stout Grove trail it nearly stopped. I thought I'd be going down by myself to check it out but Grandma Quail wanted to join me and see the big trees. So grudgingly, Papa Quail and the chikas came along as well.

Our hike to Stout Grove as captured by GPS. The GPS capture wasn't accurate - the loop completes where I fixed it in black.

For a while there was only misty moist in the air, mixed with heavy droplets that fell off the trees. We walked along the Smith River, slowly descending to to the water.

Afternoon air laden with water. 

The only thing 'blooming' were mushrooms, and most of them were species I've seen on earlier hikes so I left my camera tucked under my rain poncho.
I did takes it out from time to time, though.

Banana slugs were out and about. It was nice to see them in bright yellow again.

Banana Slug

Little by little, almost without noticing, the rain got heavier. We crossed a couple of creeks that were gashing on their way to join with Smith River.
I love the redwoods, and the rain really brings forth their beauty in a very intense way. I is certainly worth getting wet to see that first hand. But - I got even more careful with pulling my camera out but many of my photos still got droplet smudges on them.

Sometimes those smudges add an artistic level to the photos ... or so I try to convince myself.
The redwood trunks we were seeing were getting larger and larger. All too quickly, they were impossible to hug all the way around.

Coast Redwood trunks (Sequoia sempervirens)

If there were any birds about - we didn't see or hear them. Papa Quail did bring his camera along but had kept it under his poncho throughout the hike (and later complained about the futility of having carried such a heavy thing for the slight chance of any bird posing out in the rain).
We arrived at the Stout Grove loop. The rain got heavier and Papa Quail hurried along with the chikas while Grandma Quail and I lagged behind. Grandma Quail doesn't like hiking in the rain but the giant trees worked their magic on her and she wandered among the giant trunks, craning her neck to get a glimpse of their tops (and getting rain water collecting under her poncho).

S/he who had never seen giant redwoods before may not understand the magic they work on their beholders. John Steinbeck had described it perfectly in his book, 'Travels with Charley in Search of America':

“The redwoods, once seen, leave a mark or create a vision that stays with you always. No one has ever successfully painted or photographed a redwood tree. The feeling they produce is not transferable. From them comes silence and awe. It's not only their unbelievable stature, nor the color which seems to shift and vary under your eyes, no, they are not like any trees we know, they are ambassadors from another time.”

Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens)

I only wish I could write like Steinbeck. 

The redwood forest floor is also magnificent. Some very common redwoods undergrowth are ferns, which love the wetness and truly come alive in the rain. 

 A Field of Fern, all glistening in the rain. 

Redwood base growth happens when the trees experience stress. Many of the Bay Area redwoods display ample base growth. The trees at Stout Grove have almost clean trunks - a sign of happy trees!

Redwood base growth

I also saw fewer burls on those redwoods. They certainly looked straighter and less gnarly than their southern relatives. More regal, I may add.

Redwood Burl

Upon completing the loop Papa Quail took the chikas and hurried up the trail back to the car. He had had enough rain for one day. 

Grandma Quail and I followed along slowly, taking the time before saying goodbye to those majestic trees and to Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. At the end of that hike we turned about and started our journey southward, and the last lag of our Thanksgiving vacation. 

On our way south, just before dark, we got to the exit for Fern Canyon and Papa Quail pulled out. This time, the meadow was full with elks. The chikas were asleep already. PaPa Quail and Grandma Quail were satisfied with b=viewing them from the car. I took the camera and stepped outside to get a clear view :-)

That night we stayed in the town of Arcata. Rain or shine, we had planned for the morrow to go bird-watching at the Arcata Marsh.

A Worthy Centerpiece: The Fern Canyon at Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park

Fern Canyon

 Date: November 26, 2014
Place: Fern Canyon, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Humboldt County, California
Coordinates: 41.40091, -124.065440
Length: 2.2 miles
Difficulty: easy to moderate, involves scrambling on fallen logs, may involve walking in the water.


The first time I visited Fern Canyon, over 10 years ago, I didn't have any expectations. Not having done any preparation research I arrived there without having heard any stories or having seen any photos of that place. It was Thanksgiving time, it was cold and wet and I had the elder (then only) chika strapped to my body in a baby carrier.

The short segment of trail connecting the parking lot with canyon is nice but reveals nothing of what's to follow. And I was completely mind-blown by that hike.

