We Start the Journey in Arcata's Central Plaza... Home to Farmer's Markets, Live Music, Parades and Spontaneous Drum Circles when it's Sunny!
Arcata is also the Home of Humboldt State University where I went for Four Years and got a BS in Computer Information Systems... Excellent!
Clock Tower, Elevator and Bookstore
at the Center of Campus
Bicycle Power Generator built by Students at the Campus Center for Appropriate Technology, HSU Dancing in the Plaza to Local Band Absynth Quintet |
Map of Arcata showing Highway 101 and Highway 299 Travel North on 101 and Take a Right onto 299 in order to travel to Weaverville and Redding. |
a Mile up the Road We see
The Mill Yard... Construction Materials.
Lumber for Sale.
135 Miles to Redding.
and Highway 299 Doesn't Stop There.
It Goes All the Way to Alturas
Where it Connects to 395 Going North and South on the Nevada Side of The Sierras.
at the Blue Lake Casino.
They Have Great Food at
Low Prices and in the Morning
there are very few people...
Most People Like to Gamble at Night!
With the Forest in the Background.
Filler UP before that Long Drive
Over the Mountains!
Slot Machines...
Normally Packed With People!
Pull a Handle, Maybe Get Lucky,
or Maybe Donate to the Tribe!
Blue Lake is also Famous as the Home of the Humboldt Folklife Festival. at the Old IOOF Hall.
at the Humboldt Folklife Festival
as we head into the Trinity Alps
even more Trees!
Climbs Up into the Mountains.
Here we can see Clear Cut Logging
with a Beauty Border of Uncut Trees
Right next to the Road...
So No One Notices the Logging.
the Satellite Picture Above
is the Secret Dirt Road with a Gate.
Logging Company Employees Only!
No Trespassing...
No Earth First! Eco-Warriors...
--- Lord Ellis Summit ---
With a Handy Gravel Parking Lot
to Stop and Enjoy the View.
Others RUN. My Teacher, Mr Kim, was a
Marathon Runner and He Participated in the
Run from Arcata to Willow Creek.
A Super Marathon! It involved running
to the Top of a Mountain, To the Bottom of
a Valley and then to the Top of
Another Mountain...
We Go Down into
the Redwood Creek Valley
Be Thankful We are Not Stuck in a Road
Construction Traffic Jam. Every Summer they
Repair the Road and It Becomes ONE WAY.
With a Pilot Lead Truck... and a Long
Line of Cars, Trucks and Enraged
Drivers... But There is a Trick!
After CAL-TRANS Ushers you thru
The Zone, Pull off onto the Side of the Road
and Admire the View for 10 Minutes.
Maybe take a Photo of a Creek...
By Then, ALL of the other Cars and Trucks
will Have Driven on Down the Road...
and I Have it All to Myself!
and Since I Drive Slower than Average,
Those People will Keep on Getting
Farther and Farther Away from Me.
EXCELLENT!
One time I was driving Home from Redding and It was Really Hot! in my car without Air Conditioning... and We were Stuck waiting and waiting and waiting... and then when I finally was allowed to drive, I noticed a Park on the Trinity River... Stopped, Went Swimming, Drank a Lot of Pure Water... and Felt Wonderful! as Close to True Enlightenment as I'm Ever Likely to Get.
after Redwood Creek Valley,
We Get to Berry Summit.
to Stop and Enjoy the View...
or Take a Nap if You Need to...
and Admire The View.
Remember: If you are Traveling Downhill and You see a Fully Loaded Logging Truck in the Rear View Mirror... Pull off tho the Side of the Road at the First Opportunity. Let 'em Go! Because They Don't Really Have Brakes... and If You are in their Way, You are Putting Everyone's Life in Danger!
But Before We Get to Willow Creek,
There is an Opportunity to stay
at the Boise Creek Campground...
Boise Creek Campground
USDA Boise Creek Campground
USDA Boise Creek Campground
your tax dollars at work!
