Episode 15 · Reese Hughes · August 26, 2023
Reese Hughes has spent decades walking Humboldt with a map in hand and a notice-and-care kind of eye. In this conversation, he talks about how he got here from rural Kansas, what kept him rooted, and why the county's trails, roads, and wild edges still feel worth showing people. He also makes a plain case for walking as part of everyday life, not a special event.
Watch the conversation
What this episode covers
- Reese's path from rural Kansas to Seattle and then to Humboldt in the mid-1980s.
- His years in student affairs at Humboldt State and the life that opened up after retirement.
- The Pacific Crest Trail, his trail books, and the people who write from the trail with real voice.
- Favorite Humboldt walks and road walks, from Prairie Creek and Lacks Creek to Centerville Beach and the Arcata Ridge Trail.
- Why he sees walking as simple, affordable, and good for body and mind.
- The Great Redwood Trail, Humboldt Bay Trail, and what he hopes they make possible for the county.
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Transcript
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Scott Hammond: Hey, welcome Reese Hughes to the show.
Reese Hughes: Thank you, Scott.
Scott Hammond: Great.
Reese Hughes: Nice to be here.
Scott Hammond: Great to have you. Um, my wife knew about you
She goes, "Oh, yeah. I know that guy. You wanna have him on."
Reese Hughes: Oh, really?
Scott Hammond: She goes, "Don't tell him that I…
like I think I know him or anything." But she-
Reese Hughes: [laughs]
Scott Hammond: … she's met you hiking somewhere.
Reese Hughes: Okay.
Scott Hammond: She goes, "That's the hiking guy."
Reese Hughes: It's the hiking guy.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, I like that. That's, that's a good moniker.
So, um, tell us, tell us about you. How'd you, how'd you wind up in
Humboldt?
Reese Hughes: Well, the,
the short story is that I grew up in Kansas, rural Kansas. And maybe like many flatlanders-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Reese Hughes: … once you experience the ocean
really hard to look at the flatlands the same way.
Scott Hammond: Oh, boy.
Reese Hughes: So I ended up going to Seattle and
working there at Seattle University, and I, I did a PhD at the University of Washington.
And both my wife, Amy Ueki, and I really loved the Northwest, but we were ready to get out of the city-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Reese Hughes: … and, uh, came down and applied for a position at Humboldt,
the institution formerly known as Humboldt State University.
Scott Hammond: [laughs] I gave you that look. I'm going, "Everybody says Cal Poly
funny face."
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: The correction face. [laughs]
Reese Hughes: Yeah. So I say the institution formerly known as
And, you know, we came down in '86, in, uh, January for an interview, uh, to work as an administrator in student affairs. And, uh, coming from Seattle, it was one of those beautiful
January days where… weekends-
Scott Hammond: Uh-huh
Reese Hughes: … uh, where the s- the sun was out, it was warm,
it was glorious.
Scott Hammond: Here or Seattle?
Reese Hughes: Here.
Scott Hammond: [laughs]
Reese Hughes: Not Seattle.
Scott Hammond: Not Se- not Seattle.
Reese Hughes: And, um, you know, we saw people in the interview
process, and then we saw the same people downtown Jacoby Storehouse and up at-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Reese Hughes: … Clam Beach, and we thought-
Scott Hammond: This is-
Reese Hughes: … it's community. And, and we were really interested in
So-
Scott Hammond: Sure
Reese Hughes: … 37 and a half years ago-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Reese Hughes: … uh, we, we moved down here and, uh,
Scott Hammond: Can't go wrong, Seattle. So what did you study at, uh, U- UW?
Reese Hughes: I, I studied
higher education.
Scott Hammond: Oh, okay. [laughs]
Reese Hughes: Yeah. It was really comparative higher
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Reese Hughes: … international focus. But I, I think one of the things that
that I wanted to live in the States. So, um, that's a little limiting in terms of international education, but-
Scott Hammond: Yeah, that's true. So, so you came to a magic Humboldt January
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: I remember those.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: We still have them.
Reese Hughes: We still have them.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: In fact, we have them a little more frequently
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Today it's, uh… Let's see.
What– I'm just gonna get a temperature check
Reese Hughes: Yeah. I'm gonna say-
Scott Hammond: For all you in-
Reese Hughes: … 72.
Scott Hammond: For all you in Dallas, who it's 127-
Reese Hughes: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … it is, uh,
69 degrees.
Reese Hughes: Oh, 69? Hmm.
Scott Hammond: And it feels like 89. It's so hot right now.
Reese Hughes: Feels like 89. And, uh, uh-
Scott Hammond: Smoky, and the fires are raging.
Reese Hughes: You and I were looking at the clouds to the east.
It, it made me very-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Reese Hughes: … uh, disquiet because I think we have another
bad night ahead of us, I'm afraid.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. I was talking to a, a client in Willow Creek, and she said,
just… We wanna get through tonight. That's what we're looking at." So yeah, uh, for those of you to timestamp this, there's a big fire up in, uh, Del Norte County in Gasquet, California, and it was 46,000 acres. I bet it's north of 50 easy, huh?
Reese Hughes: Yeah. And then there are a number of other,
uh, fires. I was talking with a person from Green talking about the Lost Man Creek fire.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Reese Hughes: And, uh, that's about 700 acres-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Reese Hughes: … potentially encroaching upon, uh,
Scott Hammond: This is the Lost Creek that's in Redwood National Park.
Reese Hughes: Yeah. Right.
Scott Hammond: For those of you-
Reese Hughes: Lost Man Creek
Scott Hammond: … who don't know geography of Humboldt
that's up in there-
Reese Hughes: [laughs]
Scott Hammond: … in that area.
You're looking up… Are you impressed with my map?
The-
Reese Hughes: I am impressed.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, that's the Metzgers. I got that for six bucks.
Reese Hughes: Yeah. That's good.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. No, I'm kinda proud of my map.
And now where we're talking about is, is kind of right up in here, right?
In the-
Reese Hughes: Yes. Yep, in that area.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: You know, I, I also have a big county map-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Reese Hughes: … in, in my, uh, office space.
And it's impressive for those of us that come from elsewhere to realize just that this county's bigger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined, about the-
Scott Hammond: Huh
Reese Hughes: … little more than a third the size of,
Scott Hammond: I've heard Rhode Island and Delaware. Okay.
Reese Hughes: Yeah. Combine them, and, and we're still bigger.
Scott Hammond: And we have far less population than-
Reese Hughes: Far less population.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. What, what do we… I bet we're at a buck 30 or something now.
Reese Hughes: Something like that.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. And shrinking. Don't come here.
[laughs]
Reese Hughes: [laughs] Yeah.
Scott Hammond: When we left Maui, they said, "When you go back home,
just tell everybody how awful the rains were. Kauai, w- it's horrible there. Don't go there."
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: "It just rains all the time."
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: So, well, hey, welcome to Humboldt.
[laughs]
Reese Hughes: Well, thank you.
Scott Hammond: Welcome to Humbolt County.
Reese Hughes: 30, 37 and a half years good, and I'm-
Scott Hammond: Getting close to local. [laughs]
Reese Hughes: Getting close to local.
Scott Hammond: Ferndale, you only have another 100 years-
Reese Hughes: [laughs]
Scott Hammond: … and then you'll be in the club.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Uh, love you guys in Ferndale. So, um, so the journey to Humboldt.
So Ca- what part of Kansas?
Reese Hughes: Well, that really requires people to know
Kansas, um, which is we're about, uh, 25 miles north of Oklahoma and about-
Scott Hammond: Okay
Reese Hughes: … 35 miles west of Missouri. So the major city,
the ma- major airports are Wichita, which is-
Scott Hammond: Right
Reese Hughes: … two and a half hours away.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Reese Hughes: Tulsa's two hours away. Kansas City's three and a half hours away.
Scott Hammond: It's way out there.
Reese Hughes: Joplin, if you… is about an hour away, so.
Scott Hammond: Where's Olathe, Kansas?
Reese Hughes: Olathe is a suburb of Kansas City.
Scott Hammond: It is, so it's down that way.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Okay. Yeah.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: So what, um, so that's what brought you to Humboldt.
You were, uh-
Reese Hughes: I was-
Scott Hammond: You guys got jobs. Did Amy get a job as well at Humboldt?
Reese Hughes: Amy, uh, is an artist-
Scott Hammond: Oh
Reese Hughes: … and, and has-
Scott Hammond: That's right
Reese Hughes: … worked as an artist but has worked, uh, in the schools-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Reese Hughes: … as a art teacher.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Reese Hughes: Uh, she's worked for back the North Coast
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Reese Hughes: … that, that would take people back that
Scott Hammond: Speed the turn, right.
Reese Hughes: Um, and so-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Reese Hughes: … she's done a number of things,
on, um-A project with Lori Dingler. Uh, they did a book together about the tsunami
Scott Hammond: Okay
Reese Hughes: … south of Crescent City.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: Uh, from Japan a couple of years after the big
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Reese Hughes: And, um, did a wonderful children's book now in
languages. It's been animated.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Reese Hughes: And they are working on a sort of a redo of On Shaky Ground,
Lori's-
Scott Hammond: Nice
Reese Hughes: … sort of educational pamphlet and brochure.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. And she's the, uh, geo- ge-
geology-
Reese Hughes: Geologist. [laughs] Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Have you ever heard the one about the cartographer
he had no sense of Yuma?
