Family Jaunt to Prairie Creek Redwoods SP

The Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday was celebrated in these parts by a family outdoors excursion to Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.  We drove with the kids about 45 minutes north to Elk Meadow, with hopes of seeing and hiking amidst the large Roosevelt Elk herd up there (we saw a few off Davidson road and others on the road to Gold Bluffs Beach but none in the actual meadow).  We had a stunner of a Humboldt County January day with bright sunshine all day long.

We did the short hike to Trillium Falls, which Kelvin and I had done back in August. Niall wanted to be carried, but Iver (who only likes to be photographed in silly poses) was a super hiker trouper, and was mad that we didn't do the whole loop. 

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We continued on to the Day Use fee area (which was actually, surprisingly free today on the holiday!) by Fern Canyon, a hike we haven't done in close to ten years, when we were still Humboldt County newbies (we didn't drag the kids on this hike today but may at some point in the future)! 

We saw several tagged elk friends along the way.

We had lovely play time and lunch at Gold Bluffs Beach, where it was surprisingly calm (windless) and quite warm. 

Iver had fun "playing tag" with the waves.

It's hard to get 5/5 family members cooperating for a photo. 

(we have a soon-to-be threenager on our hands).

It was really refreshing to get just a little bit outside town to see some of the lovely Humboldt County scenery that we don't get to very often (but should!). I'm eternally grateful for such beautiful (and so accessible) surroundings-- time spent in nature is so good for the soul.

Ma-le'l Dunes (North)

We are so thankful to have tons of remote beaches and coastline to explore in these parts and, despite the pandemic, still haven't seen all there is to see locally!  One of Kelvin's colleagues told him about some lovely sand dunes west of Arcata and, while I was on call this weekend and having to stay within a few minutes of the hospital, Kelvin took the boys there  (twice!).  We've been to the Samoa and Manila Dunes, but these were a new site.

The Ma-le'l Dunes, whose name comes from the Wiyot (Native) name meaning "his home," is part of Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge. They explored the "northern" portion, with several sandy trails leading to the ocean. There are also nearby salt marshes.

The boys had a ton of fun (and were especially tired after-- Iver even fell asleep in the car and he never naps) romping in the thick sand and "sledding" down the dunes (and climbing back up). 

These were two happy dune bugs. I suspect that these dunes will become one of our favorite go-to spots in the future!

The Coves

I had forgotten to post some more of our beach pictures January, so here they are.  The coastline is explorable in both sunshine and in rain.

College Cove in Trinidad has become one of the kids' favorite parts of local coastline to explore.

Tidepooling is a fun hobby!

Our beaches truly are the best!