Willow Creek is Most Famous for Being Near the Home of Bigfoot. The Famous Film was Made Here. In Fact, That film was a Fake But... DON'T Tell Anyone! The Town Earns its Living with the Museum and Renting Motel Rooms to People that Want to Walk around in the Woods Looking For Bigfoot... FUN!
Map of Willow Creek CA USA - at The Junction of 299 and 96 - the Road to the Hoopa Reservation
[DISCLAIMER]
I don't want to Mislead the Public but
all these Pictures were Taken Long Ago.
The Last Couple of Years the Climate Has
Changed and there is a LOT LESS WATER.
So... Enjoy this Time Travel Blog...
Back to the Good Old Days When there was
Water in the Trinity River... and the Forest
had not Burned Down...
Also on Highway 96 is The Black Bear Ranch
and Eventually You get to Oregon...
It's a Twisty Mountain Road thru the Town of Happy Camp!
a Hippie Commune in Remote
Northern California on Highway 96.
We are Going to Willow Creek
and to the Bigfoot Museum!
It's a BIG Sculpture with BIG FEET!
Locals will Guide You to The Actual Location the film was made at... For a FEE!
During the Bigfoot Days Celebration!
July 9th 2022
Willow Creek is Where Highway 299 Meets the Trinity River. Downstream the Trinity Merges with the Klamath and Enters the Pacific Ocean near the Oregon Border in Yurok Tribal Land...
Here's a Photo of the Golden Bear on the Highway 101 Bridge at Yurok Nation! Way far Downstream.
The Climate up there in the Mountains
is Sunny and Warm in the Summer
and Snowy in the Winter
and Since it's The Tallest Mountain...
There is an Antenna Farm!
This is a Rare Sight because almost all of the Trucks haul LOGS not Boards. They take the Logs out of the Mountain to the Mills Located in Arcata, Blue Lake or Eureka. ...and... I love the Visual Echo we sometimes get in Google Street View... The "Stitching" Program Does Strange Psychedelic Distortion on Occasion!
Logging Truck hauling LOGS.
I was Stuck in a Construction Traffic Jam.
Leaving Willow Creek There is an Opportunity to Stay a Quaint Cabins... A Great Base Camp for Your Bigfoot Search!
Leaving Willow Creek We Find... Salyer!
In Trinity County, California, USA
or Put your Boat into the River.
on Campbell Ridge Road.
Park in the Gravel Parking Lot and
Stop at the Francis B Matthews
Rest Area... On this Road, Stop Often...
Relax! Enjoy Life!
Nothing Special about this Rest Stop, They are all Basically the Same... But they are Open 24 Hours a Day and You are Welcome to Sleep in Your Car for Hours... If Needed! Or it's a Great Place to Meet a Marijuana Farmer if You are Doing a Dope Deal! Squiggly as Seen from Space
But Look at Those Beaches!
Another Town with Nothing There
except a Store and a Post Office.
Drive a few Miles to Cedar Flat
Stop the Car and Jump in the River!
The Trinity River on the East Side of Cedar Flat |
It's Like this For Miles! |
And You Can Rent a Ride in a Rubber Boat
There are Many White Water Rafting Companies. Buy a Ticket, Take the Ride in Their Boat and then they Give you a Ride in a Truck Back Upstream to Where You Parked the Car! https://whitewatertours.com/river-rafting/trinity-river/ https://trinityriverrafting.com/ Bigfoot in the Trinity River - From the Bigfoot Rafting Company. https://www.bigfootrafting.com/about/ ~~~~~~ (~);-} ~~~~~~ You can Meet Adventurous People Rafting... Just Like the Characters Did in "The Monkey Wrench Gang" by Edward Abbey! They all met White Water Rafting Down the Colorado thru the Grand Canyon... Art by Robert Crumb |
and This is Highway 3 near Hayfork
Back to Highway 299... We Come to Helena
an Abandoned Gold Rush Mining Town
"Tumble Down Shack in Bigfoot County."
A Grateful Dead Lyric from the Song
I Think I Went on a Backpacking Trip
Starting at the End of this Road
in 1972 with Joe Franck.
He was the Guide...
Here is Where the Road Leaves The Trinity River.
