Enjoying his morning coffee

while the heron looks for breakfast

After sitting by the river and drinking coffee this morning we headed back south all the way past Orick. We were looking for the meadow with the elk herd in it that we saw on the way here on Monday, but when we got there there were only horses near the road; I think the elk were way further back but we couldn't get close to them. Never mind, the drive was nice, right alongside the ocean, and we stopped for a little stroll on the dunes before heading back north.

The Pacific Ocean

Rather than take the 101 from and back to Klamath today we took the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway which runs right through the middle of the Redwood National Park and Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park; this whole area is a little weird as both State and Federal work jointly to maintain it. The drive was lovely, lots more trees of course and very little traffic which was a plus. We had intended to visit Fern Canyon on the way home, but off the scenic driveway it was a further 8 miles along an unpaved road, and when we got to the entrance to the road we discovered we couldn't drive it as Xena's arse was too wide; I think we were about half a foot to wide to traverse the track, so we had to turn around. On the way to the track we did spot some elk paddling in a lagoon so it was all good.

Mike: Story of my life, too big of an ass!

Elk

Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway

Having lunch

When we got back to Klamath we decided to visit the tour-thru tree, one of only three in the country. Once again Xena's bottom was too big to drive all the way through, but Mike pulled her nose in so we could get a picture. The tree is old, about 735 years, it has a diameter of 15 feet and a height of around 90 feet to the point where the top was blown off at some point in the past. Also in the same area was a bathroom that has been built inside an 8 foot section of a Redwood; I took a pic but we didn't venture in.

Redwood Loo

The last order of business for today was to take the scenic drive along the loop road that our campground is on. It's an 8 mile loop along an unpaved road that took close to an hour to drive around as it's very narrow and steep. The views of the river and the Pacific were amazing, as well as the trees that lined the route. But what was really cool was the 'farmhouse' and 'barn' that we visited which were anything but. We could only walk around the outside of the structures, but they were actually a WWII radar station with an oscilloscope and radar technicians stationed in the larger building and the smaller structure housed the power supply. The guys stationed here in the 1940's had fabulous views but I doubt they had the time to appreciate them too much!

Coastal Scenic Drive

The ocean is there somewhere

WWII Radar Station

Barn housing the power supply

Looking for the Japanese

Our last stop before heading home was at the bridge to nowhere which is actually the old Douglas Memorial Bridge. It used to span the Klamath river but was swept away during flooding in 1964 and was never rebuilt; the bears still keep watch over it though. 

Douglas Memorial Bridge, or what's left of it

View of the Klamath river from the bridge