Reese Hughes: Oh.
Scott Hammond: Sorry. You're one of the few people-
Reese Hughes: Oh
Scott Hammond: … probably ever got my joke.
Reese Hughes: [laughs]
Scott Hammond: It's such a great joke.
So, you know, makes me– reminds me that I wanna have, uh, arts community come in. We have a-
Reese Hughes: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … we need a local artist to talk about the
replete nature here.
Reese Hughes: Vibrant art scene here.
Scott Hammond: Vibrant is a good word. So if, if I'm my wife, right, I'm thinking, I'm
going, "I wanna hear about all the trail stories. Where's the c- where are the cool trails? Where's the swimming holes?" I don't think we're gonna get there, but-
Reese Hughes: Well-
Scott Hammond: But we will get there.
Reese Hughes: We could.
Scott Hammond: Um, so y- what's, what's your role?
Who, who, who are you? What's your job duty? Are you retired?
Reese Hughes: You know, I retired about 14 years ago.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Reese Hughes: Um, I, I worked for
22, 23 years at Humboldt State, the institution formerly known as Humboldt State University-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Reese Hughes: … in student affairs, and then I wanted to retire when I
still had the physical wherewithal to get out and hike. One of my passions has been to complete
Trail-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Reese Hughes: … which is a 2,650-mile trail from Mexico to
and, uh, I finished that in 2016.
Scott Hammond: Nice.
Reese Hughes: And then, uh-
Scott Hammond: How many legs?
Reese Hughes: A lot of legs.
Scott Hammond: A lot of legs.
Reese Hughes: I, I claim I hold the speed record for the
time.
Scott Hammond: [laughs]
Reese Hughes: So-
Scott Hammond: Does it start, like, on the border in Tecate, down that way?
Reese Hughes: It, it starts, uh, outside of, in East San Diego
County.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: And, and then it ends up just shy of Manning
North Cascades National Park area.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Reese Hughes: And, and the Canadian border, so.
Scott Hammond: State of Washington.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Just talking to Pierre Carbonneau, who was just on the show.
He's, he's got a cabin up in Hat Creek.
Reese Hughes: Uh-huh.
Scott Hammond: And he says-
Reese Hughes: It's on the PCT?
Scott Hammond: Yeah. He said there-
Reese Hughes: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … there's that, that hike down to the, uh, the general-
Reese Hughes: Subway Caves?
Scott Hammond: Yeah. He mentioned… And then there's a general store that's in
where-
Reese Hughes: Old Station.
Scott Hammond: Old Station, that was it.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: He just said that about an hour ago.
He goes, "Yeah, we went down, and they gotta come get water
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Yeah, so, uh, I hiked it in a series of segments.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Reese Hughes: And, um, just as an aside, I, I brought some, some
books and-
Scott Hammond: Yeah, please.
Reese Hughes: One of the first projects that I took on with a colleague of mine
from Humboldt, the institution formerly known as Humboldt
Scott Hammond: Cal– You can't say Cal Poly. It's, you have said-
Reese Hughes: It's hard for me.
Scott Hammond: You have said the words.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: [laughs]
Reese Hughes: For CPH, um, Corey Lewis and I worked on what
was called the Pacific Crest… what we call the Pacific Crest Trailside which is a collection of 100 stories from the trail that we collected from a variety of sources, and about half of them by hiker writers, and a quarter of them were written by, uh, sort of classic environmental literature, historical in nature.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Reese Hughes: And, uh, published by The Mountaineers Books,
uh-
Scott Hammond: I've seen the, I've seen those on the shelf.
What-
Reese Hughes: Yeah, not really here to tout them because all
the, support the Pacific Crest Trail
Scott Hammond: Tout away. I'm an old-
Reese Hughes: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … sales guy from 100 years ago.
Reese Hughes: Okay. And that was 2011, and, you know, it sort of allowed me to
keep living through the trail experience. And then, uh, 2022 sort of did an updated version with a whole bunch of additional stories that had happened between
2011 and-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Reese Hughes: … 2022. That same deal, Crossing Paths: A Pacific Crest
Trailside Reader.
Scott Hammond: Hold, hold it up right that way.
Reese Hughes: Oh.
Scott Hammond: There you go.
Reese Hughes: Like this.
Scott Hammond: So that's, that, that accompanies these two-
Reese Hughes: Right
Scott Hammond: … volumes. Okay.
Reese Hughes: I, I consider it a trilogy. Uh-
Scott Hammond: Okay
Reese Hughes: … and, uh, anybody that loves the trail would love
those three books, so.
Scott Hammond: It's very possible Joni has that one there, uh, the, the, the
California edition, I, I think. I could be wrong.
Reese Hughes: It's possible.
Scott Hammond: It's possible. She'll, she'll let me know it tonight.
And I've seen the, the other one that you're about to maybe talk about,
Reese Hughes: Hiking Humboldt?
Scott Hammond: Yeah. That's, that's on all the shelves.
Reese Hughes: It is on all the shelves.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: Here locally. So-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Reese Hughes: … and this one-
Scott Hammond: Actually, it's flying off the shelves
Reese Hughes: … it is flying off the shelves because there
none of them left of this printing.
Scott Hammond: Oh, okay.
Reese Hughes: Backcountry Press did these books. Um, there are two volumes.
There's one volume that Ken Burton wrote, and then this volume, which I focused on shorter day hikes, urban and road walks in Humboldt
County.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Reese Hughes: And, uh, Backcountry Press did that, and then, uh,
we're doing an updated version when I get my act together to, to do an updated version because this one
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: And then
more recently collaborated with First 5 Humboldt and,
uh-
Scott Hammond: Saw this one, yeah
Reese Hughes: … this is focused on
families with, uh, with young children, zero to five years old.
Scott Hammond: Gotcha.
Reese Hughes: And-
Scott Hammond: Can you crack it open? It's pretty graphic, right?
Reese Hughes: Yeah. It's, it's a beautiful book.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: Joe.
Scott Hammond: Please.
Reese Hughes: A lot of pictures.
Scott Hammond: Super easy to figure out.
Reese Hughes: And, um,
25 hikes, and a lot of people that have, have been grandparents that have gotten this said, "Well, pretty well for me because these are short hikes-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Reese Hughes: … easier hikes, and-
Scott Hammond: Sure
Reese Hughes: … in some ways grandparent length hikes, so.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, I know about those.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: So anyway, I've been busy but spend a lot of my spare
time exploring that map right there.
Scott Hammond: This one right here?
Reese Hughes: All corners of the map.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. There's a, there's a lot to still see, I bet.
Reese Hughes: It's an amazing place we live in.
Scott Hammond: Yes.
Reese Hughes: It's amazing.
Scott Hammond: It's a magical, um,
mystery tour. You know, everybody-Um, Joni and I rediscovered it with COVID.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Not having COVID-
Reese Hughes: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … but during COVID.
Reese Hughes: During COVID.
Scott Hammond: Uh, you know, we would go to, uh,
you know, to, to, uh, Scenic Drive-
Reese Hughes: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … and walk Scenic Drive-
Reese Hughes: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … and, and hang out and have a picnic. It's…
Let's see, it's five minutes away, it's 70 degrees, the sun
Pacific.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: I got a Dick Taylor bar of chocolate and some- that good Costco
wine and a picnic and my, my best friend in the world-
Reese Hughes: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … and God's creation. I'm going, "This– How do you beat this?
This is, this is cheap date all the way." And-
Reese Hughes: It's a cheap date all the way. Well-
Scott Hammond: And it's the best cheap date.
Reese Hughes: [laughs] You know, we have 1,300 miles of
paved and unpaved county road, public roads in Humboldt County.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Reese Hughes: We've got miles of trails from redwoods to the inland mountains-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Reese Hughes: … to the rivers to the ocean beaches.
Scott Hammond: Logging roads.
Reese Hughes: Logging roads. We've got a- an amazing array of
opportunities to get outside.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Reese Hughes: So I guess I've become sort of a
hiking… A, a crazed hiking guy.
Scott Hammond: That's good. I like it. I, I think you're a, a, a concierge.
Reese Hughes: A, a, a concierge. That's a little-
Scott Hammond: Maybe that's a… Or maybe a cur- in this case,
way.
Reese Hughes: A curator.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. So you've documented-
Reese Hughes: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … where we can go. I, I'm particularly interested because I am
because I have had bilateral hip surgery.
Reese Hughes: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: That's what's up.
Reese Hughes: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Uh, 10 years ago last month f- at Stanford.
Reese Hughes: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: One of the best things I ever did, and, uh,
Reese Hughes: Well, here.
Take it.
Scott Hammond: Is that for me?
Reese Hughes: That's yours.
Scott Hammond: Hey, man. That's… You didn't have to do that. Thank you.
Reese Hughes: You got a bar of chocolate from Dick Taylor.
