June 10: Humboldt County – Last night we literally dragged ourselves into camp. We were tired! Immediately after dinner everyone was in bed. But today was very different.
We began our day by revisiting the “getting to resolution” agreement that we all agreed upon before starting the journey. Consensus was that we were still on track. We then walked over to the visitor’s center where we met Jessica Scanlan, our leader for the day. Jessica is from New York, is a forest ecologist with the BLM, and currently is working in the Headwaters Forest.
From Patrick’s Point to Trinidad, we are mainly road walking along Patrick’s Point Road. Along the way, Jessica points out the various trees that we see and describes the “Krumholtz Effect” wherein trees near the sea suffer from the constant wind and salt spray. We’ve all seen trees bent and stunted by this phenomenon. It aptly described all of us the night before.
Finally we took a side trail to Trinidad State Beach within sight of Pewetole Island. Then it was up from the beach and through the town of Trinidad to the memorial lighthouse for our lunch-time break. After lunch we continued along Scenic Drive to Moonstone County Park. Here we forded Little River and hit the firm sands of Little River State Beach. This beach is extremely flat; the result is that the force and violence of the waves have been spent by the time they reach the shoreline, leaving only the subtlety and interplay of light and motion to delight the eye. (Jon)