for some reason i was so exhausted after riding this day i just got a motel room in Crescent City and went to bed as soon as i got there, around 3 or 4PM. i woke up about 5 hours later and staggered down to the Denny's across the street and had a cheeseburger, then went back to sleep. it was kind of a lost day, i dont remember much about it...
the next day was far more interesting; when i woke up i was really excited to finally get to the real redwoods, and was on my way by 8AM to fern canyon and the prairie creek ranger station, where they had on display a petrified tree trunk that had formed around a trapped elk's antlers...
the road to fern canyon is a 7 mile single-lane gravel road with no outlet, its dead-end at the parking lot/trail head. trailers, RVs, and large trucks are prohibited, and most tourists in regular passenger cars pass it up because of its relative remoteness, so the whole area has a feeling of isolation. davidson road at first climbs up out of the prairie creek valley, then descends through the forest all the way down to the beach...
...where there are 3 stream crossings and the Gold Bluffs campground before reaching the trailhead. the weather was brilliant and i had plenty of time to explore...