Scott Hammond: Let's see if-
Reese Hughes: I had to one-up it a little bit maybe.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Oh, we'll see how you do on the quiz.
Reese Hughes: Oh. [laughs]
Scott Hammond: [laughs] Not so fast.
Reese Hughes: Oh, okay. [laughs] All right. Thank you.
Scott Hammond: All right, Mike.
Reese Hughes: Thank you very much.
Scott Hammond: There's a-
Reese Hughes: Out of here.
Scott Hammond: Thanks for coming, Reece.
Reese Hughes: Yeah. [laughs]
Scott Hammond: You've been amazing. Yeah. The, uh…
Oh, there might be a little something in there
Reese Hughes: Oh.
Scott Hammond: No, thank you. This is a… I was looking at this online and, and, um,
um, I think, I think we're in. Yeah, we did that, uh, Redwood Trail, uh, Redwood Creek about two weeks ago.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: And it's nice and flat.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Took the walking sticks. Did the s-
Reese Hughes: Now, right now you can only get up three miles-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Reese Hughes: … because it's, uh, been blocked by this winter's downed
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Yeah. And it's, and there's a sign that says you can't.
Reese Hughes: Right.
Scott Hammond: "You shall not pass."
Reese Hughes: Right. We tried to pass-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Reese Hughes: … a couple weeks ago, and you shall not pass.
Scott Hammond: It's magical. It's beautiful up there.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: And it's flat.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: And it goes through a lot of really cool forests and, um-
Reese Hughes: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … my wife's a big hiker, so, uh, Joni,
um, has been a hiker, biker, runner for many years, and she had a stroke about four months ago.
Reese Hughes: Uh-oh.
Scott Hammond: And a real mi- a real minor one. Scared us to death,
in the morning. I'm, I'm looking up at the sky going,
Reese Hughes: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: And, um, she, she, she was back to normal by
noon, probably because she's such a fit hiker.
Reese Hughes: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: But, um, scary stuff. So she is, uh, was given four
miles a day. That was her allotment.
Reese Hughes: No more than.
Scott Hammond: She negotiated four.
Reese Hughes: Uh-huh.
Scott Hammond: Now she does, well, honey, 12. Um, so she's-
Reese Hughes: She's serious.
Scott Hammond: Well, she is, and she's-
Reese Hughes: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … not running. She's, so she's obeyed that part, but she is, um,
uh, she's heroic. Anyway, so she's, she's hiked probably-
Reese Hughes: A good number of miles
Scott Hammond: … a majority of this and probably a lot of that.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: And, and then I, I always call them the old farts group
Reese Hughes: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … the Fortuna hikers on Friday morning.
Reese Hughes: I, I, um, often go with them.
Scott Hammond: You're part of that. Yeah.
Reese Hughes: I'm part of that, but we also have a Wednesday group
third Wednesday of each month.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: And, uh-
Scott Hammond: That's the more intense
Reese Hughes: … does a little more ambitious-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Reese Hughes: … longer-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Reese Hughes: … hikes. And, uh, there's even a Monday group
they always end up some place to eat.
So their-
Scott Hammond: Okay
Reese Hughes: … their motivation is-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Reese Hughes: … is a little different.
Scott Hammond: So I have a bone to pick, and I've haven't picked any in 15
The hiking group on Fridays-
Reese Hughes: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … it says 9:00, let's show up at Hookton Slough or-
Reese Hughes: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … wherever it is.
Reese Hughes: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: And it's 8:45 and they've been gone like two hours.
Reese Hughes: [laughs]
Scott Hammond: So are they-
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Is it, is it a, is it military? Is it, uh, if you're,
time, you're late? It… These guys-
Reese Hughes: You know, if you're-
Scott Hammond: And I don't wanna say you guys
Reese Hughes: … if you're on time, you're late to them, and
a picture, then you gotta catch up.
Scott Hammond: Right.
Reese Hughes: If you, uh, stop-
Scott Hammond: I've been gone a couple hours
Reese Hughes: … to drink a water-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Reese Hughes: … you, you gotta hustle.
Scott Hammond: It's go time.
Reese Hughes: Yeah. It's go time.
Scott Hammond: Okay. Don't screw around.
Reese Hughes: You know, leaders, uh-
Scott Hammond: I appreciate that
Reese Hughes: … for many years have been in their,
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Reese Hughes: Lynn Crosswaite is an amazing hero of mine.
Scott Hammond: She's the gallery. Yeah.
Reese Hughes: And, um, she is,
i- is amazing.
Scott Hammond: Props to a, a, a hiking group that's stuck with it, huh?
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Joni knows her, and she's met a number of people.
We did the Hookton, uh, loop there and then-
Reese Hughes: Uh-huh
Scott Hammond: … went over, uh, to Lighthouse Ranch and the BLM land.
Reese Hughes: Oh, there on the Table Bluff.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Did a couple hikes, and then she's been back up in what,
you places. You already know, back behind Carlotta and Hydesville and-
Reese Hughes: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … some of the logging roads-
Reese Hughes: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … back up there and in Grizzly Creek.
Is there something be- or Grizzly Bluff behind Ferndale?
Reese Hughes: There are-
Scott Hammond: Places
Reese Hughes: … there are a series of walks,
creeks that come down that direction.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Reese Hughes: And so, yes.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. So you-
Reese Hughes: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … probably on some of the walks. I,
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: So, um, if you, uh, uh…
What do you like about Humboldt? You s- you've… And today, what, what do you really like?
Reese Hughes: Well, you know, it's…
I would say that the first and foremost for me is the, the
natural beauty of this place.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Reese Hughes: It's a,
it's a human scale place for me that has amazing redwood forests-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Reese Hughes: … oak woodlands,
mountains as tall as, as Salmon Mountain, which is the highest peak in the– which is just under 7,000 feet.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Reese Hughes: Uh, it's got amazing rivers, incredible shoreline,
the bay. I mean, I-What's not to love?
Scott Hammond: It's got it all.
Reese Hughes: It's got it all.
Scott Hammond: Mall dunes. Yeah.
Reese Hughes: And, and all within, you know, a couple h-hours drive at most.
Scott Hammond: Right.
Reese Hughes: So that's one thing. It's, it's a, a human scale
again that where you can, uh, be a little bigger fish in a smaller pond, and you can make a difference.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: And I, I hope that's a message
or soon understands. So I think that's part of what attracts me. It's nice to be in a college town.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: A couple years ago, Amy-
Scott Hammond: What's the name of the school again?
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
It, it's Cal Poly Humboldt.
Scott Hammond: [laughs]
Reese Hughes: Um, Amy and I took a, a long road trip a couple of years ago,
looking at other places to live. We went all the way around the United our, in our repurposed van and camped and saw friends and, you know, we liked Vermont.
Scott Hammond: Uh-huh. Beautiful.
Reese Hughes: We thought, "Well, I could live here."
Scott Hammond: Sure.
Reese Hughes: But I don't know if I could handle the winters.
And we liked the, the, uh, east side of the Rockies in Colorado, you know, Fort Collins, Boulder, that area.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Reese Hughes: But we missed the ocean, and we got back to California, and
we thought, "Wow."
Scott Hammond: We're home.
Reese Hughes: We're home.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: And I-I,
it almost brings me to tears. In fact, my sister, who lives in Kansas still-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Reese Hughes: … she says, "When I– when you talk about it,
cry every time-"
Scott Hammond: It's good.
Reese Hughes: "… you're talking about how beautiful it is."
Scott Hammond: I love it.
Reese Hughes: So.
Scott Hammond: Out of passion, man.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: I– Gandalf said to Frodo, "Not all tears are evil."
So-
Reese Hughes: Not all tears are evil
Scott Hammond: … it's okay. It's g-tender heart. I love it.
Reese Hughes: Yep.
Scott Hammond: Um, it, it– you made me think of, um, my ki-
children, and, and they're all adults, and when Jesse comes back, um, our grad from UC Davis, I've said this before, he takes a hit of the air, and he goes, no air quality like this." Just the air quality alone is superlative. So, um, so what-
Reese Hughes: Except for today.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: Uh, I, I-
Scott Hammond: Except for today. Today's-
Reese Hughes: … I do wanna plug the CPH piece too because
in a, in a college environment, um-
Scott Hammond: Cal Poly Humboldt
Reese Hughes: … Cal Poly Humboldt-
Scott Hammond: CPH. Got it.
Reese Hughes: Yep. Is, is really, um,
an enriching place.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: Uh, it's, it makes it more vibrant.
Uh, and I, I think, uh, if we, if we didn't have it here, it
would be-
Scott Hammond: Coos Bay
Reese Hughes: … Coos Bay.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. No trout stop.
Reese Hughes: I think that's my line too.
Scott Hammond: Log-logging town.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, no, I, I, I agree. And it's, um, I really like the mu–
Center Arts has done a good job for forty-five years or longer.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: And, you know, I'm not a huge fan this season.
There's a couple shows, but it does bring in things like Tommy
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: You know, if he, if he was in New York, I'd drive to New York
Reese Hughes: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: He's that guy.
Reese Hughes: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: But, um, yeah, the university does a lot.
What do you, what do you not care for here?
