It's Your World ~
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It's Your World ~ |
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 Elves, Octopus Trees & Agates--by Jodie Small Whenever I long for green and for moist, cool air-- which is often in the dry interior California valley where I live-- I get out my pictures of the Northern California coast and plan my next trip to Trinidad and Patrick's Point. It isn't green there in the way that Southern US states are green, but for California it's positively verdant, and it is definitely cool and moist. The little town of Trinidad isn't far from the California/Oregon border-- waaaaaaaay up on the coast-- about 25 miles north of Eureka. It's a charming village that sits on a bluff overlooking Trinidad Harbor, Trinidad Head and a very rugged coast line to the south. I doubt that more than 400 people live here, and every single one of them is friendly. There isn't any timeshare close enough for daytrips, so when we go there we stay at the Trinidad Bay Bed and Breakfast (http://www.trinidadbaybnb.com/ ), a really homey Cape Cod-style inn across from the Trinidad Memorial Lighthouse. There are only four guestrooms here, and we reserve in advance the Blue Bay View room because it has a private entrance and a telescope. An upper level room, the view from here is wonderful, with all of Trinidad Bay and Indian Beach spread out below. Although we usually visit in October (not a lot of fog, and not many people either), and the gray whales don't start their major migration south until November, we are sometimes lucky enough to be able to watch a few through the provided telescope. Another reason I like this room? They deliver breakfast for two to the table in the morning, and this is a kind of pampering that I could get used to. It also has a microwave, a coffee maker and a refrigerator in it. Just a few miles north of Trinidad is Patrick's Point State Park. (This is a real popular camping area that has showers and everything, but we are not now nor have we ever been the camping-out-kind.) This is where I breathe in green fecundity. It's an amazing area, with boulders the size of mountains and ferns as big as houses. Paths meander through the dense forest, which is mostly Sitka spruce, with fantastic panoramas surprising you at every turn.  A favorite area is the place called "Octopus Trees Grove". The "Octopus Trees" are Sitka spruce that grew up on fallen logs. Over time the logs rotted away completely, leaving just the new trees with the roots that grew around the logs forming "arms". They look for all the world like fairytale trees, and I always half expect to see elves peeking out at me. What does peek out is good enough, though. Ground squirrels, racoons (racoons are very habituated to humans here and will steal whatever isn't nailed down), and other little critters by the dozens! (A not-so-favorite critter are the humongous slugs that leave slimy silver trails all over everything-- but that's a personal dislike of mine and they are easily enough avoided.) It is almost palpably silent here, with only the sounds of forest birds and your own footsteps to accompany you.  Another old favorite is Agate Beach. Signs within Patrick's Point will show the way for you, but getting
down to it and then, even worse, getting back up is all up to you. There is a lovely lookout point at the top,
then a nice stairway that goes STRAIGHT down. About halfway down is a convenient resting point with a spectacular
view, then another set of stairs that goes STRAIGHT down. Once you get all the way down you are on a lovely long
stretch of beach that is wonderful for the driftwood lover, the musing stroller, the lonely, the lovers. And as
its name suggests, it is also a preeminent spot for finding agates, which you may gather and take home with you.Agate is a banded, multicolored, variety of Chalcedony (a kind of quartz). It occurs in an infinite amount of colors and patterns, and no two agates are alike. I have this information at the tips of my fingers because my husband is a rock hound, and we always spend considerable time on this beach looking for special agates to take home to his rock shop and tumblers. My favorites are ones with "inclusions", which means that branched forms that look like little trees or ferns are locked inside a mineral as it is forming. My husband has an agate nodule partly filled with water, which can be seen from the outside of the nodule when it's held up to the light. This fascinates me: what was alive on the earth when this agate formed? What creatures walked, swam and possibly flew? And here is water, locked forever in its own millennium... We stay on this beach almost all day when we go to Trinidad, wandering and picking up agates and driftwood. Part of the reason is that as I get older I don't look forward to walking STRAIGHT back up those stairs and I keep hoping that if I wait long enough those elves from the Octopus Trees will show up to give me a magic lift. The resting point halfway up is a lot more appreciated on the way up these days than on the way down. I expect that in a few years I'll just stay up topside and wave at my husband on his way down. Me and the elves will have a teaparty while we wait for his return. For the nature lovers and quiet-loving people of the world, there is plenty to see and do around Trinidad. Some of my other favorites in the area are: the old-growth Pacific
 around anywhere in
California, keep your eyes peeled for poison oak: "Leaves of three, let them be...")The beach itself is tucked in a secluded cove. It's a small sandy beach that is a pleasant retreat from the traffic of nearby Hwy 101. You take a short hike through the woods, across open bluffs, and past seasonal wildflowers (when the golden poppies bloom in the spring it's dazzling!) down to the beach. There is a natural arch near the north end of the beach. Low tide is the best time to visit. All in all, this nearly-yearly interlude rests my spirit for months to come. It isn't until the next dry, hot, sepia summer arrives that I begin once again to take out my photographs and plan another cool green sojourn. So if you're interested in seeing part of California that isn't well known outside of the local area, you might want to consider little Trinidad and Patrick's Point. It's good for your soul! |
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