Humboldt is one of the best places in the world to go hiking. Late this spring I had the great joy of exploring some of the easier trails with my hiking buddy Kay.
This post is about some of the resources I found helpful in finding some of these trails. I promise more trails as I get going. I hope that some of these resources help you to find great walks in your area, and that you send me some of the trails that you have found.
Note: Please support independant book sellers. I know I could make money by linking these to that place that will remain unnamed, but it is so important to support these small businesses. If you are in Eureka I can highly reccomend the local new and used book store Booklegger.
The Creaky Knees Guides. I found this series in a used bookstore in Arizona. Well actually, I found their Oregon book in Arizona, and have since bought the rest of them. Many of their hikes are more ambitious than I am, but the easier hikes are perfect for me.
Each hike has a brief and concise list of the Rating, Distance, Maps, and such followed by a lovely description. All were invaluable in deciding how to plan my walks.
Hiking Humboldt, volume 2. This book focuses on shorter hikes. I think that in Volume 1 they left out many of us that cannot do the longer walks. Two things that I really liked in this book are the insets about history, and their urban walks. We were having so much fun exploring the bay walks that I didn’t get to do the Urban ones. All the more for us to do later.
A Birding Guide to Humboldt County. This book is written for the folks that lug binoculars and huge cameras on tripods. So it is not so much on the walks as the areas they are in. It was great to look at his recommendations on what to look for and compare to the walks that I was planning.
Random pamphlets. The National and State parks and the BLM have spent a fortune on these color fold out pamphlets. You will find them in the tourist info racks, park offices, the zoo, and many other places. Grab them. Suck all of the info out. Some are packed with information. And even if they make a great souvenir. And they are good to make origami.
People. Park Rangers, waitresses, locals buying GORP at the local health food store. They can be a font of information. Don’t be afraid to talk to people on the trail. I mean, don’t be annoying or intrusive. But talking with folk can lead you to some lovely adventures. Kay and I talked to a person that seemed similar to us as we did one of our first walks on this trip. She ended up meeting up with us to take further adventures. I hope to introduce you to her in a future post as she has lots of information on walking with poles.
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