What, what-
Reese Hughes: Well, uh-
Scott Hammond: If you could change something, what would it, what would it be?
Reese Hughes: I have to say healthcare has been, um-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Reese Hughes: … as I've aged, uh, and even though I haven't had to have
access to healthcare-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Reese Hughes: … but I can see the handwriting on the wall.
Scott Hammond: [laughs]
Reese Hughes: And, you know, it's, yeah, it's scary.
Scott Hammond: Sure.
Reese Hughes: Um, our– I think it's one of our
major crises in, in Humboldt County.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: Uh, and before, uh, you know, I never
have been any place before this where the earth moved.
Scott Hammond: Ah.
Reese Hughes: Uh, the winds moved in Kansas, uh, but the earth never moved, and
now, uh, December 20th was a real wake-up call.
Scott Hammond: Sure.
Reese Hughes: Uh, I'd forgotten about, what, 1992, April of '92, when
we had a good-sized shaker, uh, that-
Scott Hammond: Yep
Reese Hughes: … sort of jolted me a bit. But
nothing got my attention more than December 20th of-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Reese Hughes: … 2022.
Scott Hammond: Middle of the night, right?
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: So, uh, be nice not to have earthquakes.
Scott Hammond: It had the sheer power, right? Didn't they say it had more-
Reese Hughes: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … movement? The-
Reese Hughes: Right
Scott Hammond: … the, uh-
Reese Hughes: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … the Richter scale wasn't as high, but it-
Reese Hughes: But it, the-
Scott Hammond: … jammed
Reese Hughes: … the force, the intensity.
Scott Hammond: Woo, man, I felt my whole– We have a new twenty-year-old house,
engineered. It went khh.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: You know?
Reese Hughes: I, I thought, "Wow, if this is gonna last very long, then I can't
imagine that this house is gonna-
Scott Hammond: No
Reese Hughes: … stay." But it fortunately was short-lived.
Scott Hammond: And the poor souls down in Riedell.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: So before we get to talking about trails-
Reese Hughes: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … who, who was Reese Hughes at, uh,
What were you all about?
Reese Hughes: Well, ten, fifteen, twenty,
even to twenty-five, I feel like I was, uh, grew up as, uh, m-more in the image of my, my parents. I don't think I had, uh, quite broken free of that as much. Uh, I have wonderful parents.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Reese Hughes: Um, but I think I was much more of a traditional
Kansan, uh, still-
Scott Hammond: Midwest kid. Yeah
Reese Hughes: … Midwestern kid.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: Uh, I grew up in a, an environment that
my wife would said reminds her a lot of "The Cleavers."
Scott Hammond: [laughs]
Reese Hughes: And, uh,
I think it really was, and I was probably fairly naive, also idealistic.
Scott Hammond: Who wasn't? Yeah.
Reese Hughes: Yeah. So I think as life went on, uh,
I had a wonderful experience that really opened my eyes. In my early twenties, I went to university in-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Reese Hughes: … in Australia.
Scott Hammond: Oh, wow.
Reese Hughes: And came back overland through Asia with my– At that, I
was twenty years old. My sister came over
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Reese Hughes: So the two of us, uh, came back-
Scott Hammond: Huh
Reese Hughes: … overland through Asia on the old hippie
in 1990, uh, 1974.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Reese Hughes: Uh, and I thought maybe in retrospect,
probably concluded they had too many kids and wanted to get rid of a couple.
Scott Hammond: [laughs] What was the hippie trail?
Where, I've-
Reese Hughes: Hippie trail-
Scott Hammond: … vaguely know what that might be
Reese Hughes: … went basically from Australia to England
through, up through Indonesia. Primarily, it was from England through Europe, ended in India.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Reese Hughes: And then had some extensions to Nepal and, and,
uh-Thailand and people sort of, uh, got lost on the way and-
Scott Hammond: Huh
Reese Hughes: … found themselves in a different kind of
Scott Hammond: Sure.
Reese Hughes: Um, stopping in, whether it was, uh,
Kabul in Afghanistan or, uh, a-a-and Kathmandu-
Scott Hammond: Right
Reese Hughes: … or in, in Delhi, and I mean, there were lots of places.
Scott Hammond: A lot of d- choices along that route.
[laughs]
Reese Hughes: Yeah. Right.
Scott Hammond: What did you call them? Side eddies?
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Side trails?
Reese Hughes: Side trails.
Scott Hammond: Side trails.
Reese Hughes: For me, it's side trails.
Scott Hammond: I gotta come back to a question. You said something-
Reese Hughes: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … about the book. Um,
you said, uh, hike and ride people.
Reese Hughes: Uh-huh.
Scott Hammond: What's a hike and rider that, that-
Reese Hughes: Oh, hiker writer.
Scott Hammond: Hike, a writer. Oh, I'm sorry.
Reese Hughes: Yeah. So it's people-
Scott Hammond: I think
Reese Hughes: … it's people that hike-
Scott Hammond: And, a-and-
Reese Hughes: … and are amateur writers.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Reese Hughes: And, um, they're not professionals.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Reese Hughes: They're, they're people that, uh,
write their story, and, uh, they're authentic voices. They're wonderful voices.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Reese Hughes: Not polished voices in many cases.
Scott Hammond: Nice.
Reese Hughes: Um, so they're people that have wonderful stories to tell,
struggle to write them sometime.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: They're professional writers sometimes whose stories are not as
great, but their ability to write makes them
Scott Hammond: Right.
Reese Hughes: So-
Scott Hammond: So you need both.
Reese Hughes: You need both.
Scott Hammond: I like, I like both. So, uh, at 30 you, you had already graduated-
Reese Hughes: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … university, and you were in Humboldt by then, or?
Reese Hughes: No, not quite. I'd, uh,
again, one of the themes of my life is international travel.
Uh-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Reese Hughes: … I did my doctoral research in East Africa,
Scott Hammond: Wow
Reese Hughes: … and I went and lived in Kenya for a couple of years.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Reese Hughes: And, um,
and then we came to Humboldt, and then, uh, uh, that was sort of the, uh, the end of… Well, it wasn't the end of that travel ex-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Reese Hughes: … those travel experiences, but yeah.
Scott Hammond: End of the line to plant and-
Reese Hughes: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … set and light and root.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. It's funny. Um, who was saying that?
I think it might have been Mary Keane. That the- we're the most western stopping point-
Reese Hughes: Mm
Scott Hammond: … you know, uh, in the US, and kind of at all, all, all,
all bets stop here.
Reese Hughes: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: You know, and so it, it, it adds to some interesting metaphorical
diversity that, you know, th-this is where we're camping. This is, this is the-
Reese Hughes: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … stopping point. So, uh-
Reese Hughes: Well, Scott, I don't know about you.
I realize that it's me you're interviewing, but, you know, we're, we're probably not that far from the same age, and I think, you know, I, I look at my life, and I
think I was sort of a lump of clay until I was in my mid-20s and-
Scott Hammond: Sure
Reese Hughes: … you know, I started to get
more and more solidified, and I think by 25 or 30 that I… Not that I n-didn't change, but I-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Reese Hughes: … sort of was fundamentally who I am now-
Scott Hammond: Sure
Reese Hughes: … by that point.
Scott Hammond: I like that.
Reese Hughes: How, how would you answer that?
Scott Hammond: Oh, I'm just discovering that the last few months.
Reese Hughes: That [laughs]
Scott Hammond: [laughs]
My dad goes, "You're a late bloomer."
Reese Hughes: [laughs] Okay. All right.
Scott Hammond: What did he… He used to say, "We're from Iowa,
folks."
Reese Hughes: Oh.
Scott Hammond: And I go, "That's pretty good." No, I, I,
I think I was married to Joni, um, came to Humboldt from San Diego, long hair. It's har- you know, it's hard to know now with that,
know-
Reese Hughes: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … that look, but, um, most beautiful hair in high school.
What a, what a great set of hair and, and, um, what a great honor it was to grow hair.
Reese Hughes: [laughs]
Scott Hammond: And, um,
you know, I, I came. The first year was disastrous. I, I, I was gonna be real independent, which I kinda was already. But second year is, you know, finding yourself. Found, met Joni, met Jesus, met sobriety, met a degree in recreation-
Reese Hughes: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … administration from the university
Humboldt State.
Reese Hughes: Yeah. And now what age would you have been then?
Scott Hammond: I was 19, and then at 22 I graduated and-
Reese Hughes: So-
Scott Hammond: … got my first job in recreation
Reese Hughes: So somewhere in your mid-20s, you were, you were sort of, your-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Reese Hughes: … clay was forming.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. We were pregnant with our first-
Reese Hughes: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … born, Jacob, who's turning 40, and a great guy.
They, a lot of our kids live up in Medford and-
Reese Hughes: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … Boise and one in Amsterdam,
I imagine you've been to Netherlands.
Reese Hughes: Well, not, not really.
Scott Hammond: Not-
Reese Hughes: Close.
Scott Hammond: Okay. I'll let you know.
Reese Hughes: Close. Yeah.
