03-17-22 Crescent City to Garberville/Benbow California (Travel Day)
03-17-22 Thursday
Benbow KOA, Garberville, California
Jeeps in Parking Lot: 3
Drive Time: 3+ hours
Miles: 122.2 miles
Arrived: 4:00 pm
03-17-22 HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!
We pulled out of the KOA at 11:05 am and headed south on 101. About seven or eight miles out of Crescent City we hit numerous construction sites and one lane traffic controls. The highway runs along the mountain side and has beautiful views. You can see by this map how close the road is to the coastline.
We took the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway off 101. The drive was a scenic route and much prettier than the highway. Dabbles of light coming through the trees made the ferns and ends of the redwoods look silver. An incredible effect throughout the drive.
We stopped at the Prairie Creek Visitor Center so I could get another stamp. There was a ranger that answered a lot of our questions. He seemed very knowledgeable. I spoke to him at length about the Marbled Murrelet. He informed me that they are on the edge of extinction. Not much was known about these birds until the 1970’s. In that area they nest at the top of redwood trees and feed at night, so they are not seen often. Although there are power lines outside this visitor center and the birds use to fly into these at night because they didn’t see them. In the morning the rangers would find a few on the ground. They had to do something so the birds could see the lines at night. Now you see these reflectors hanging from the power lines. Very ingenious. They have not found any dead birds since the reflectors were installed.
On the way back to our RV we observed Elk across the street, only about five. Unfortunately, these were not bulls. A bull (male) can weigh up to 1,100 pounds and the cow (female) up to 640 pounds. These are animals you don’t want to mess with. If you have the opportunity to stop at this visitor center do so. Great information about the area.
The drive took longer than expected due to all the construction delays and our detour to the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway, but we made it. Nice place with flat asphalt sites. We also had a cement pad with a table and chairs set, along with a firepit. This KOA is next to a golf course up against a hillside.
We met Fred and Helaine who just purchased their RV, and this was their first outing. They had an RV but it was over 30 years ago. They are a few years older than us. Fred had his own Architect company and Helaine was an RN. They are both retired now. Barry answered a bunch of questions they had, and they were so thankful. We ended up eating together and continued our conversation.
After dinner we did our dishes and walked the park. Both of us were tired and hit the bed early. Tomorrow is a free day and I think we are just going to relax in camp.
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| Construction Delay |
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| Detour Information |
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| More Detour Information |
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| I liked this poster in the visitor center because ithas the name of the clover we saw during our hike the the 'Grove of Titans.' |
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| This was fascinating. An bull elk died after lodging his head in the crock of this tree. Over many years the tree grew around the skull and antlers. You can see the skull around the back. I couldn't get a shot of the back to show the skull. |
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| This is the night reflector that helps save the Marbled Murrelet |
Poor birds! Glad they figured out the problem. Btw, our Osprey are back. Hoping they don’t get any bailing twine for their nest this year.
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