Junction of Highway 299 and Highway 3
When traveling East, Just Continue Straight
on towards Redding!
But Remember to Visit the Joss House!
The Temple of the Forest Beneath the Clouds:
The temple is the oldest continuously used Chinese temple in California. On display are art objects, pictures, mining tools, and weapons used in the 1854 Tong War. This Taoist temple is still a place of worship and a fascinating look into the role played by Chinese immigrants in early California history. The temple was built in 1874 as a replacement for another that had burned.
Take the Virtual Tour of the Museum Joss House.
Here's The Mouth of a Dragon and a
Drawing of a Chinese Man Panning for Gold.
and If You Turn around and Look the Other Way,
It's the Classic Little White Church
and Buckhorn Fountain...
Who WAS Moon Lim Lee?
Why do the Rotarians Honor Him with
a Rest Stop? We will Never Know
Because They Sure as Hell aren't Telling!
We DO Know that the Buckhorn Fountain was a Place to Stop near Buckhorn Summit and Get Water for the Radiator of Your Car.
When I was a Child in the Sixties, There was a Similar Fountain near Summit Road, Los Gatos for People Traveling to The Beach at Santa Cruz. I guess Automobiles Overheated often when Traveling over a Mountain!
Indian Creek Lodge on the Trinity River.
backyard Fire Pit with Wooden Chairs...
Famous for Fishing!
Whiskeytown Reservoir
If you have never been there, Redding is Unbearably Hot in the Summer... Much Hotter than Sacramento or Chico... The Cool air Blows in from the Pacific Ocean at San Francisco Bay... And that Pushes the Hot Air of California's Central Valley to the Very Ends of The Valley. Redding and Bakersfield are INSANE in the Summer...
SO, Drive up to Whiskeytown Lake and Jump In... and the Kids can Play with Their Unicorn Boat!
The One Last Stop between Whiskeytown Lake and Redding is the Gold Mining Ghost Town at
Six miles west of Redding a row of old, half-ruined, brick buildings remind passing motorists that Shasta City, the lusty "Queen City" of California’s northern mining district, once stood on this site. These ruins and some of the nearby roads, cottages, and cemeteries are all silent but eloquent vestiges of the intense activity that was centered here during the California gold rush.
If You Look Closely at the Trees on the Right,
You can see that This Forest Burned to the Ground
in One of California's Many Wildfires...
A Couple Years after the Fire
we are Left with Burnt Trees and
a Whole Lotta Bushes!
Building a Town out of Bricks?
Smart Plan in Wildfire Country!
The SMELL Triggered Fear in my Lizard Brain...
and It Looked Like an Alien Planet...
But Enough of THAT! On To Redding!
Welcome Sign and Massive RV.
I'm Sure Glad I wasn't Driving THAT thru
The Mountains! How Many Gallons to the Mile?
Secret Shortcut to Highway 5 if You're Going to Chico or Sacramento. Turn Right at Buenaventura Ave and You Can MISS Redding Entirely!
Follow that Truck to Avoid Actually Going There!
The First Building I Always See Entering Redding.
Of Course, In Redding there is the Sacramento River to Swim in... and WaterWorks Park...
Sundial Bridge... and Those Mountains in the Distance? Those are the Fabulous Trinity Alps... Where We Just Were!
There are Some Spots, Like Castle Crags, That Are as Wonderful as Anything in the Sierra Nevada. Except Yosemite... That's The Best!
and that's as far as I've Gotten this Morning!
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VisionQuest!
I wanted to Learn How to Do "Remote Viewing" and Telekinesis... Well... I've Pretty Much Gotten Damn Good at "Remote Viewing."
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Using Google Maps, Street View, Satellite Images and Google Image Search... I Can See Many Things Far AWAY... and People Upload their own Photographs! In Locations I'm Forbidden to go... Inside the Monastery high in the Mountains on Highway 36... Poolside at the Christian Summer Camp... Inside the Vogtle Nuclear Power Plant in Georgia... They have an Excellent Virtual Tour... Right Inside the Control Room and the Factory Floor Where they Build the Turbines...