Scott Hammond: So yeah, that was our journey, and so, uh, we, we
and, you know, 20, almost 24 and had our firstborn, and, um, little did I know we could have nine children. It was great. And, um, you know, guys come in, they got three or four kids. I go, "That's nothing. Come on, man."
Reese Hughes: [laughs]
Scott Hammond: "Is that all you, that all you got?" Anyway, so, uh,
And I, it's a great question 'cause I think I there's new stuff all the time.
Reese Hughes: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: I became a toastmaster in my 40s.
Reese Hughes: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Wrote a book in my 50s. Uh, should have brought my book.
I'd give you a book-
Reese Hughes: Mm
Scott Hammond: … um, about fathering and that my, my, my youngest, he goes,
"This is a joke." He, he's 19 and he knows everything. He goes, "You dedicated this to your dad What, what's up with that?"
Reese Hughes: [laughs]
Scott Hammond: He's, this mister, he's just awful.
He's-
Reese Hughes: Should've been to the nine of us-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Reese Hughes: … that you-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Reese Hughes: … you tried your, made your mistakes on, right?
Scott Hammond: And he goes, "You're, you're, you're just a," you know.
I w- Anyway, that's a whole other story. Those of you with, uh, the last born will understand that.
But, um, yeah. No, I think there's a, there's a, a coming to age at, you know, if you're willing, at all ages, right?
Reese Hughes: Yeah. In fact, um, I don't use the word retirement.
I feel I've been retired for 14 years, and I, I remember a s-inc- I used to serve on the United Way board Pennekamp, who-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Reese Hughes: … you know, nine… She was in her 80s then and quote
retired, but, uh, I tried to make an appointment with her, her book, and she said, "You know, it's just-"
Scott Hammond: Huh.
Reese Hughes: "I just really don't have much time." And I said-
Scott Hammond: Pretty busy
Reese Hughes: … "Marianne, you're,
you're retired. How can that be the case?" And she said, "Well, come from," she immigrated from Germany and, and France, and she said, "We don't have a word for retirement. It's the third age." She said, "The first age is when you-
Scott Hammond: Huh
Reese Hughes: … are cared for by others. The second age is when you
The third age is whenYou have the freedom. You don't have yourself to deal with-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Reese Hughes: … or others to take care of.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Reese Hughes: And so it's your freedom, and I, I'm in the third age.
Scott Hammond: Third age. I like it. Uh, the R-word, man.
We sh- we should not necessarily use that.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: So, um,
three things you're proud of.
Reese Hughes: Well, my, my family, and by that, I mean not only,
uh, my, my wife and my two children-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Reese Hughes: … but my extended families on both sides,
side and-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Reese Hughes: … and the Hughes side. And think they're an
amazing collection of-
Scott Hammond: Are they here? In Humboldt?
Reese Hughes: … people. The Ue- there's some Uekis here.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Reese Hughes: Um, Hugheses are all back in the Midwest.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Reese Hughes: Um,
the, uh, another Ueki in the Bay Area. So we've– They've moved west. We haven't, haven't been as successful in convincing the Hugheses to do that.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: Um,
I, I'm, I'm proud of the advocacy that I've been able to do, uh, with regard to walking-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Reese Hughes: … um, to support and advocate for the Humboldt Bay Trail-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Reese Hughes: … to, uh, support volunteer efforts on trails
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Reese Hughes: … to preach the, the gospel of the trail and of
walking.
Scott Hammond: Part of, part of the team. Yeah.
Reese Hughes: Yeah. Um,
I feel like I, uh, am– have been thrilled by the kinds of international experiences that we've been able to, to craft that, to me, feel authentic. I, I make the distinction betw- between being a tourist and a traveler.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Reese Hughes: And I feel like, um-
Scott Hammond: I like that. Yeah
Reese Hughes: … in my,
in my endeavors to sort of have those international experiences, they've been
more as a, as a, as a traveler, as a participant in-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Reese Hughes: … in those cultures. So-
Scott Hammond: Nice
Reese Hughes: … um, I don't know. That's, that's three things.
Scott Hammond: That's, that's great. So y- you're kind of a traveling evangelist.
Reese Hughes: Yeah. [laughs]
Scott Hammond: Sorry.
Reese Hughes: Oh, boy.
Scott Hammond: For, for, for the outdoors.
Reese Hughes: This is gonna haunt me.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, I know.
Reese Hughes: I can tell.
Scott Hammond: You're okay. [laughs] It's okay. We're–
Reese Hughes: Okay.
Scott Hammond: So the guy that just came to Arcata, he, he's
a, he's a, a a, a traffic flow guy.
Reese Hughes: Yeah. Right.
Scott Hammond: We– Did you get to meet him?
Reese Hughes: Dan? Dan Bur- Dan…
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Interesting guy. I saw him. Jenny pointed him out.
Reese Hughes: You know, um, I, I met him. He came about
20 years ago-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Reese Hughes: … initially, and he did a talk at the
institution formerly known as Humboldt State University about, about those things. And out of that talk, I think came the emphasis, especially in Arcata, on traffic circles
Scott Hammond: Calming. That was the word.
Reese Hughes: Right. And then I did see him when he
He, he was out doing some, uh, reconnoitering with a group of people.
Scott Hammond: Huh.
Reese Hughes: And we had a trail work day that day, and they
Scott Hammond: Gotcha
Reese Hughes: … North.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: And, uh, saw him then and, um, sort of reconnected.
He took pictures of us.
Scott Hammond: Is it by the marsh north?
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Reese Hughes: Yeah. That, that area.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Seemed like a nice guy.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: So, uh, do you know, uh, uh, Ranger Griff, Griff Griffith?
Reese Hughes: No. Uh-uh.
Scott Hammond: He's up in, uh… I don't know that he's necessarily a trail
very entertaining guy that takes people-
Reese Hughes: On walks
Scott Hammond: … through redwoods-
Reese Hughes: Uh-huh
Scott Hammond: … and does video and, and just really knocks it out of the park
makes it kind of fascinating-
Reese Hughes: Ah
Scott Hammond: … fun. He's fun to watch when-
Reese Hughes: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … he's des- describing the natural science around-
Reese Hughes: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … Redwood Forest, this case. But, um…
So, uh, let, let's get, let's get to something
Reese Hughes: Okay.
Scott Hammond: So top– Letterman's top 10. I don't know if I– if you got 10
trails, but, uh, a-and you don't have to order them, but talk to me, um, my demographic, I'm 63. I've had hip surgery. I've probably got no more than s- seven to 10 miles round trip in me in a given hike. Where would you, where would you and I go?
Reese Hughes: 10. 10 options.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Reese Hughes: Okay?
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Just, just thoughts-
Reese Hughes: All right
Scott Hammond: … off the top of your head.
Reese Hughes: All right. Um,
some of my favorites include road walks. So it would be a chance to go up into the backcountry of Humboldt County on a road, do some walking as a part of that. But one of my favorites is Mill Creek North.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: I, I love going, uh, up into the
magical high dunes-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Reese Hughes: … but also to have both the, the
coastal marine forest area-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Reese Hughes: … as well as the, uh, slough and, uh, the co- and
the beachfront.
Scott Hammond: That's the parking area. You could park and then walk north-
Reese Hughes: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … and do the circle.
Reese Hughes: It's, it's a magical area.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: So that, that would be one.
Scott Hammond: That's a really interesting area.
Reese Hughes: It is.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: It's a wonderful area. Then I'm gonna go to a road walk,
one of my favorite areas. It, it's the Bear River
Ridge Walk-
Scott Hammond: Okay
Reese Hughes: … which is in between basically Ferndale,
and the road down to Reo- Rio Dell on Monument Peak. And it's a 10-mile stretch of, of, uh, gravel road.
Scott Hammond: I'm looking for a pointer. I almost, I almost wanna… Oh,
They're sharp.
Reese Hughes: Oh. No, I better not. Um-
Scott Hammond: Here's a, here's a pointer.
Reese Hughes: [laughs]
Scott Hammond: So, so Mill Creek is, is-
Reese Hughes: Mill Creek
Scott Hammond: … would be right, right in-
Reese Hughes: Uh, yeah. So-
Scott Hammond: It's right here
Reese Hughes: … just above– Yeah. Right there.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Just right here by-
Reese Hughes: This is gonna be a test for you.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: Then the next one would be up above Ferndale and Rio Dell,
in between the two. Yeah.
Scott Hammond: That's down here. Yeah.
Reese Hughes: Yeah. Sort of in that area.
Scott Hammond: You can't see it, but it's in here.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Okay.
Reese Hughes: Um, and, uh, some of my walks depend on the time of the
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Reese Hughes: But, uh, one of my favorite redwood walks
do easily, and that's the Prairie Creek Walk.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: And that's good just about any time of the year.
It's tends to be too crowded for me in the summer.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. When you say Prairie Creek,
mean-
Reese Hughes: Yeah. Start at the headquarters
Scott Hammond: … Trillium Falls or-
Reese Hughes: Go up the Carl Knop- Knapp Walk.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Reese Hughes: And it's just a mile along, and then you can go around to Big Tree,
and then, uh, make it a little two and a half mile loop. And it's a wonderful walk.
Scott Hammond: So you just do a little circle.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: Do a little circle.
