Van Damme State Park
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Pygmy Forest Loop Van Damme State Park |
June 24, 2017
I never just 'drive home' from somewhere if there is an
alternative. If a hike is not involved, I consider the
mileage largely wasted. On this final lap of my
four-day Redwoods Tour, I am taking the long way home from
Garberville so as to visit another nice trail or two.
Highway-1 along the coastline is in horrible condition, due to washouts; numerous construction delays are incurred in a short time. Naturally, I also must stop when something nice catches my eye:
A real arch north of Fort Bragg
A few miles south of Mendocino is Van Damme State Park.
At the entrance station I tell the clerk that I'm going to do some
hiking. Upon learning my intended route, she suggests that I
can pay the eight-dollar day-use fee, or I can park
half a mile down the road and just walk in.
The ranger further suggests that if I don't care where my loop starts, I could just drive up a nearby road and park right at the Pygmy Forest itself. That sounds even better. I thank the woman, hoping that her boss doesn't overhear her forgoing park revenue that I would happily have paid.
At the Pygmy Forest trailhead, two County Sheriff guys are just finishing up a rescue operation. I wait around long enough to capture the best action shot:
They just rescued a lost 13-year-old boy
I find it incredulous that such a thing could happen anymore, in this day and age of GPS devices and the like; besides, the kid could not have been more than half a mile from a road or trail no matter where he was.
A nice boardwalk loops through a small section of forest
There also are nice informative signs detailing amazing statistics regarding the local flora.
Plant growth is stunted here because the soil is highly acidic
and deficient in nutrients. A three-foot tree here
might be more than 100 years old.
Pacific Rhododendron
Dwarf Manzanita
At the back end of the boardwalk, the main trail continues northward. A woman approaches with a cast on her arm, having come up from the park road (and after paying her eight dollars). She is contemplating doing the entire loop, but clearly is not in good condition.
Today's loop consists of two named trails — the Old Logging Road Trail and the Fern Canyon Trail. I opt to head down the logging road first so as to save a real trail for the return route. If the invalid woman continues with her own loop, we will meet again later.
Starting down the Old Logging Trail
California Huckleberry
Tanoak
The going is all downhill, for the road drops 400 feet in just over a mile.
Pleasant walking
The trees here are tall, but not very big
Douglas's Iris
Agaricus -aka- True Mushrooms
Within half an hour I have reached the junction with the main route back to the park entrance. Here, an "artist" has left his mark:
Painted on the big trash barrel
It's twice as far back, which is perfectly fine
On a real trail now
Fern Canyon
This is my second visit to a Fern Canyon in as many days!
As usual, there aren't many flowers in the deep forest; but a few are happy to pose:
Red Baneberry
Western Thimbleberry
California Milkvetch
Oregon Wintergreen
Having encountered just two hikers on the entirety of the loop, I am back at Pygmy Forest. The woman with the broken arm must have returned the way she came.
Evergreen Huckleberry
Pacific Rhododendron
The second half of the boardwalk loop finishes my walk.
Dwarf Rhododendron
§: This walk was pleasant, but relatively mundane except
for the Pygmy Forest itself, which was both beautiful and educational.
| Scenery |  |
| Difficulty |  |
| Flowers | |
| Solitude |  |
