Richardson State Grove to McKerricher Beach State Park

Almost immediately out of Richardson Grove this morning we started climbing. About 15 miles out of camp we said goodbye to the 101 and turned onto the 1, towards the ocean. We went up, up, up to the highest point on the entire Pacific Coast route, Leggett Hill. The hill, though we had been dreading it, was actually very pleasant-- gradual, windy, on a very lightly traveled road. The shady eucalyptus groves and the golden brown soil of the hills again reminded me of some of my favorite climbs in Berkeley (the pic is me at the top, celebrating!).

The descent was one of the longest I've ever done-- lots of windy corners in and out of the shade. We came around one hairpin and there were in two people in motorcycle jackets but with no motorcycles, sitting in lawn chairs by the side of the road, obviously smoking a joint. Only in Northern California!

The next climb, Rockport Hill, was not as long but it was quite steep, and turned out to be quite a bugger. The way down was incredible, though, as we finally re-emerged at the Ocean, our first glimpse since Arcata. We stopped for a long leisurely lunch in Westport, where we were able to find, in a small convenience store, Brio bread, an organic tomato, a ripe avacado, and cheese from a town up the road called Lolita. Even in the tiniest towns here, you can get fancy cheese and organic produce. Gotta love it!

We hiked down from the store to a little park with picnic benches and a view of the ocean to enjoy our lunch. There we met a really nice guy named John who owns a bicycle shop in Chico, CA. We had a nice chat with him, then he returned to his book while Chad took a nap under the table and I looked at the ocean and planned our route for the next few days.

When we got back on the road we only had 12 more miles left for the day, but they were some of the toughest 12 miles I've ever ridden! The 1 winds in and out of countless canyons along this part of the coast, plunging down into the canyon, turning 180 degrees and then shooting steeply up back out towards the water, over and over again.

The scenery was spectacular, though-- lots of small ranches and wide-open grassland mixed with groves of trees, right along the sparkling Pacific. Chad and I decided that it would be pretty cool to own a litte vacation ranch here someday.



We ended the day at Mackerricher Beach State Park, where we bumped into our friend Daniel again, and also met two other riders-- John, a retired computer science professor who just turned 70 and is riding from Eugene to San Francisco, and Jack, a retired British plumber in his 70's who is riding from Vancouver, BC to MEXICO! Jack was a wonderful spirit for us to bump into-- he gave us a can opener and a booklet about good restuarants to try in the area, and kept us entertained all night with stories of trekking in Alaska and Ireland.

At some point Chad and I rode our bikes into Ft. Ross for dinner-- there was a really nice bike path from our campground to town along the beach, and, thankfully, flat for a change. We ate burgers (a veggie one for me) and french fries, then headed back to camp. At the camp entrance, there was a complete grey whale skeleton on display with a bunch of educational/ interpretive material, so we spent some time checking it out. We stayed up much later than we should have, but we really earned it-- we climbed 4458 ft. today!!! That was over 55.52 miles, with an average speed of 9.5 mph. Woo hoo! Our biggest day of climbing on the entire tour, we're pretty sure. And we feel great!

Riverwalk RV Park to Richardson Grove State Park, CA

We said goodbye to August today in a blaze of heat-- after about 1:30, the thermometer didn't drop below 90 until we were done riding. Ugh! We left Riverwalk this morning around 8:30 and absolutely flew until we reached the Avenue of the Giants, where we intentionally slowed down. They are truly amazing-- I feel awed by their presence, and they radiate a quiet, calm energy that makes you want to stop and reflect, really acknowledge all the history these trees have lived through. Some of them are up to 5,000 years old. Can you imagine? They've been around since biblical times!

There was a distinct contrast, of course, between the quiet, cool, calm of the redwoods and the intense heat (and traffic) between redwood groves; also a contrast between the elegant naturalness of many of the trees and the schlocky-but-fun tourist attractions along the way.


We stopped at the immortal tree, which apparently has lived through fire, flood, and disease, which apparently redwoods are equipped to do as a survival mechnism. We also visited my personal favorite, the drive thru (bike thru?) tree.



Chad and I also found a Califorina house in our price range! Here we are checking it out-- I think it's a good fit for us!



We continued on through the heat, stopping to take a dip in the Eel River, aptly named because of the lamprey migration that happens in the river every spring. We also stopped in Garberville, a town in the middle of nowhere-- hot nowhere, actually-- with more hippies than I've ever seen in one place! They also had a great natural foods store with really nice folks.