Scott Hammond: I like that one. Yeah.
Reese Hughes: That's, that's, that's an- another really nice one.
Um, you know, an- another one that's hard to beat to me, and nobody really knows about it, is to go up the Lax Creek.
Scott Hammond: Lax Creek.
Reese Hughes: Lax Creek is a 45-minute drive east of
Arcata
Scott Hammond: Lacks Creek. Okay
Reese Hughes: And it's, uh, one of the tributaries of Redwood Creek.
Scott Hammond: Okay
Reese Hughes: And, um, it's often popular for mountain bikers,
it has a nice set of ridge walks along the easternmost ridge, which is, uh, uh… It, it's a wonderful ridge.
Scott Hammond: Is it L-A-X? Lacks?
Reese Hughes: L-A-C-K-S.
Scott Hammond: L-A-C-K-S.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: I'm gonna give it a shot.
Reese Hughes: Yeah. Let's see if you… If you go towards Redwood Creek,
of Bear, Bear Road, going over to-
Scott Hammond: Miller Valley. So it must be kind of-
Reese Hughes: Gotta be north of nine- uh, of 299.
Scott Hammond: Oh, it's north of 299?
Reese Hughes: North of 299.
Scott Hammond: Oh.
Reese Hughes: So you go down to Redwood Creek and up,
uh, on Bear Road for about five and a half miles, and there'll be a sign, into, to Lacks Creek.
Scott Hammond: Here's Redwood Creek, Creek up here, the ranch.
Reese Hughes: Yeah. So yeah, you're heading down,
and, uh, and then you're in the general area there.
Scott Hammond: Okay, so it's kind of up in here.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: I had you over here by Maple Creek, so I'm confused.
Reese Hughes: Map- Maple Creek's nice, but that's, that's not gonna be on my-
Scott Hammond: It's pretty hilly, yeah
Reese Hughes: … that's not gonna be on my list.
Scott Hammond: How about Lyon's Valley? I- I'm not editing your list.
Reese Hughes: Lyon's, Lyon's Ranch?
Scott Hammond: Lyon's Ranch.
Reese Hughes: Lyon's Ranch would be another one that would be on my list,
miles in off of 101-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Reese Hughes: … from Orick. And-
Scott Hammond: That's a cool walk
Reese Hughes: … it's a cool walk, especially in the spring and the fall.
It gets, can get a little hot in the summer.
Scott Hammond: What's the purple flowers that come out?
Reese Hughes: Lupine.
Scott Hammond: The lupine. Yeah.
Reese Hughes: Lupine, uh, late, late April, early May.
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Reese Hughes: Can get lupine. But, you know, a couple other interesting things about
Ranch. You can tell I'm passionate about this
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: But-
Scott Hammond: Go for it. Yeah, mm
Reese Hughes: … one, one is that, uh, uh, lots of bears-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Reese Hughes: … up in that area, and it's a great chance to sort of see a
There, there are also herds of elk. Up there is a herd of elk.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Reese Hughes: And the third thing is that it's not a bad place to see condors.
Scott Hammond: I think we saw some, yeah.
Reese Hughes: So, um,
there are lots of reasons to potentially go up to that-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Reese Hughes: … Lacks Creek area. And then you can do the four
walk to Lyon's Ranch itself, but you could get more adventurous and, uh, do a variation, Coyote Creeking around or go up to Schoolhouse Peak, which is the lookout up there.
Scott Hammond: Saw the look… Yeah, that, uh, that does go a little hilly, right,
Reese Hughes: It's a little hilly.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: It's not gonna be a flat walk.
Scott Hammond: Lacks Creek. So-
Reese Hughes: No
Scott Hammond: … just going back to Ferndale for a minute.
Reese Hughes: Yeah, yeah.
Scott Hammond: So, uh, that walk is… Would you say that's pretty s- f-
flat once you get up to elevation?
Reese Hughes: The, once you're up on Bear River Ridge-
Scott Hammond: Wild, Wildcat? Yeah
Reese Hughes: … yeah, that's, it's not flat, but it's not a
terribly strenuous walk.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Reese Hughes: Parts of it are a little more uphill than the others,
sort of pick your poison along that area.
Scott Hammond: Okay. Cool.
Reese Hughes: All right, my next one is-
Scott Hammond: Your next one
Reese Hughes: … Centerville Beach.
Scott Hammond: Ah.
Reese Hughes: Especially in low tide, going south Centerville down to Fleener
Creek.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: And it's, again, you can do a loop if you want,
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Reese Hughes: … to the old listening post.
Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah.
Reese Hughes: And then back down on the road there and make it a two and a half mile-
Scott Hammond: Is the listening post there? Is there-
Reese Hughes: It's been eliminated, but there's a picnic area and, and,
uh, a, a nice place to sort of chill and, and recuperate from the
climb up-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Reese Hughes: … uh, Fleener Creek.
Scott Hammond: And there's, there's two BLM parks there.
Isn't there a second one?
Reese Hughes: There's another one that's Guthrie Creek.
Scott Hammond: Oh, Guthrie. Yeah.
Reese Hughes: A, a little farther down. But the, the Centerville to Fleener,
couple of other interesting things about that. In really low tide situations, it's a great place to see, uh, fossils. There are a lot of fossils in the-
Scott Hammond: Yes, 'cause they have all that up-
Reese Hughes: Consolidated mud cliffs on the south part of that, that
walk.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: So that's a nice thing, and then the, the other thing is
old site of the wreck of a, of a boat, and there's a, a cross and, and a, a memorial for a, a boat that wrecked back in the 1860s.
Scott Hammond: Is that a low tide view? It has to be out-
Reese Hughes: You won't see the boat.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Reese Hughes: There's just a cross there. And that beach actually historically was,
before the Wildcat was finished, was part of the main, um, uh, thoroughfare between Petrolia and, and the Eel River Valley. So it was a stage road that went from Oil
Creek,
uh, up to-
Scott Hammond: 'Cause that's a whole-
Reese Hughes: … up to Centerville. Now, now you, you can't do it, but, uh-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Reese Hughes: … even then, you probably shouldn't have been doing it,
Scott Hammond: And now they do a century bike ride down there.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Crazy people.
Reese Hughes: Right. Yeah. So where are we? How many have I done?
Scott Hammond: I think you're at five or so.
Reese Hughes: O- okay. Another one would be to,
go down to the mouth of the Mattole and walk south to the Punagorda Lighthouse.
Scott Hammond: Yes.
Reese Hughes: And Punagorda Lighthouse, um, has a number of interesting
features. It also is, it's sort of a tough walk because the sand
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: But, uh, there's an elephant seal colony there at
the lighthouse.
Scott Hammond: Magical.
Reese Hughes: And that is amazing. If you wanna be pretty ambitious, you can
take a different route back and go up to Windy Ridge on a road walk and make it a sort of a loop.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Reese Hughes: Um, and then take the road back down to the
That's about an eight-mile loop or-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Reese Hughes: … it extends it a little bit,
Scott Hammond: Slept there twice o- in storms inside the lighthouse.
Reese Hughes: Have you?
Scott Hammond: Oh, it's pretty-
Reese Hughes: In the lighthouse?
Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah. It's pretty amazing.
Reese Hughes: Wow. That is amazing.
Scott Hammond: I was younger.
Reese Hughes: That could be terrifying.
Scott Hammond: Younger, more hair. [laughs]
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
[laughs] And maybe less common sense.
Scott Hammond: Probably a lot less.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Um, yeah, but it was great. Okay, uh, where else?
Reese Hughes: Well, uh, all right. Another s- wonderful spring, this
sort of walk. Um, and again, it's another area that people don't think about.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Reese Hughes: But, um,
southern Humboldt, um, there's a, a… There are a couple of roads. One is the Dyerville Loop Road.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Reese Hughes: The upper part of the Dyerville Loop Road, and then going
down to Fort Seward.
And-
Scott Hammond: Oh, wow
Reese Hughes: … and it's, uh, the, it's all roads, but the upper part of,
of the Dyerville Loop Road is between the main stem of the Eel and the South Fork of the Eel. And so you have views both directions.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Reese Hughes: Pretty, pretty magical. And then the road down to Fort Seward, and
Fort Seward used to be a, um, a stop on the railroad, and there's an old remnant of the railroad station down there at Fort Seward Park.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Reese Hughes: And, uh, Fort Seward Crossing, and there's a little community there,
all part of, uh…the road goes through a large ranch,
range.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Reese Hughes: And, uh, especially in the spring,
view.
Scott Hammond: How far are we from 101 on that hike?
Reese Hughes: Yeah. So, uh,
as the crow flies, you're not that far, but to get there is-
Scott Hammond: Right
Reese Hughes: …probably a bit of a trek up, uh, past Fruit Ve-
Fruitvale and, uh, up, up the road up on the Dyreville Loop
Road.
Scott Hammond: So is that where the rail tracks would be at the, near-
Reese Hughes: Railroad tracks were down at the bottom.
They go right along the main stream of the, of the Eel.
Scott Hammond: Nice.
Reese Hughes: So-
Scott Hammond: We're gonna segue to the Great Redwood Trail here in a minute.
