Hayfork

Hunting?
Hayfork area used to be a great place to hunt. Since there is no logging anymore, the deer are scarce. The only deer you might see are the ones living near town or peoples houses. Yeah the deer walk up and down main street, smart deer. There are few still in the woods, but not as many as there used to be. Since the spotted owl scene took over, deer have fled the area. Deer use to feed on the tops of trees that had fallen due to logging. It looks like a ghost town anymore. The mill is long gone, and so the deer went when logging stopped. They say the spotted owl only lives in old growth. That my friend is a bunch of BS and was used to stop logging. They live in areas that had no old growth as well. I was told someone saw one fying by my property. In all the years I worked in the woods i never saw one, nor did I see bigfoot. I went hunting in Hayfork about 2005-2006 and never saw more than 3 deer in all the backroads I drove on. I even got out and looked around in case you were wondering. I climbed around the hills, and a couple others I know went from one road to another over the top of ridges on foot and never saw anything. When I worked in the woods in up to 1990 I saw deer galore. Personnaly I would stay away from this area for hunting, unless you want to go camping or fishing or just to relax. I did see some activity I thought was ruthless and uncalled for. I saw some hunters, out of the area of course, camped next to the main hwy on a side road that leads to houses. Hunters that go there sometimes don't get it that people are scattered and live here and there in the country. its not like city life where your neighbor is next door. Anyhow these people live there all year and have the deer whats left of them come on their property for refuge. They enjoy watching the deer and then here comes hunting season. The 4 wheelers were all over the place on peoples property and I even saw a buck hanging which I know was basically one of the peoples pet that live there. It outrages me to see such poor hunting ethics. The people that live there are too close for people to be hunting there, especially for people who know nothing of how people live there. You are likely to get shot yourself if you think you have an open shot in a field and dont see the house next to it. You dont want to cross the people of Hayfork and their land. They are the nicest people otherwise and wil give the shirt off their back, buit like I said make sure you are not on someones property and have a little respect for others.

Most people there are in poverty due to the Lumber mill shutdown, and they actually moved the whole mill to another town near Sacramento. I don't know if it is still in operation today as I have not checked.
It moved in the '90s I believe. I got out of the woods work there in 1990. I do not live there anymore as so many others that dont live there anyhow.....the 90's
That's when it started to drop off and go downhill from there. I was one of the lucky ones who got out in time. There are others who did not and are still feeling the loss.
I heard stories of tree huggers (people who want the trees to stay) chaining themselves to the trees that needed cut, driving huge spikes into the trees causing injury to the timber faller when his saw hits the spike. It was like a war between the green people and the lumber industry. They were finding ancient bugs, or brine shimp all over. couldn't see them but they say they exsisted. The green people would find anything to stop logging. So you couldn't cut the trees there as the bugs would be harmed. Alot of people did not know that alot of the trees that were cut, were to save the forest from devastation. You see, there is a beetle, we used to call them stump f'ers. sorry cant say the word, family site you know. They would use their long what-cha-ma-call-its to bore a hole in the tree and lay eggs.
Then somehow, I dont know how, it would kill the tree. Yes a huge big tree 160 feet tall. It was a beautiful tree, then it started to die and the beetles took over, from one tree to the next. Now you have all these dead trees that are ready to catch fire and burn quickly since they are all dry now. But, if you stop the infestation of the beetles by removing the trees, you have a forest that will repoduce and not be threatened. That was the reason for "clear cuts" in case you did not know. Now not only did the tree huggers stop logging, which seemed weird to me, since their homes were made of wood, they may have started another process in motion that will destroy the area. Like I said there are no more animals to found like there used to be in Hayfork. The beetles are taking over, the fires have destroyed the area and the list goes on.
I saw all this coming and wonder why sometimes beetles and owls are more important than ones brother when it comes to saving lives. You know I liked the trees too, and liked caring for the forest. Timber fallers and woods people would do their best to save all the new trees and seedlings so no harm would come to them. I saw them fly over in planes and seed the land. Many times as soon as the trees were cut, trees were planted in its place. I have personnaly participated in that adventure. Wore out a new pair of boots in one day; digging holes for the trees to be planted in. I just want you to know that Hayforkers have done what they could to take care of their land in their area. Alot of those fires were caused by careless deer hunters, so that is another reason why they dont trust you, if you are from the city. So next time in the area, try not to spoil the very place you love to go and visit, and also somebodys year 'round home. Say hello to the people you see and wave to all you see on the roadway. They do, as they will welcome you to their town, be kind and enjoy the fine home cooked meals at the fine dining restaurants in town. Check out the dept store and all the establishments in town.
Dont blink your eyes or you will miss theou should be fine town. Hayfork needs your support to keep the town alive. Tourism is their only hope now, so check it out and enjoy yourself. The drive is a bit twisty and windy, and need to take it slow and use turnouts to let people pass. But once you enter into the Hayfork Valley, you start to see its beauty.

Fishing
Fish are everywhere there, in the creeks and in the lakes that are nearby.
Over the hill from Hayfork is Ruth Lake in the town of Ruth. The road is also a tricky road to drive, but if you take it slow and be careful, you should be fine. Plenty of camping and boating fun. Oh and dont forget when salmon season is here, the Trinity River is the place to be.
Drift boat down the river and catch the big ones. There are guides available to help you on your journey, which is recommended. More info later, so check back.

The Gulch Massacre

For site seeing the Bridge Gulch Massacre has its place in history but needs to be treated with respect. It's sad to know that Indians were massacred for nothing. They did nothing to deserve any of it, yet over 300 Indians died that day. The white people say about 150 Indians but even if it was 1 and had not done any wrong it still would be wrong. You would think it would get more publicity than it has. It is a sacred place to the Indians and we should show respect and not destroy any of the area while you visit. Please read the PDF about the massacre.
It takes a bit to download the PDF so be patient