Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park

This is a big park with a couple of camping options and a hundred miles of trail. There are some huge old growth trees and some scenery that you will never forget. But you already knew that. I suggest the Damnation Creek Trail located at mile marker 16 off Hwy 101 four miles south of the Mill Creek Campground. It is an old Yurok trail that will take you approximately two miles down a moderately steep path to the beach where you will pass some of the most magnificent old growth trees you will ever see. It must have been too steep to remove the lumber, so these giants lives were thankfully spared. The way that the sunlight shines through the fog and filters through the trees here will leave you speechless. There are some amazing colors in this forest! The beach is equally awesome. The Hobbs Wall trail to the Mill Creek Trail is another nice trail that is accessible from Mill Creek Campground located within the park. The trail will take you to some nice sections of the park. It is about 8 miles up and back with plenty of water that you could drink after filtering. My wife and I did not see one other human soul on this trail. Mill Creek Campground is relatively uncrowded, covered in second growth trees and has some of the most awesome campsites I have ever encountered anywhere. Bear, deer, raven, banana slug, and stellar jay will be on the trail. Campsite #90 is especially nice.

It is a wonderful place to camp when you are exploring this park.

Patrick's Point State Park

Patrick's Point State Park This park is one of the crown jewels of California's State Park System. It is a seldom used place open year round overlooking Agate and Trinidad State Beaches with jaw-dropping views of the North Coast. The mixed forest within the park is filled with crows, jays, ravens, mountain lion, brown bear, chipmunk, deer, elk and other creatures. Keep your food locked in the bear box and take all the soap and candy out of your car or face the consequences. The Rim Trail is just a few miles long and will take you along a beautiful path where the forest meets the ocean and a couple of paths lead down to the water. The campsites here are huge and private and you are going to have a couple of areas to choose from. The Agate Beach Trail is currently closed, however. At the time of our visit, the fog had burned off by around 2PM offering some astounding scenery from the Rim Trail and the top of Ceremony Rock. Light pollution is relatively low here on the point and looking at the stars here with the sound of the ocean in the background makes life worth celebrating. All campsites in this and every other California State Park are $35.00 a night. A generous two (2) dollar discount is available for seniors. If you hike or bike into the campground, the cost is $5.00 per person.

Sinkyone Wilderness

This park is a bit difficult to access but well worth the effort. I found out about it from a flyer posted by the ranger while camping at Standish Hickey a couple of years ago. It offers one a very isolated and remote wilderness experience, especially if you happen to be there in December. You may be the only person there looking at the birds, elk, bear, raccoon, and a ton of deer. There are two ends of the park, and a trail linking them together along the Lost Coast. The photos are from the Usal end of the park where a creek runs into the Pacific. It is probably not a great idea to swim, approach the animals, or to become too intoxicated here as a fatality could easily result. Plan your trip by researching the place and calling the ranger (at Standish Hickey) for trail conditions before you head out.

The Chart Room Restaurant

The fresh, beer battered ling cod pieces that they serve here are what fried Pacific fish is supposed to taste like. A regular order of fish and chips comes with six smallish nuggets of ling cod in a delicious batter. I ordered six extra pieces of fish at $1.50 each they were so good! The tartar sauce is homemade and not purchased from Sysco. Cole slaw is the kind with a little bit of celery seed mixed in with the dressing and was crisp and fresh. The fries were the only weak point of the meal, and the owners should seriously consider making them from fresh potatoes and frying them twice but the excellent fish compensates for the fries. My wife got the crab louis which looked good and tasted even better. It was very reasonably priced. You will eat your meal among the friendly regulars and will have good thoughts about the service here! Harbor seals frolic in the water for your entertainment pleasure. A portrait of a pre-Alzheimer's Gipper wearing a cowboy hat hangs prominently on a wall reminding you that you are no longer in Arcata. You can walk over to dock "B" and talk to the fine fishermen who hauled in that ling cod on your plate earlier in the day. The fish does not get any fresher. Five stars you ask, for a fish house in Crescent City? You bet! Were you expecting the Four Seasons Pelican Bay brunch or something?