Reese Hughes: Well, that, that might be a good, good one to-
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Yeah, that's a good one
Reese Hughes: …because the railroad right away down there will be,
is part of the rail-banked Great Redwood, Redwood
Trail.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Say that fast 10 times.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Uh, you got a couple more?
Reese Hughes: Uh, yeah.
Scott Hammond: Then we'll come back… Well, let's come back to the trail
Reese Hughes: Well, okay. Um, one of the ones that I, I have to
mention is the Arcata Ridge Trail.
Scott Hammond: Sure.
Reese Hughes: Four and a half miles long, goes from Sunny Brae over to Weston
Road.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Reese Hughes: Uh, pretty amazing, uh, transect
of the community forest.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Reese Hughes: It's steep. It's a good hill climb, so it's aerobic.
Scott Hammond: Joni, Joni hikes that one a lot.
Reese Hughes: Yeah. So it's not for the faint of heart,
one way from one side to the other, and it's, it's right in our backyard, and it's an amazing place.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Reese Hughes: So… And I, I gotta mention the Humboldt Bay Trail-
Scott Hammond: Sure
Reese Hughes: …uh, even though it's not complete,
Scott Hammond: They're working. Right, right now I watched them working
Reese Hughes: …driving 101, it's, it's happening, and-
Scott Hammond: Oh
Reese Hughes: …by sometime fall 2024 it should be done.
Scott Hammond: Sweet.
Reese Hughes: So you'll be able to go for basically this point
about 15 miles from Humboldt Hill-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Reese Hughes: …to the skate park in, in Arcata, um,
without getting on, uh, a major thoroughfare at all.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Reese Hughes: And so that is an amazing, uh-
Scott Hammond: That's gonna be really neat
Reese Hughes: …achievement.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: And one that we all should be really proud of.
Scott Hammond: So ultimately it's, it's gonna connect to the whole thing,
nuclear plant to basically Little River Beach, right?
To-
Reese Hughes: Well, that would be the Coastal Trail-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Reese Hughes: …to Little River Beach.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Reese Hughes: This actually will be extended another three miles when the city of
Arcata finishes from the skate park in Arcata-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Reese Hughes: …to Pump Station Number One.
Scott Hammond: Ah.
Reese Hughes: So the, it'll extend on the Annie Mary Trail-
Scott Hammond: Yeah. I wanna talk about that
Reese Hughes: …which will go
on towards the, towards Blue Lake.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. So that, they're gonna build that out one day too.
Reese Hughes: Hopefully.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: Again, using the same approach as was used with-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Reese Hughes: …the Bay Trail where we worked from both ends-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Reese Hughes: …toward the middle, and this is working from Arcata.
And Blue Ca- Blue Lake has begun, uh, their first-
Scott Hammond: Oh, wow
Reese Hughes: …segment as well, so-
Scott Hammond: That's gonna be great.
Reese Hughes: So, um-
Scott Hammond: It goes right out to the, the casino, right?
Is that the, that-
Reese Hughes: It goes to the… It's just a short section right now,
getting to Glendale along the 10-, uh, 299 corridor.
Scott Hammond: Nice. Hey, you wanna hear a good stupid story
Reese Hughes: Yeah, yeah.
Scott Hammond: So, uh-
Reese Hughes: Good. Give me a chance
Scott Hammond: …having long hair and being in love, uh, with Joni,
the river in F- in Philbrook.
Reese Hughes: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Uh, just up, just up a couple homes. Dr.
Holmes had a beautiful house, and I lived on West, on, on, uh, Warren Creek Road, where the trestle is.
Reese Hughes: Yep, yep, yep.
Scott Hammond: So it turns out that trestle, when, when you kids
it's, uh, January and it's dark and the trestle's got that much ice on it-
Reese Hughes: [laughs]
Scott Hammond: …and you go up, and what is it? Maybe it's probably 50, 60 feet up,
It-
Reese Hughes: Probably something.
Scott Hammond: It's a death fall.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: For sure. And you walk out at night, and you gotta,
girl home,
and, uh-
Reese Hughes: Wow
Scott Hammond: …yeah.
S- and sometimes she… I would just kind of watch.
[laughs]
Reese Hughes: [laughs]
Scott Hammond: But she had her, her, her, her Volkswagen's, uh,
side ready to go. But it was like, so we had this river crossing, uh, on the Annie Mary line.
Reese Hughes: So you would go across the river on the trestle?
Scott Hammond: Correct. Uh, there were still trains running at this ti-
Reese Hughes: Yeah. It was still-
Scott Hammond: It was, uh, 1981. '80.
Reese Hughes: It, it was near the end of the-
Scott Hammond: Yeah, '79 and '80
Reese Hughes: …near the time that we were running, so there weren't many,
Scott Hammond: They had trains, yeah.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: They, you're right. They, they were ending them about that time.
So, uh, are you out of trails that you like, or you got one more?
Reese Hughes: Uh, let's see. I, I, I'm trying to pick something that would be
a little bit different area, um, because I've gone north,
south. Uh, uh, you know, one that I think, again, I, you assume you have listeners in southern Humboldt.
Scott Hammond: Sure.
Reese Hughes: Um,
people don't think about this, but the community park, Southern Humboldt Community Park, east of Garberville.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: West of Garberville.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: West of Garberville.
Scott Hammond: You go off the highway and you go down.
Reese Hughes: Yep. You see it from the road, and you look down, you see the
wonderful flat space.
Scott Hammond: That's got a trail.
Reese Hughes: It's got a, a several loop trails around it,
a wonderful spot to go for a picnic. They've got a, a little park there for kids. They've also got a, a, a little, uh, bike, skate park kind of set up, and then they have trails that go around. It's about a two and a half mile trail-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Reese Hughes: …with other options through the middle of it, so.
Scott Hammond: Very nice.
Reese Hughes: So there– We must hit, have hit 10. I can keep going.
Scott Hammond: I think you're 10 there. And then-
Reese Hughes: I, I have 101-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Reese Hughes: …that I probably can get to.
Scott Hammond: And probably the m- the magic place for us is anything from
Moonstone Beach to, say, um, Sue Meng, Patrick's Point.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: And so there's a lot, there's a lot of walking-
Reese Hughes: I didn't even mention those-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Reese Hughes: …you know, because I could feel people know about Sue
Trinidad Head. I mean, those are wonderful places, but those known that I, I hate to even-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Reese Hughes: …give them airtime.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Understood. Yeah. No, you're– Those are other.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: So as, as we wind down, I would like your perspective on, uh-Your
hopes for Humboldt, your hopes for– And, and as it relates to your vision and your, your being a, a spokesperson, an evangelist, if you will-
Reese Hughes: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … of, of, uh…
I don't know. I, I, I would say it's more than trails.
It's, it's-
Reese Hughes: Yeah, walking
Scott Hammond: … it's walk-
Reese Hughes: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … it's fitness. It's-
Reese Hughes: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … breathing. It's living. It's-
Reese Hughes: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … going out. It's therapy, man. It's,
Reese Hughes: I'm an evangelist because I'm cheap, and, you know, this is…
You don't have to buy special gear. You don't have to be especially fit. You can take whatever you want. You can go whenever you want. I mean, what could be easier? No gym membership required.
Scott Hammond: That's right.
Reese Hughes: So-
Scott Hammond: And Jodi says if we have the gear,
Reese Hughes: [laughs]
Scott Hammond: So I, I-
Reese Hughes: Right
Scott Hammond: … think there's some GORE-TEX in my future.
Reese Hughes: They, they say that there's no, there's no bad weather,
gear. Like, and so-
Scott Hammond: I've heard that quote.
Reese Hughes: Yeah. Yeah.
Scott Hammond: It's strange.
Reese Hughes: So you ask me-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Reese Hughes: … is it sort of my vision for the future in
Scott Hammond: Yeah, what would you like to see happen?
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Well, from a trail standpoint, I'd have to say that we have, in the course of my time here, 37 plus years, we've gone, especially in the time of my advocacy for
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Reese Hughes: … we have gone from a place where,
uh, there was lots of resistance by the, those in public office-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Reese Hughes: … uh,
to a place where you can't find much resistance anywhere.
Scott Hammond: So there's a shift.
Reese Hughes: There's been a, a sea change.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: And, um, people, whether it's board of supervisors
or county g- uh, city governments, the, the county staff, all are, are all on board.
Scott Hammond: The state as well? There's monies.
Reese Hughes: State is on board. Great Redwood Trail has, has, is a
big commitment from the state. So for people like me, um, this is pretty magical time.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: And I think my hope is that everybody gets on board and-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Reese Hughes: … embraces it and takes full advantage of what we've
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Reese Hughes: … available. So-
Scott Hammond: That's, that's a great truth.
Reese Hughes: I, I also think, uh, I have hope that as
we segue from being a, a lumber community, a fishing community, a, a weed
community to, to really emphasizing maybe a, a, a place that's focused on, uh, supporting offshore s- wind-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Reese Hughes: … um,
supporting the growth of Cal Poly Humboldt-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Reese Hughes: … to, uh,
embrace this, uh, undersea cable that's coming on, onshore here-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Reese Hughes: …
uh, to look at the aquaculture farm. I guess I'm feeling hopeful that there is a-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Reese Hughes: … new generation of opportunity.
