The Longest Way Down... Detours, Delays, and Determination

goldtooth

Member
Here is a trip report of our adventure to the Redwoods last weekend. Not much off roading but plenty of beautiful trees!



After last years trip to the Redwoods on Valentines Day, we decided to try and make it an annual pilgrimage to this majestic area. We planned on going on Valentines weekend but Portland got a winter blast of ice and snow so we delayed the trip by one weekend. With a 500 mile drive in front of us, we decided to leave a bit earlier and headed south at 6:00pm on Thursday after we got off work.

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Yes we need better headlights!
The drive was uneventful and we stopped for the night at a rest area just north of Roseburg, Or. It was a bit off the highway and fairly quiet but it was 10:00 at night and we were tired so it didn’t matter much and off to sleep.

The next morning we were able to take in our surroundings a bit. A foggy morning revealed our home for the night, which was actually pretty scenic for a rest stop.

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We left early the next morning in anticipation of getting to our campsite around 2:00 to give us plenty of time to explore the area. Little did we know what we were in store for.

As we drove down highway 199 towards the California border, we stopped at the fruit inspection stand and found out that highway 101 south of Crescent City was closed in both directions from a landslide. The only way around it was to go back to I5 to Redding and take highway 299 over. Well that is a HUGE detour that looked like it would add half a days driving to our route.

With few options, we turned around and headed to I5. We looked at a few other options to avoid the long detour but the other roads were closed due to snow or other landslides. Down to Redding we go.

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With snow and fog on the passes, it was slow going as we made our way south. We had a quick lunch in Redding and I took over driving duties at that point. From 299 we headed to highway 36 as Google maps said the 299 was requiring chains at the pass and we didn’t want to deal with that at this point. In hindsight it would have been a faster route.

As we turned onto highway 36, we saw signs that it was also closed but had pilot cars every hour. Another delay. We approached the road worker and he said we missed the 3:00 shuttle and the next one is not until 5:30 now. At this point all we could do was laugh at the day we were having. We settled in for the 90 minute wait for our guide.

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At 5:30 we were lead through an area that was devastated by summer fires and the crews were working hard to remove trees and shore up landslides. It was now dark and raining at this point and our stock headlights are pathetic which made coming down the twisty mountain pass very stressful.

We finally reached our campsite on Avenue of the Giants at 8:00 at night, a full 6 hours after we had planned. A quick dinner and a some ciders and we were off to sleep. Though tired, we were excited to explore one of our favorite places tomorrow.
 

goldtooth

Member
The Redwoods!

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The next morning we set off early to make up for lost time yesterday. I will let the pics do the talking here as I can’t add much that will describe the size and beauty of this area.

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We headed down to Miranda to get some gas and make lunch. While there we had some great interactions with some local kids ripping around on scooters and bought some stuff from the local thrift shop.

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goldtooth

Member
We had a decision to make. Wait around in the Redwoods area for information on the reopening of highway 101, or just plan on heading back the way we came on highway 299. We needed to be home Monday night and it was already Saturday and had to keep in mind it may be a two day drive home.

Putting off the decision until later, we drove down to the river and enjoyed the calmness.

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Back on the Avenue of the Giants road we pulled over many times to hike and explore the area. Being February, it was almost deserted.

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With no word on the reopening of the highway, we decided to stay close to both highway 101 and highway 299 which happens to be the Arcata area. There was a site on iOverlander for an overlook that people had slept at before so we headed there to sleep and check on the highway status in the morning.

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For being just off the highway, it was pretty quiet and we shared the spot with two truckers who didn’t want to make the foggy drive over the pass at night.
 

goldtooth

Member
The next morning I checked the Caltrans site and the highway was still closed. That made the decision for us, back towards Redding.

The sunrise was beautiful from our not so secluded campsite.

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We stopped in a few small towns to see what they had to offer but most were pretty quiet on this Saturday morning.

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Needing to stretch our legs, a historic site just off the highway was just what we needed.

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Passing by Whiskeytown Lake, we pulled in to use the restrooms and make lunch with a great view.

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Back on the road, we gassed up in Redding and switched drivers again. It was a beautiful day out and even though we were not doing what we had planned, we were enjoying every minute of it.

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With and open road and my best friend at my side, what is not to like?

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As we drove north we got off I5 and took highway 97 as we figured there would be more camping options and we hadn’t even used our camp chairs or fire pit yet! The snow got a bit deeper as we neared LaPine so we headed towards an area we were familiar with near Sunriver.

We settled on an old gravel pit that was covered in snow but had easy access. As we were setting up camp, we turned around to witness an epic sunset! The video does a much better job in capturing this than the pics do.

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After dinner was made we relaxed by the fire for a bit then headed inside the van to enjoy the warm Espar heater and drift off to sleep.

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This trip was not at all what we were expecting. There were many areas that we had planned on exploring but were not able to due to the road closure. With all of that being said, it was an amazing trip and we were able to spend a day in a magical place that we love, see some areas that we would not have gone otherwise, and be in the right place on the last night to witness and amazing sunset.

This is all part of the adventure. Not knowing what the next turn in the road will bring. We both are looking forward to returning to the Redwoods and seeing what the next adventure will bring!
 

Cabrito

I come in Peace
Great trip with wonderful pics. Thanks for sharing.

Sounds like you made lemonade with the lemons life dealt you and that is what adventure is all about. Looks like some sweet spots you got to camp at.
 

goldtooth

Member
Yeah not gonna lie though, Friday was a tough day with all of the setbacks. Looking back now it all worked out and we really enjoyed the trip. We will definitely remember it!
 

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