The canyon itself with the stream, the ferns and the surrounding forest was very impressive, but what I remembered most were the mushrooms. It was a fungi spectacle like I have never seen before: the variety, the abundance, the richness of it. I was completely overtaken.

Questionable Stropharia (Stropharia ambigua)

And a decade ago I didn't have a good enough camera. From that beautiful hike I have very few photos of any decent quality, and none of any of the mushrooms. All I had left from that mushroom galore were memories, which grew more vivid and more alluring with every passing year since.

Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria)

It was only a matter of time before we would go back there, but life provided delays, some of them stemming from my insistence to go back on a wet Thanksgiving. I wasn't satisfied with just seeing the place again - I wanted to see the mushrooms splendor.

Finally, on 2014 Thanksgiving break we were going there again. And this time I was equipped with a suitable camera.

Light Red Coral (Ramaria araiospora)

The access road is long and challenging, and when the streams are flowing, it is also flooded in places. (It is passable to regular family cars with adventurous drivers).

We stopped a couple of times along the way so Papa Quail could chase a flock of little birds that teased us, flying back and forth across the dirt road. As it turned out, that chase was well worth it because it was the first time Papa Quail got the pine siskin on camera.

Pine Siskin

There were also many varied thrush below by the road side. More than I've seen in any one location before.

Varied Thrush, female

When we arrived at the parking lot it was almost lunch time so we started with a picnic during which the chikas were busy playing with other children there and I was trying to keep them all from trampling the few and unexpected (in November) wildflowers. 

Buttercup (Ranunculus sp.)

  I remember from 10 years ago that the hike itself, a relatively short (2-miles) loop was, although it did involve fording the stream in a few places, fairly easy. This time around, I was in for a surprise.

Our hike at Fern Canyon, as captured by Papa Quail's GPS

 We all had high, waterproof hiking boots. Soon, however, we were slowed down by our efforts to keep them dry. Waterproof doesn't help much when the stream runs knee-high. It was possible to jump over the stream or ford across big rocks, but it did slow down the hike.
And then we got to the canyon itself.

Unlike the fern canyon we hiked at Van Damme State Park, this Fern Canyon is truly a canyon, with sheer walls rising perpendicular to the ground and a narrow passage for the stream (and the hikers) in between. And the canyon walls - as expected - were completely covered by ferns.

The surprise came in the form of fallen logs that blocked the way in several places. 10 years ago there was only one, which could have been bypassed easily, even when carrying a baby. In the years since, quite a few more logs have joined that one, piling one one-another, forming ominous barricades.
Sure, one could walk around or under most, but that meant going in the water.
And I was just a month after having a knee surgery, wearing in a large, stiff brace and leaning heavily on my hiking poles. For me, this was going to be much more challenging than I had expected.

The chikas had no problems. They viewed the logs with sheer joy and were soon off, charging the surprise playground that Nature had provided them. Papa Quail was after them, trying to keep them from disappearing. Grandma Quail and I lumbered behind.
I walked slowly and carefully, testing each step with my poles and stopping frequently to ease my leg. That gave me ample chance to look around and to closely examine the fallen logs.
Rainforest plants don't wait for the giant deceased to decay. The huge logs were grown with ferns, fungi, lichen and also higher plants, like these cold-blighted sorrels we passed under.

It was doable at first. Slowly and carefully I was able to pass the first set of barricades without to much trouble. But then we arrived at a big wood castle that looked totally impassable to me.
I sat on a lower log and weighed my options. There were only two of them - to go back or to go on. And the only way I could go on was to stoop under the logs, in the water.
I took off my shoes and slung them over my shoulders. Then I rolled up my pants, took a deep breath and entered the water.
After about 30 seconds of agony I stopped feeling my feet and could go on. Still slowly and carefully, but on much more stable ground.
At some point though, I had no choice but to climb a log. It was perhaps the most precarious moment for me in that hike, and when I stood there atop that log, waiting for my pulse to settle back to normal pace, I noticed some big, white bracket fungi and clicked my camera at them.
"Not these," scolded Papa Quail, who had returned after reining the chikas in, "these!" and he pointed at a dark lump that was hanging from the big log I had just passed under.
I nearly fell off the log as I swiveled. There, above me, was the larges mushroom I had ever seen. Dark, spiky, woody, and huge! I do nit have a proper way to show the scale but I hope you belive me it was about a yard long.

A polypore, I haven't identified the species.

