Behind the Redwood curtain, by the Pacific Ocean, lies the small town of Trinidad. Located about 293 miles from San Francisco, it’s a beautiful five-hour drive the closer you get to Trinidad. It can get interesting in the redwood forests, especially at night. When I drove down with Luna, she meowed so insistently that when I eventually found a safe place to pull over, I did. We sat together under the thickness of forest and I watched her watch the trees. This is Sasquatch country.
Trinidad, part of Humboldt county, is known for many things, including its premium weed production.
This seaside town is also a beautiful place to visit. Sue-meg Park (previously Patrick’s Point Park) is full of hiking trails, campgrounds, and beaches, some more accessible than others. You can get to Agate Beach from the park. Maybe to see if you find any true gems. There are also clothing-optional beaches.
There are several lagoons and it was at one of these that we went canoeing. I was first introduced to the Humboldt Lagoons State Park on surf checks with Wade. These are Big Lagoon, Stone Lagoon, Freshwater Lagoon, and Dry Lagoon. The last one is a marsh.
This August, we caught the canoeing bug and went out twice. First Big Lagoon, then a few days later, Trinidad Bay.
Canoeing in Big Lagoon
Big Lagoon was the perfect choice for our first outing together in Wade’s canoe. A beach separates the lagoon from the ocean, making this sheltered area calm waters to paddle through. It is also a beautiful and serene place, where many species of birds dwell. As we quietly paddled down the waterway toward the highway, we were rewarded with seeing many birds and then their song as we headed home.
It was a beautiful day – great for our canoeing trip.
Wade and I loaded up the canoe onto the roof and he knotted it in safely, a skill he picked up as a surfer.
Canoeing in Trinidad Bay
Our second canoe trip was a few days ago.
We headed to Trinidad Bay and arrived at the ramp around 12:30PM. We walked the canoe down to the beach and Wade went to park the truck. It was a beautiful sunny day.
For the next hour or so, we stayed around the more sheltered area of the bay. At one point, we stopped at a rock to look at the beautiful purple starfish. The seaweed that was just visible below the surface was mesmerizing. Its wondrous shapes swaying with the tide. On the way back in, we even saw a seal contently sunning themself on a rock.
As we were preparing to leave, a couple of teenagers came in on their kayak. I was curious. They had gone fishing and it seemed like one was teaching the other how to clean and gut the fish. So we went to see what they caught. It was a variety, including ling cod. Such brilliant colours. The seagulls were sitting on the water, waiting for the guts that were thrown back to the sea.
