Best Trip for Best Start to New Year Pt. 2

Waking up for sunrise is always harder than I think it will be.

We managed to wake up 20 minutes before sunrise, threw on clothes and hiked out to Wedding Rock. I think the sun waited for us because we got to see it rise in all its soft, foggy glory.

Wedding Rock itself is a sight to see because of the stone stairs leading around the outcropping like an old, stone castle clinging to the rocks. I used to think it was a castle when I was small.

This time, we watched everything go from pink to yellow to blue as the sun warmed up the fog. After a couple pictures, we hiked our sleepy selves right back to the car where we napped for an hour and a half. Best nap ever.

To finish off the Patrick's Point part of the journey, we went to Palmer's Point and down to the little beach area. The beach has tide pools which were mostly flooded with high tide, but we saw a baby seal. It was sunbathing with its mother close by – do not approach.

We waved goodbye to the rocky, green coast  to drive to Fern Canyon. It is only about 10 miles north, but the actual drive to the trailhead takes about 45 minutes.

Before hitting the secret road, we saw a herd of elk. There were at least 30 of them. Again, do not approach wild animals. To get to the road, you have to go through an elk meadow, and then the road switches from asphalt to hard parked earth.

Huge trees block out the sun as you drive through the closely packed forest. Everything is a beautiful green with that quiet, hushed sound. Be careful to not get too distracted by the beautiful scenery though because the road is narrow and winding.

We make it to the park ranger kiosk – you have to pay $8 for day use unless you camped in a park for $35 like we did – and headed in. The road is not the smoothest, with pot holes and creeks, but we made it okay with my higher clearance car.

The weather was perfect. All of the fog and drizzle had cleared up to be a crisp sunny day.



The walk to the canyon opening is super short and then you can decide how far into it you go. About an hour in, the trail up the canyon stops because of trees and nature, but there is a trail that takes you up to the ridge on the left. This trail includes a few different ones, including the Friendship Ridge Trail and the James Irvine Trail.



We hiked along the ridge for awhile, looking at the massive trees, broken trunks and funny roots. After crossing a couple of man made bridges, we turned back. You can choose to take the ridge trail back to the canyon entrance, but we loved being in the canyon.

It's one of those moments when you feel small and awed by your surrounding as you walk through the canyon. Walls that run straight up so far you have to tilt your head to see the trees on the edge. As if that isn't enough, the walls are alive with vibrate green ferns of all shapes and sizes.

Because of the time of year, some of the ferns were changing colors to red or yellow.

Water trickles down the canyon walls to make tiny waterfalls and nourish the living greenery. It is magical to walk through towering walls of ferns.

There are fallen trees and logs people use to cross the running creek. Connor and I got our feet soaked a couple times, but we still loved every second.

We came back out of the canyon, ate some lunch and left. We wanted to beat as much night fall as we could on the road.

Unfortunately, 75% of our drive back home was on the dark winding roads.

As I said before, best trip to start the new year. I loved showing the Northern coast – especially Patrick's Point – to Connor because he had never been before.  If anyone needs recommendations on where to camp or go, let me know!