That was the last barricade and I was glad, because I didn't feel I could push my knee any more. I fact, I really hope that my physiotherapist won't see this blog post. We had one accident though - younger chika got over enthusiastic about climbing the logs and had slipped and fell in the water. She was physically unhurt but her shoes and pants got soaked and her ego was injured. From that point on she kept grumbling about how she didn't like this place (which she absolutely adored when we first walked in).
We continued by the stream a little but more until we met with the trail for going up the hill and looping back to the beginning. I sat on the first stair, wiped the mud off and put my shoes back on. It took a while before sensation returned to my feet.

It was up there on the hillside, in the woods, were all the best mushrooms were. And indeed it was a spectacle. There were in huge numbers and varieties, and I did photograph a lot :-)
I begun this post with a good sample of these mushrooms, but later I had realized that many of them I met in previous or following hikes during that vacation.
Fern Canyon mushrooms display was very impressive. But I chose to post here only a sample of them and focus on the other beautiful sides of Fern Canyon.
Like ferns.

And moss, which was so large, almost fern-size.

Okay. One more mushroom. I selected this photo because of the little fly that sits on the mushroom. I have photographed many mushrooms throughout that entire vacation, but it was only at my home computer, where I could look at the photos enlarged, that I noticed that many mushrooms had insects, mainly flies, sitting on them. Something about the smell, maybe? Or perhaps they were laying their eggs there? Or maybe the mushrooms are warmer than their surroundings and feel better to be on?

Or maybe I should just ask a specialist.

Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria), with a fly

Fern Canyon is part of Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, which is one of the units that make Redwoods National Park. But the forest we were hiking in was no redwood forest. The trees were mostly firs and pines. While not majestic like giant redwoods, the forest there has a very powerful presence.

A grove of firs

The ground was littered with cones. Beautiful, shiny-red fir cones.

Walking back west on the hillside was much quicker that walking in the creek, despite all the photo stops. Still, we managed to get delayed. A trail intersection not showing on the map and a flight of stairs leading down - and down we went.
Suddenly the trees opened up and we were in a meadow of grass and rashes.

There was no obvious continuation of the trail in any direction, and no way out of the meadow except for the one we came from. 

 

There were, however, brown buttresses sticking out of the grass. Coming closer to one, I saw that it was an old inflorescence that remained from the previous season. I wondered if I could identify the plant going by the inflorescence remains.

As it turned out I didn't need to. In the meadow there were a few individuals of that species that didn't care that it was the end of November - they were in full bloom.

Common Selfheal (Prunella vulgaris)

The meadow, just like the forest, was very wet. One again I was glad I had my waterproof shoes on. 

A multitude of little lace baskets sparkled from the shrubs: spiderwebs beaded with water droplets.

This beauty merits a close-up. At home, enlarged on the screen, I discovered the spider, too.

Not having found another way out we had to co back whence we came - back through the magical woods. Too bad I cannot post the forest smell here, it was so rich and good!

Closer to the canton's mouth the trees thinned and we had a nice view of the canyon below.

As we made our way back to the creek we had too ford the water two more times before we were out of the canyon and on our way to the parking lot.

Fern Canyon, view from above.

We arrived at the car and while Grandma Quail was helping my young chika to change into dry clothes I strolled around, looking for more flowers and other interesting sights.

Cows Clover (Trifolium wormskioldii)

Between the parking lot and the ocean there is a quiet, almost hidden lagoon. When we first drove in there was nothing special to see there. This time, though, I could see large, dark figures roaming near the far shore of the lagoon.
I called Papa Quail, and with him came Grandma Quail with the chikas, the younger one still grumbling.

The figures walking between the lagoon and the ocean were elk. a small herd of bulls, young and old, walking slowly by.

Elk (Roosevelt)

Since we had made it to the lagoon Papa Quail took the chance and searched for waterfowl. There weren't many birds there but those that were, were beautiful.

Bufflehead, male (both ducks)

It was a long and slow drive back to the main road. there is s field there where elk are frequently seen so we stopped to look for them, but didn't see any, but we weren't disappointed - we had seen the elk down by the ocean.
The chikas were already asleep. We still had a good drive ahead before we would wake them up for dinner at Crescent City, where we had planned to stay for Thanksgiving ant to explore the Tolowa Dunes.

And yes, if you make the trip along the NorCal coast, don't miss Fern Canyon. THE Fern Canyon, at Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.