Sue-meg – special number 62
If you run your eye down the coastline of Wild Escape Guides Bigfoot Country Campgrounds Map A, you’ll bump into a little thumb or point of land projecting out into the Pacific Ocean. Here lies campground 62.
The campground sits on land that once belonged to the Yurok. Native to the area, the Yurok have always lived here; they live in the community now and they use the area often, continuing their traditions. When euro-white immigrants colonized the area they named the land after a white settler who attempted to ranch here. But, this post isn’t about him, whom I am not going to mention. Firstly, because this person has had their name associated with this land long enough, and secondly, I never thought about it much – even though I am so enthralled with this profoundly special land, I ignored any sting the name must have invoked – which is wrong and shameful white privilege and systemic racism and I’m calling myself out.
On the land is a sea cliff point, which provides an incredible towering stage where you can stand and look westward across the mysterious deep blue-green waters of the cold Pacific Ocean. I have done just this dozens of times. It’s pretty magical.
As are the woods that hug the shoulders of these rocks. Spruce thickets, blanketed in mosses, dripping with lichens, sheltering masses of huckleberries, ferns, salal. An exuberant dawn chorus vibrates from little feathered migrants hopping on the branches summer mornings. It cheers me ecstatically.
So did the pee in my cup and the scat on the table. A fox tagging in a language I can’t wholly understand but I get the idea – fox claims this space (rightly so!). And in the darkest hours, masked and ready for action, raccoons have licked my cookstove, wrestled with my tea kettle and even attempted to pull open zippers. The gang of bandits a playful reminder, I am a guest here.
The forests on this rocky point endure constant pressure from the wind and sea spray. Yet, when you step inside, all the life looks and feels soft and gentle. Above, wisping through the branches, the oceans constant breathing, in and out, grabbing away stress. I have lost and found myself in the peace of these woods dozens of times.
Yes, I have sincere reverence for this place. Precisely because of this, I have sincere reverence for the original owners – the Yurok. The care and intention of the landscape, then and now, pulses on the air here, even today manged as a California State Park.
I’m excited to announce, a small gesture, a little thank you, a note of recogition: on September 30, 2021, the Ca. State Park officially adopted and changed this rocky point park to the Yurok name – Sue-meg!
Dear Yurok – I’m sorry. Thank you for sharing with me, us – Sue-meg.
Wild Escape Guides 