Brain Food

Hungry for a few field guides? Satiated by Yurok Indian legends? Looking for a balanced history of loggers and their tree-sitting adversaries? Curious about the origins of the golden bears who stand watch over the Klamath River Bridge (and curious to know what happened to the originals during the 1965 flood?)

 So were we. So we told ourselves that it’s important to stock the hostel with books that teach hostellers a bit more about this rocky, woodsy part of the world. We have books to lend and books to sell, such as: "Dear Mad’m," the tale of a woman who turned 80 years old, realized she wasn’t nearly dead yet, and moved herself into a gold-mining cabin in the Siskiyou Mountains in the 1940s; "Salmon Stream," a gorgeously illustrated children’s tale of the mystical and altogether rather odd habits of those famed salmon; "Redwoods: A Natural and Cultural History," comprising in one volume about everything the novice naturalist needs to know about redwoods; and "To The American Indian," a Yurok elder’s message to her descendants as she rightly predicted the decline of her culture at the turn of the 20th century.

Of course, some of our books have absolutely nothing to do with the Redwoods, hostelling or travel. These have become the "Unofficial Redwood Hostel Book Swapping Club" where, if you find a book you like then take it and if you have a book to leave, then leave it.

And if you have suggestions for books the hostel should lend, sell or swap, please do let us know! 

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Here comes the rain again

Just 7 days ago, the heat record was broken as thermometers topped 80 degrees. But this morning I’m waiting for another  splotch of blue to poke through all those spider web clouds. Somewhere, thunder really wants to rumble. That must mean…

The rains are coming, the rains are coming!

If you’re coming this way, and you get caught offguard by the impending rains, we recently bought a handful of cute umbrellas decorated like ladybugs and frogs (hey, they were 50% off) that you’re welcome to borrow. We’d like to offer more rain gear that folks can wrap themselves in for a dripping stroll beneath the understory. Our wish list includes rain jackets, scarves, more umbrellas, ponchos, hats and gloves. If you have extras to spare, we’ll take ’em, and pass them along. Thanks!   

Hosteller of the Month

 

Dejan Glavnik decided to bike around the world, from 2006-2011. Here he stands, ready to leave Redwood Hostel, if not for the hostellers and staff who continue to ask for ‘just one more’ photo. He’s going south into Mexico, and then south some more. And because we stand in awe, Dejan Glavnik is our first ever Hosteller of the Month.

If you see him, say hello. If you speak Slovenian, follow Dejan’s blog at tourtheworld.si.

Sappy Poem#1

Bicyclists pedal Highway 101 like a few drops of rain

Scooting down my car window.

Going south,

Usually wet,

Delicate to the exhalations of wind. 

Inside my heated metal box, I watch them dance,

the rain and its sponge.

My sweater feels too thick now.