The Langham Huntington

Under normal circumstances, I would never stay in a hotel in Los Angeles but my wife won a room at this place a short while ago. Ever suspicious of anything free, I was wondering what the gimmick was. As it turned out, there was no gimmick. Absolutely no catch at all. I really dislike the Eagles and think they should all have their fingers smashed with a ball peen hammer for composing that song Hotel California. Especially the one who wheedles on the pedal steel. I can taste the vomit in my mouth just thinking about it. But in any event, this place is Hotel California more than any other hotel I have stayed in here in our Golden State. Spending a little time here will transport you to a different era long before we were an information society. When things were much nicer for the traveler as long as you were White. Where you could get a proper fucking finger sandwich with your afternoon tea. The cactus garden alone is worth a drive out here and the grounds are the epitome of tranquility. The pool is fantastic, the rooms comfortable, the food ranks among the best hotel meals I have eaten. I felt that the hotel employees were without a doubt the classiest ones I have dealt with ever. They succeeded in making me feel very welcome. A true oasis in the frequently plastic desert of Los Angeles.

Brand Park Hiking Trails

Brand Park is situated in the Verdugo Mountains in the foothills of Glendale. For the hike to the top, start at the fire road behind the doctor's house and walk about a mile up past the landfill. Turn left about 50 yards ahead when you get to the large sycamore tree for the steeper trail. The more challenging side has a set of radio towers on top and ends at the top of Tongva Peak. It may help some people to wear cleats to get a better grip, but I have no problems using trail running shoes. This trail has a good elevation gain, but is a relatively short hike. If you run down the fire road to the west of Tongva Peak, your return trip will total 4.1 miles to the parking lot. This approach is steep and challenging. There is another trail that goes to the top east of here. It is significantly easier, but still difficult. It has a nice place to rest at the halfway point. It takes my wife and I 1 hour and 10 minutes to go up and back on the more difficult trail running briskly most of the way. Things to take into account: There is no shade There are little gnats, flies and hornets so use DEET There is no water Like any hike, you can slip and fall and crack your head open and perish and the plants and animals don't care so just enjoy yourselves and don't take any unnecessary risks. Superior views on clear days of the San Gabriel Mountains on one side, and the sprawl on the other Rabbit, squirrel, coyote, and a bobcat or two. A couple of nice oaks. Some sycamore and pine. This park is filled with cool stuff in general. There is a branch of the Glendale public library but you probably knew that. The Brand Park Arts Library is not like your ordinary inner city library branch. It does not get crowded with screaming, hyperactive brats wheedling away on the internet and smearing their filthy germs all over the keyboards. For sure, it is the crown jewel in their system. It sure has a lot of very cool art books and non-book materials. It is almost like a miniature version of the Arts Library at UCLA, but with free parking and a considerably more delightful setting. The Brand Family graveyard is on the premises as well, and has a very cool pyramid tombstone. There is also a trail with waterfalls that you can access by walking up the asphalt road at the north end of the park, and hanging a left at the drainage ditch at the fork in the road. When you come to a pork in the road, take it. This is a really good park to eat mushrooms and it is super cool when it rains! During the Summer, it gets as dry as a tinder box. The park closes at 10PM.

Chilao Campground

I came here afterwork yesterday and occupied campsite #39 in Manzanita Loop. There were a total of three other parties in the entire campground and the experience could not have been anymore magnificent. My godson who is three had his very first camping experience was absolutely delighted with Chilao. He climbed around the boulders, explored the vicinity of our space, ate s'mores, hot dogs, sat around the fire, watched the stars, and collected pine cones and rocks. He could not have been any happier. We will both surely never forget this fantastic little trip. We saw blue jays, crows, squirrels, chipmunks, and a couple of red tailed hawks. The forest has come back since the Station Fire and looks much better than it did the last time I was here approximately two years ago when it looked like Downtown Grozny. It was a fine night to go to Chilao. The temperature was in the 60's all night and the moon and stars were just breathtaking. Instead of the sleeping in the tent, I put my air mattress in the middle of a clearing so I could get a better look at the stars and planets. I turned on a little Frank Zappa and had some cold ice water and crashed. I woke up at 4AM and took a leisurely two hour stroll in the moonlight. The burned trees in the moonlight reminded me of skeletons and the purple flowers of the poodle dog brush glowed like they were under a blacklight. The forest looked hopeful and like a war zone simultaneously. An owl's call and some crickets were the only sounds in the canyon. I went to some intense boulders on one end of the canyon south of the park and climbed to the top of the stack and carefully observed what was going on around me. Life can be exceedingly disappointing when you look at the big picture, but very grand indeed because of times like this. Campsite-$12 Food-$25 Gas-$10 Firewood-Free Memories-Priceless