Fern Canyon

Last weekend, we took advantage of a day-off-from-call-where-I-could-venture-more-than-20-minutes-away to hike a little bit.

We chose Fern Canyon, which was voted Humboldt's "Best Hike" (with 19% of voters choosing this trail, tripling the percentage for the next most popular one). The location, within Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park (about 50 minutes north of us), was actually chosen by Steven Spielberg for the setting of Jurassic Park 2 and BBC's Walking with Dinosaurs, and is a lovely place to wander. We hiked along the creek which was lined with steep walls covered in different types of ferns, and took a couple of vertical offshoots.

We saw lots of these (snuggling slugs, I think):


and some of these... (elk at the trailhead)


...as well as a bright orange-colored snake which slithered across our path which caused me to yelp in fear, jump back, and push Kelvin in front of me.

It was not a strenuous walk, but a very interesting one, filled with natural wonders and nice scenery.






Interestingly, we had a bit of deja vu en route to the trail, as K and I had actually visited this state park about a year and a half ago on a trip to Oregon and the Redwood Coast. We remember driving past Gold Bluffs Beach and attempting to traverse a road with lots of ditches filled with water, but had to turn back as I worried that my Prius wouldn't make it across. This time (not yet "wet" season, although doesn't this place look wet?!), we made it all the way there.

Forest Awe




Now we have only 95 things left to do in Humboldt County! :)