Northern California Experience

9,090 km

After my few weeks in Oregon I was fortunate enough to meet up with my buddies Lachie and Niki again in Oakland, California where we rented a car. At the time I had no idea what was planned, but I would soon experience an amazing journey through Northern California.

We left Oakland for the Napa and Sonoma Valleys where we intended on visiting some vineyards. We drove north through Napa Valley with a short stop for lunch in the town of Napa. We continued to St. Helena where we took the very winding and scenic Spring Mountain Road over the ridge and hills separating the Napa and Sonoma valleys. 
 

We ended up in Santa Rosa in the early afternoon where we visited one of the most saught after and highly regarded craft breweries in North America, Russian River Brewing Company. I of course enjoyed a number of great sour and barrel aged beers, and grabbed their marquee beer, Pliny the Elder IIPA, to go.

We then made our way off to a couple of great wineries and vineyards with my favorite being Hook & Ladder, before settling down in the first camping spot at Austin Creek State Recreation Area. It was a sweet camping spot that directly neighbors Armstrong Redwood StatePark. The drive up to Austin Creek was amazing with great mountain side views, and the camp site was quiet and each site was shrouded under large redwoods. We enjoyed a nice bottle of wine and some craft beer, and got a good sleep before a big drive the next day.

In the morning we drove off to the coast to take a winding and scenic drive up Hwy 1. The whole drive was filled with long ocean exposures, quick peaks of ocean cliffs and outcroppings and beautiful farms falling away to the seaside. One of the most captivating places that we experienced was the Russian River delta where you can find great cliffside viewpoints of the sandy delta and surrounding mountains sweeping away south.

The end of the second day found us setting up our camp at the Humboldt Redwoods State Park after a few stops in eclectic towns where that hippie vibe is still obvious. The main street in Garberville was filled with backpackers looking to make some good money harvesting the finest crop Humboldt County has to offer.

We were able to spend a full day in Humboldt Redwoods to explore the area. I decided I needed some time to myself and in the outdoors, so I decided to hike Grasshopper Mountain. The only adversity I faced on the hike was that they had removed the seasonal bridges across the Eel River, but that didn't stop me! Off came the hiking boots and rolled the shorts up and waded across to the trail head.

 

I observed some wildlife on my hike, fortunately no mountain lions, but lots of lizards, mule deer, and eagles. I was keeping an eye out for rattlesnakes but I did not see any... I would like to see one... from a safe distance of course!

Day four was my last day in Northern California and it was back to Sacramento. It was a very memorable and unique drive along another winding hwy, Hwy 36. It was an ever changing landscape as the hwy works it way up and down, through the Shasta and Trinity mountain passes. Starting with the Redwoods Standing tall, the hwy works its way up to the Shasta and Trinity National Forests, and then to the semi-arid lands beyond Platina.

All in all it was a great first experience of California, abut they say not to judge a book by its cover. I really hope the rest of this book is as great as the first 4 days!