When we reached our campground at Richardson Grove, we walked down to the Eel again for a swim at the end of our ride. The river was wonderfully rich with life-- we saw lots of lizards and frogs, tons of insect life, and lots of little fingerling trout.
We took a dip in an amazingly deep swimming hole where a family was playing in the water, and then hiked back up to enjoy our last night in the Redwoods.

I borrowed a patch for my sleeping pad from a man a few campsites over-- Sam, a really nice guy. Chad and I started to get ready for dinner, and, realizing it was Shabbat, got out some bread and candles, and then lamented that we had forgotten to buy wine to celebrate the Shabbas. Just then, Sam came walking over to offer us a bottle of wine, since he was so impressed with our endeavour! It was quite amazing. We accepted and spent the evening chatting with Sam about all kinds of topics, from politics to racial relations to transportation and urban planning. We were very grateful for good conversation and great wine, with just the right timing.

Today's stats: 60.76 miles, 2205 ft of climbing, 10.9 mph avg.

Patrick's Point State Park to Fortuna, CA

Greetings! This morning we delayed a bit in leaving our campground... Albrecht, our German bicycle-mechanic friend, was out quite early, but we decided to stay and go on a hike to try to see some sea lions, which we could hear barking. We never really made it to the sea lions, but we saw some amazing scenery. The light was absolutely gorgeous.



We left the campground around 9:30 and did a short ride into Arcata, which was so charming that we decided to spend the afternoon relaxing there. We had lunch at this amazing bistro called Brio, which had the most amazing almond croissant I have ever eaten. Chad really enjoyed the coffee!



After lunch, we hit up a bike shop to stock up on GU and powdered drinks for the big climbing days coming up, and I found a cute wrap skirt at a little import store. Turns out that the wrap skirt is a VERY convenient camping clothing peice-- it can go on over anything and is very comfortable and flowy! Finally, we did our grocery shopping at the Arcata food co op, which was incredible. The biggest natural foods selection we've seen on our entire trip, and very eclectic clientele. Great people watching!

We left Arcata in the late afternoon to see if we could make some time and get south of Eureka. Rather than getting back on the busy 101, we went along the water, on a less traveled road, that went across the bay. It was slightly foggy but also a little sunny-- absolutely incredible scenery.

We wound up in Fortuna, CA for the evening at an RV park called Riverwalk-- a little more expensive than the hike and bike's we've been staying at, but they had a HOT TUB. We jumped in as soon as we got there, and it was one of the nicest luxuries we've yet experienced. A better value than Econolodge for sure!

Today's stats: 51.1 miles, 11.1 mph, 1502 feet of climbing.

Crescent City to Patrick's Point State Park, CA

Today was incredible!!! We took off from the Econolodge around 8:15, took a quick stop at the grocery store, and began climbing shortly after leaving Crescent City, up, up, up into the Redwoods. This climb was supposed to be one of the harriest in terms of narrowness, steepness and heavy traffic, but when we started up it the road was under construction and the entire right lane was closed to cars (but bikes were no problem). As we got further up they had traffic stopped in both directions but allowed bikes through, so we basically had the road to themselves, which was a blessing.

We continued over the summit and down the descent in solitude, as the road wound back down to sea level.



We came upon the Trees of Mystery, a goofy tourist attraction with a talking, 100 ft tall Paul Bunyan statue who was accompanied by an equally large Babe the Blue Ox. At first we thought it was a recording, but then the statue started asking us where we had ridden our bicycles that day and where we were headed, and told us to be safe! A very funny tourist attraction, actually.

Soon we started our second large climb of the day, back into the Redwoods. The climb was really steep-- too steep for me tugging the trailer-- so Chad took my backpack out of the trailer and wore it the rest of the way up (and still finished the climb ahead of me!). At the top, we took a small hike down an interpretive trail that explained the process of a road removal project that had been completed there. It was pretty incredible-- it is not that they just let the plants grow up, they actually regrade the hillside to its original topography, using heavy machinery, so that you cannot see at all where the road was. The idea behind this technique is that the natural drainage of an area is the best state for the area to be in.




Along the trail we also saw some of the biggest Redwoods I've ever seen.... they were very spiritual trees.



We enjoyed a nice descent back down, and stopped to take some pictures of Corkscrew tree, aptly named!

We continued on into Orick with the sun beating on our backs as we emerged from the Redwoods-- my thermometer said 98 degrees! We finished up our day at Patrick's Point State Park, which is one of the most incredible state parks I've ever visited. The hiker-biker spots were tucked behind some fantastic ocean cliffs-- a short hike took us out to the shore, where seals were bathing in the last rays of sunlight before sunset. The cliffs, seals and sunset made this one of our favorite days yet.



Today's stats: 58 miles, 10 mph, 3572 ft of climbing.