Lucky us. We who live in Humboldt County have not one but four wilderness areas in which to play: the Marbles, the Trinities, the Russian Wilderness and the Lost Coast. Breathtaking as they are, though, if you haven’t brought the right food, you”ll be too tired or hungry to enjoy their beauty. Back in the […]
hiking
Posted inSpecial Sections
A Trip Back in Time
Sixty-five million years ago the Earth changed dramatically when a giant asteroid struck. A mass extinction ensued with dinosaurs disappearing as the planet warmed. Before the asteroid, conifers, like dinosaurs, ruled. Almost unimaginable forests of cone-bearing trees decorated the Earth with as many as 20,000 species, including nine different redwoods. With the global warming that […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Over the Ridge
Twenty short years ago, a friend and I chanced upon the trail that leads from Dry Lagoon to Stone Lagoon but our exploration was quickly thwarted by an expanse of thick, black mud. That trail continued calling to me, and a few months ago, after our recent long drought, I had a notion the trail […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
The Road Not (Yet) Taken
In case you hadn’t noticed, there’s a veritable tsunami of public-access improvements sweeping Humboldt County: the Arcata Ridge, Humboldt Bay and Hikshari’ trails; the McKay Tract; the Eel River Estuary Preserve — wait, the what? The delta of the Eel River, extending from Table Bluff to Loleta, Fernbridge and Centerville, is a subtly beautiful agricultural […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Hiking for Three
When I found out I was pregnant with twins, my doctor suggested that I stick to “gentle stretching,” walking and swimming for exercise. That sounded like the most boring nine months ever. During my first trimester, the only time I didn’t feel nauseous was when I was eating or being active, so I ran, biked […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
King of the World
Stands of manzanita and groves of knobcone and sugar pine grow within sight of the ocean. Redwoods are nearly absent. Golden eagles ride the thermals along the ridges, and you can find rattlesnakes right down to the edge of the beach. All this makes exploring the King Range National Conservation Area a unique experience in […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
On the Ridge
Sunny Brae residents Natalia Collier and Adam Brown know this trail. Up Buttermilk Lane, past the middle school and left onto Margaret, where a large army-green water tank marks the trailhead and a concrete staircase on the right rises into the Sunny Brae portion of the Arcata Community Forest. Collier, Brown and their dog Casey […]
Posted inNews
By the Breach
Even from the car, skimming fast south on Highway 101 in late December as the dusk sky streaked orange, you could tell something was different about Stone Lagoon, shimmering there behind a flickering screen of trees. It was breached! The smooth, silvery oval surface had grown a narrow, turbulent funnel that cut through the […]