Redwood National Park Trip Report

Day 1

We began this adventure early Wednesday morning. Fueled by Pirate’s Booty and Salami Whips, they powered through the 6 hour drive to Redwood National Park. On the way they made up lists of their favorite top 5 vegetables and chips (yes, chocolate chips counted as chips). They decided they would go by the team name The Top 5 Chips. Nathan was the Spicy Chip and Aaron was the Salty Chip. Aaron took offense to being the Salty Chip and Avery said that she would take his Salty Chip title if he could best her at Star Realms.

Upon arrival to Prairie Creek, they changed out of their car clothes and packed their backpacks. As this was James’ first backpacking trip, the group consulted with him on what he should carry. Although his backpack looked fairly empty, it weighed in at 26lbs- the 2nd heaviest pack! They decided to bring both Avery’s half dome 2 tent and the Walmart tent (each 5lbs!). At the last minute, Nathan decided he would bring his new trekking pole tent.

Then, they headed off in the wrong direction. After a consult with Boy Scout Aaron and his paper map, they course corrected and hiked back to the visitor center.

The redwoods were very tall. The foliage around the trail looked like Jurassic Park. Team Top 5 Chips took the Miner’s Ridge trail to Gold Bluffs beach.

The Top 5 Chips reached the beach around 5pm. It turned out to be an extremely nice car camping campground with a picnic table, trash service, heated bathrooms, bear boxes, and LTE service. Avery and Aaron tried to tell James that this was not what he should expect for all his backpacking campsites.

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Nathan pitched his trekking pole tent for the first time. It was surprisingly sturdy and roomy inside! Aaron did not even unpack the Walmart tent.

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Speaking of dead weight- while unpacking for the night, they discovered that James had brought not one actual book (yes, the kind with pages)- but two! This helped explain why his pack was so heavy.

After setting up camp and checking out the beach, team Top 5 Chips settled down for a friendly game of Star Realms.

They finished playing just in time to catch sunset on the beach.

Day 2

Avery awoke to Aaron poking her with the Star Realms deck. After another swift defeat (where he was one turn away from winning), Aaron cemented his title as the Salty Chip.

It was a foggy morning on the beach. Instead of hiking back Miner’s Ridge trail, they decided to go for a loop and hike along the beach to the Fern Canyon loop trail.

Aaron thought he saw a sea lion on the beach. Nathan thought it was driftwood. He said when there’s a shape on the beach, it’s always driftwood.

Despite not using GPS, they eventually found where to turn off the beach when they encountered some signs closing a section of the beach to rehab some bird habitat.

After finding the Fern Canyon parking lot, they started off for the Fern Canyon loop trail.

Fern Canyon followed Home Creek up to the James Irvine trail. It was filled with creek crossings on downed logs and large rocks. Aaron, Nathan, and James were all wearing waterproof boots. Avery was wearing trail runners, but managed to navigate water free!

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After the Fern Canyon loop, it was a 4 mile jaunt back to the visitor center. After a stretch, Avery was convinced the visitor center was “just around the river bend”. It wasn’t. Team Top 5 Chips was starting to get hungry for lunch. Just when they started fantasizing about their favorite foods, they reached the trail junction near the visitor center.

Back at last, they set up at the Prairie Creek campground. They made turkey, cheese, and spinach sandwiches. Aaron tried to redeem himself at Star Realms, but was unsuccessful. Then they packed up and drove to the tide pools at Wilson Creek Beach.

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Back at the campsite, it was time for dinner. They made spicy pork and veggie kebabs. The pork was so spicy, they had to use the white bread from lunch to counteract the flames. For dessert, they roasted marshmallows.

During the evening the banana slugs came out in force. Aaron thought they were looking for marshmallows and suggested giving the slug one.

Horrified that the banana slug was getting an artificial sugar rush, Aaron took the marshmallow away from the slug. Avery thought this was cruel!

Aaron, Nathan, and James tried out Aaron’s new cast iron camp cookers by making cinnamon rolls with orange glaze. They used ghee to grease the camp cookers and with some experimentation figured out the right spot and time in the the fire to produce a fully cooked cinnamon roll.

After dinner, everyone settled down in the Taj for a round of Wavelength. Thinking their brother-sister synergy would be unfair, Avery and Aaron split up. Team Aaron/James and Avery/Nathan ended up in a tie for the win!

Day 3

Day 3 began again with a round of Star Realms. This time Aaron was SUCCESSFUL. He said afterwards he was done with Star Realms for the rest of the trip.

They packed up while playing Wavelength. Feeling bold, James and Nathan decided to face the fearsome brother-sister synergy. Predictably, they lost. The synergy was too strong!

Team Top 5 Chips drove to the Orick Horse Trailhead. After seeing a row of broken-into-and-looted cars on Dryden Road, they decided to pay $5 to park at the Orick Rodeo Grounds.

James and Aaron left their dead weight items in the car and the group hiked out to the trailhead with lightened packs (~20lbs).

The trail began with an arduous climb uphill through large redwoods. It then turned into a lush forest full of tan oak, madrone, and California bay.

They arrived at Redwood Creek which was unfortunately unfishable due to being out of season. They didn’t see any fish in it anyway.

After a nap on the bank of Redwood Creek, team Top 5 Chips played a few rounds of 2v2 Star Realms. Nathan won every round with each team member and ascended to title of Star Lord Nathan.

It rained that night. Luckily James woke up and pulled his and Star Lord Nathan’s boots into the tent. Not wanting to get wet, Aaron proposed hiking out with no pants. James had no rain jacket – having cut it in his re-packing overhaul. Luckily for everyone, the rain slowed to a drizzle and the team was able to pack up and hike out (with pants on).

The way back to the car was filled with muddy puddles that Avery and James had to tread carefully over (they were not wearing boots). It drizzled and misted aggressively as they climbed back up the ridge.

Avery spotted some oyster mushrooms growing on a tree. She had no bag to harvest them in, so she left the tree and hiked on to get to Aaron, James, and Star Lord Nathan. A mile and two more mushroom filled trees later, she finally caught up. Star Lord Nathan contributed a gallon zip lock bag and the group went to work collecting mushrooms.

They were on a mission to see who could find the biggest oyster mushroom and if they could find some chanterelles. Avery informed the group on what chanterelles looked like (“An orange trumpet but with ruffles”, “A yellow gramophone”, “like that orange peel, but a mushroom”). Star Lord Nathan, pointer-outer of large oyster mushrooms, became the winner with an oyster about 5 inches in diameter.

Aaron was disappointed that we did not find any chanterelles. Avery concluded maybe they were out of season. They past a herd of cows at the Rodeo that eyed them with suspicion. As they climbed down the grassy bank to get to their car, Avery and James’ relatively dry shoes became soaked. Everyone was excited when they got back to the car and found it intact and filled with Mint Chocolate Muddy Buddies and Pirate’s Booty.

They changed back into their car clothes and bade Redwoods National Park goodbye. It was a successful trip because James said that he would go backpacking again!