Scott Hammond: I like it.
Reese Hughes: So I'm optimistic about that.
Scott Hammond: 30 seconds-
Reese Hughes: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … Great Redwood Trail.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: How did, how did it happen? What's gonna happen? When does it happen?
Just quick-
Reese Hughes: 30 seconds
Scott Hammond: … timeline.
Reese Hughes: Well-
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Reese Hughes: Uh, it-
Scott Hammond: A minute, a minute
Reese Hughes: … you know, in our lifetime, it, it'll be lucky to be
done in our lifetime. But pieces will be done.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: And it's been most importantly rail banked-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Reese Hughes: … from basically the Bay Area up here to
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Reese Hughes: … which preserves the railroad right of way-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Reese Hughes: … um, and allows it to be-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Reese Hughes: … used for other purposes like a trail.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Reese Hughes: And, uh, it will always be available if there
reverted-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Reese Hughes: … to a, to a train, a railroad corridor.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Reese Hughes: But for now it'll be, uh, used for this purpose.
I think it's a great thing. It's a great resource. It has the potential of, once it's done, of being one of those, uh, places that pulls people in from all over ride their bikes, to hike portions. I have this vision of, of Airbnbs, of rental places, of restaurants all the way along at key
nodes.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: Um, and, and give people the opportunity to make it
adventure.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: And I'm hoping, I'm hoping, Scott, that it might happen
some of it, but-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Reese Hughes: … um,
I, I'll be happy-
Scott Hammond: I'm into that
Reese Hughes: … if it's something that my kids, our kids can-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Reese Hughes: … can do or come back and do.
Scott Hammond: I'm so tempted to give you an amen preacher, but I'm gonna [laughs] …
Reese Hughes: Amen, baby.
Scott Hammond: Pre- preach it, brother. Hey, bonus round.
Reese Hughes: Okay.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
We do this on the show, folks. Uh…
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Everything's okay.
Uh, when you go out tonight and-
Reese Hughes: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … I give you $200, where do you take your sweetheart?
Where, where do you, you and Amy go to eat?
Reese Hughes: Well, uh, I think my first choice,
is probably go to Larrupin.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Reese Hughes: Uh, we have a long history from the early days
uh, running it as-
Scott Hammond: pair- and pair, her husband?
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: Uh, when they ran it-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Reese Hughes: … in the old, uh, location up on West Haven Drive.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, the little cafe.
Reese Hughes: And, uh, I think it's always will be a special
us, and I still like the atmosphere. And even though the menu doesn't change-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Reese Hughes: … as long as they don't go too often,
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: And, uh, even during COVID, one of our anniversaries, we did take out
and then-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Reese Hughes: … took it up to Sumeg Village and, uh-
Scott Hammond: Nice
Reese Hughes: … and ate, ate up there.
Scott Hammond: Right.
Reese Hughes: So-
Scott Hammond: Love it
Reese Hughes: … uh, so that's probably where.
Scott Hammond: So if we, uh, gave you, uh,
question number two.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Um,
you're gonna go on a hike tomorrow morning somewhere.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: We're holding a gun to your head.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: We probably don't have to.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Where would you go? Where, where are you going?
And who are you going with? And what are you gonna do?
Reese Hughes: Okay. I'd probably try to pull my wife along.
Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.
Reese Hughes: Um,
uh, tennis would be her other alternative.
Scott Hammond: Oh, she's a tennis player.
Reese Hughes: So, yeah, so we'd have to negotiate.
But, you know, Friday, I would, I'd go out to, uh, Malel.
Scott Hammond: Malel.
Reese Hughes: Yeah. And I would walk, um-Out to the
end of the old railroad tracks where you can sort of look to the north and-
Scott Hammond: On the slough side?
Reese Hughes: Yep.
Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.
Reese Hughes: And then I'd walk up through the high dunes and out to the coast and
come back around or go all the way down to Friends of the Dunes and make it a little longer loop.
Scott Hammond: Little circle.
Reese Hughes: I, I love, I love that.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Nice. Uh, lastly, uh, where,
where would you, uh… If you could go somewhere overnight and do what, where would you, where would you stay? Where would you go in Humboldt?
Reese Hughes: Well, I mentioned Lax Creek early.
Now, right now I wouldn't go to Lax Creek
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: But normally it's a, a place that I love
to pick up at 3:00 in the afternoon. We've had a multi-day period of sort of marine layer.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: We have a, this old van that has a sleeping area in it.
Scott Hammond: I wanna hear about that, by the way.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: We, we sort of keep it ready to go.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Reese Hughes: And we… I'd go up to Lax Creek, which is
3,500 feet up, and, uh, we… It's dispersed
camping.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Reese Hughes: And I'd camp up there-
Scott Hammond: Huh
Reese Hughes: … and, um,
enjoy a sunny, uh, sunset and, uh, starry skies at night. And-
Scott Hammond: It's a little cooler than Willow Creek, I would guess.
Reese Hughes: It's a little cooler at Wil- than Wi- it's 3,500 feet, so it's-
Scott Hammond: Swimmin' holes?
Reese Hughes: No. No water.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Reese Hughes: So you have to take your water.
Scott Hammond: So the creek is just a, like Blue Lake.
Reese Hughes: It's the headwaters of Lax Creek, so you really have to go…
Yeah, it's a little like Blue Lake.
Scott Hammond: I got fooled. I went to Blue Lake looking for the lake.
Reese Hughes: Yeah. I've been there, too.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. [laughs]
Reese Hughes: So I think I'd go up there. The other option, uh, went there
earlier this summer, up to the Titlow Hill area or up off of,
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Reese Hughes: … Forest Service 1-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Reese Hughes: … near Horse Mountain. It's even a little higher, and it's, uh,
from Cold Springs, which is another wonderful place to walk
Scott Hammond: Tell me about your camp setup. Do you have, like,
Reese Hughes: We have an old, we have an old
Mercury Villager 1995 that when our kids left the, the, the nest, it seemed like it was getting no use, so we took out the seats, put in a futon, raised it 18 inches, storage underneath.
Scott Hammond: Perfect.
Reese Hughes: A futon with a topper on the top.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Reese Hughes: We have a tail veil that, where we can lift up the back
eight-by-eight room on it, and we've got a, a table that we can pull out, chairs, a little stove, uh-
Scott Hammond: Very cool
Reese Hughes: … cooler. And we've-
Scott Hammond: Huh
Reese Hughes: … we've been in it for as long as two
It's just the right size, and-
Scott Hammond: Nice
Reese Hughes: … you know, it's old enough that nobody thinks it has
which is true, it doesn't.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. [laughs]
Reese Hughes: Um, and it still, still keeps running.
So-
Scott Hammond: Nice
Reese Hughes: … um, it's been, it's been a wonderful asset.
Scott Hammond: So I have a ch- I'm gonna propose-
Reese Hughes: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … a trade. You p-
Reese Hughes: Okay.
Scott Hammond: You, you won the contest, by the way.
Reese Hughes: Oh.
Scott Hammond: So, uh, for you, my friend-
Reese Hughes: Oh
Scott Hammond: … the Dick Taylor Dark Chocolate, 72%
strawberry basil. This, now this is a flavor of the month.
Reese Hughes: Strawberry basil.
Scott Hammond: You don't just-
Reese Hughes: Wow.
Scott Hammond: You don't just find these. Joni has to curate these and go find them.
Uh, but yeah, I think you, you might really like this or it… I know Amy will really enjoy it.
Reese Hughes: Yeah, Amy will really like it. Uh-
Scott Hammond: On, on the condition that after-
Reese Hughes: Oh
Scott Hammond: … the show you share with me-
Reese Hughes: [laughs]
Scott Hammond: … a little bit about the van,
Reese Hughes: Oh
Scott Hammond: … Honda Odyssey.
Reese Hughes: Okay.
Scott Hammond: And, uh-
Reese Hughes: I will
Scott Hammond: … there's a lot of kits out there
Reese Hughes: Yeah. This is a, this is a cheap man's-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Reese Hughes: … conversion.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Hey, right up my, right up my, uh, my, uh-
Reese Hughes: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … my wheelhouse. This is for you.
Reese Hughes: Well, thank you.
Scott Hammond: Appreciate you coming, yeah.
Reese Hughes: A- as I mentioned earlier, uh, Adam Dick, as he and I share
at least one thing in common, and that's that we both have, uh, roots in the great state of Kansas.
Scott Hammond: Kansas is cool.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: I loved Kansas.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Hey, what a delight. Thanks for coming.
Reese Hughes: Thank you, Scott.
Scott Hammond: Uh, last question.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Uh, what would you like your gravestone to
Reese Hughes: Hmm.
"He never tired of walking."
Scott Hammond: Nice. Good, good answer.
Reese Hughes: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: And your l- your legacy lives. I, I won't even ask about that.
So appreciate having you, Reece.
Reese Hughes: Thanks, Scott.
Scott Hammond: It's a joy, and we'll, we'll talk some more.
Reese Hughes: Okay.