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!