Elk marauds hikers, park closes trailhead road

In a flashpoint moment at dusk last week, Michael Furniss and I came around a bend in deep forest on the Friendship Ridge Trail, on the last leg of a loop hike, and found ourselves staring into the bugged-out eyes of what appeared a 175-pound juvenile female, about 40 feet away. It then ran straight at us.

Furniss, in the lead, leapt behind a tree to his right for protection, and in an ambitious moment, with an outstretched left hand, managed to snap a photo of the charge. The young elk kept coming and I barreled over a fallen log on the right side of the trail and down about 10 feet into a fern-covered gulch.

A half hour later, as we drove out of the park on Davison Road, we came across five hikers in two groups, all who said they were forced off the trail by a pack of eight elk.

In an earlier episode, Debbie Savage, North District Supervisor for Redwood National and State Parks, said a large female elk in the same area of the park put her up a tree for 45 minutes. The Park Service closed Davision Road, which provides access to Gold Bluff Beach, the Coastal Trail and Fern Canyon at Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.

Elk retreat: This pack of eight Roosevelt elk pushed five hikers off the trail, into the woods and eventually onto Davison Road. After we met the elk head-on, they squared off with us for a few minutes, then retreated down the trail toward Fern Canyon and the junction with the James Irvine Trail. Photo copyright Michael Furniss.

Fern Canyon at dusk in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, one of the prettiest spots in California. Photo copyright by Michael Furniss.

The story of my trip is at http://www.sfgate.com/outdoors.

Feel great in the next 24 hours: Hike. Bike. Camp. Fish. Boat. Wildlife watch. Explore.

For the new edition of California Camping, go to http://74.220.215.219/~tomstien/books/california-camping/

From the parking lot at Gold Bluff Beach, the Coastal Trail passes the entrance to Fern Canyon and is routed through alders, spruce and a lush understory, with occasional waterfalls off to your right, wilderness beach to your left. Photo copyright by Michael Furniss.