NOW, I Want to Learn Telekinesis...
So I Can Do Some Monkey Wrenching at
The Vogtle Nuclear Power Plant...
What IF I Traveled inside the Reactor Control
Computer and Freaking MELTED the Microprocessor? Automatic Shutdown!
NRC Investigation!
Read More:
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Other Journeys
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Virtual Journey: Canada Tourist Guide & Autobiography. We Went on our Honeymoon to Vancouver, BC. We Rode a Bicycle built for Two in Stanley Park... and Many More Wonderful Places to Visit.
Virtual Journey: Eureka, Arcata, Trinidad - Visit Northern California's Coast. We Have Our Own Little World Here Behind The Redwood Curtain! https://gvan42.blogspot.com/2022/05/eureka-arcata-trinidad.html
Virtual Journey: Trinity Alps, CA, USA - Drive the Bigfoot Highway (299) From Arcata on the Coast to Redding in the Central Valley. White Water Rafting! Gold Rush Ghost Towns!
Virtual Journey: to the Star Wars Flying Motorcycles Redwood Forest on Hwy 36 in Remote Humboldt County, CA, USA - and the Bridgeville UFO Festival, The Town of Mad River.
https://gvan42.blogspot.com/2022/03/virtual-journey-hwy-36-remote-humboldt.html
Virtual Journey: Lost Coast, CA, USA on Highway 211 - From Victorian Ferndale to The Beach, the Mountains of Mateel to the Avenue of the Giants. Humboldt County.
https://gvan42.blogspot.com/2022/03/a-virtual-drive-thru-remote-humboldt.html
Virtual Journey to San Francisco - Boat Ride on the Red and White Fleet. Under the Golden Gate Bridge and Around Alcatraz Island... and MORE!
Virtual Journey: The Smithsonian and Washington DC. Instead of Buying Gasoline and Driving There, Take this Magic Trip Instead! A Guided Tour to the Places My Family Wanted to See...
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Handy Hints!
When designing a BLOG or Webpage: Make sure to keep Photo file sizes small so your page loads quickly... even on old slow computers in foreign countries! USE JPG format and save at 70% MEDIUM QUALITY - With a Width of image Less than 1400 Pixels. Why would anyone want their Blog to Load Slowly for No Reason?
Remember to TITLE the pictures with a meaningful name in English... put that name in the ALT and TITLE tags in the HTML: Here's a Typical name of mine... "Lord Ellis Summit in the Snow Highway 299 Humboldt County CA USA.jpg" That way Google image search can understand what the picture is about and rate it highly... and people that can't see images will know what it's all about! and People living in India or France or Australia will know that the picture is located in California, USA...
I'm often surprised that people I Know, Who Should know better, put a Large PNG format picture on their website when... The Viewer's Computer CAN'T Show the Difference! All that extra data is wasted... and the Time it takes to load a page is slowed down... Large Beautiful PNG Images are Excellent if you want to print a photo on a T-Shirt or a Coffee Cup... Like my Zazzle/gregvan Webstore... The Extra Quality is Essential to make a Great Product... BUT... not on a Blog or Website... If you are submitting photographs to make a BOOK... YES! Big Beautiful Images are Required...
Remember: The Default setting on an iPhone is a Huge File... When I use the pictures I take with my iPhone the first thing I do is use Pixlr.com to throw away 80% of the Data...
Have you ever Noticed the Paintings on the Wall in TV Commercials? They All Look a Lot Like This one Above... Just a Meaningless Blob of Color on the Wall with Nothing to Distract the Viewer from Whatever the Spokesmodel is Selling... In the SET there Should be Something on the Wall but Nothing that attracts attention!
I'm also disturbed by the Beautiful Hollywood Actresses cast as Patients in Drug Commercials... They Always have a Disclaimer Printed in the Screen that Says "Not a Real Patient" as if They Couldn't FIND a Real Patient to Film... they could show how the Drug performs it's Miracles... but NO... They have a Casting Call Looking for Gorgeous Babes that Look Real Healthy... PLAY BALL!