Humbug Mountain State Park to Crescent City, CA

We left camp early this morning with Frank and Rike. A little before Nesika Beach, Frank pulled over and scanned the ocean..... and pointed out a pod of WHALES. Grey whales, feeding really close-in to shore-- first the babies came then the adults, the whole experience was absolutely amazing. It was incredible to watch them blow air and then watch their backs as they resubmerged. This really made Oregon complete for us! It was so moving to watch the whales I actually got a little bit teary.

Frank and Rike, although going for a shorter day than us, were riding a bit faster so Chad and I slowed down and stopped for a lunch break at Arch Rock, a really neat arched formation in the water. We relazed awhile, then he aded on, past harris State Beach, where Frank and Rike were camping. We waved goodbye and headed on.


About 20 miles later, after rolling though lots of flat agricultural land, we finally reached the CALIFORNIA BORDER! It was marked with a large sign, standard, that said "welcome to California," but when we stopped to look, cyclists had written on the signposts messages with their names, origins and destinations. Chad and I added ours, of course.

twenty more miles later we got to crescent city, hot and exhausted. We had no idea where to stay, so we decided to spend our first night in a hotel, which was a GREAT decision by Chad after a long, hot day. The only bummer is that I realized I had left my knee warmers at the California border when we were signing the post-- oh well, hopefully some cyclist picked them up and is enjoying them.



We took LONG hot showers and ordered chinese take out, then vegged out in front of the tv for awhile before falling asleep. Today was long-- 80 miles, 3346 feet of climbing, 11.1 mph average, temperature around 95 degrees! We are getting legs of steel!

Sunset Bay State Park to Humbug Mountain State Park

I was extremely tired last night as we went to be late. Unfortunately, Chad and I spent much of the night battling raccoons who were trying to steal food out of our panniers. They unwrapped Daniel's saddle bags to snatch his Doritos and we could hear them munching loudly on doritos all night long. They are clever little guys-- they also managed to UNZIP Laura's panniers and steal a pepper and some cheese-- however, we recovered her food before they devoured it.

Anyhow, the day started with a really nice climb up Seven Devils Road, which crossed seven little peaks as we headed south. The ups and downs reminded me a lot of the riding in the East Bay Hills in CA, and made me remember how much fun this kind of terrain is. It was also nice to have a break from the 101-- there were virtually no cars and we had the road to ourselves, nearly all the way to Bandon.

The scenery has changed a lot-- the green lush forests have given way to rocky, dry scrub-- similar to Eastern Washington, a beautiful contrast to our days further north.

We stopped for a nice lunch in Bandon, then continued through some side streets past lots of large, abandoned- looking homes (vacation homes?) and to the Face Rock Viewpoint, where the wind was absolutely HOWLING. The scenery was incredible, though-- huge rocks that looked like sea lions stacked in the water.

We rode through Langlois where the wind picked up again and literally carried us into Port Orford. We did some grocery shopping there and headed for Camp at Humbug Mountain State Park, where we were able to watch the sun set on a black sand beach. unreal! After the sunset we made veggie Phad Thai and added some peanut butter...delicious. We were extra-certain to clean up our food so that we would have no raccoon encounters. We also met some more people at camp-- a man named John riding from Cour de Alene, ID to Texas via the cost, and a nice guy named Nick who is headed to San Francisco from Chicago. All these rides make ours seem very easy.

We also decided that tomorrow we will probably part ways with Frank and Rike, as we would like to make a big push across the California border and they are more interested in spending another night in Oregon and taking their time. So it is our last night in Oregon-- a little bitter-sweet, as we have had a phenomenal time!

Today's stats-- 58.5 miles, 2841 ft of climbing, 11.3 mph

Jesse E Honeyman State Park to Sunset Bay Hiker-Biker

Hello again! We left camp this morning a bit delayed because we thought we lost Chad's wallet-- turned out that it was in my backpack. We did, however, manage to leave camp without our clothesline-- which Frank and Rike had already picked up for us once.... so we have lost our first item. It could have definitely been worse!

Today's ride was not especially scenic. It was probably the pinnacle of impolite drivers, actually. We were honked at by multiple rv's, and one guy in an SUV even flipped me off! The most rediculous one, though, was crossing a bridge. In Oregon, they have great bicycle infastructure for tunnels and bridges-- at the beginning of the tunnel or bridge, you push a button that illuminates lights on a sign that says "bicycles in tunnel" or "bicycles on bridge." Anyhow, we pushed the button, then began to cross this bridge, and some guy yelled at us, "you don't belong here!" We just smiled and waved, which seems to be the best remedy for this type of treatment.

All in all actually, the drivers have been extremely polite and we get lots of encouraging honks and waves. Today the mean ones just seemed to be in higher concentration.

Anyhow, we arrived at camp relatively early, as it was a short, fast day. When we got there, the hiker-biker site was overflowing-- there were 18 people on bicycles staying there! Amazing. We met a retired couple spending a year touring on bicycles, another couple doing the same Seattle to San Francisco route as us, and saw Rachel and Jake, a couple we had met awhile back. There was also a group of 4 women on recumbants, some of them going all the way to Mexico! Frank and Rike are still riding with us, and the four of us decided to get a seperate camp to keep the hiker-biker site from overcrowding. As we got set up, two other riders we had met earlier arrived-- Laura, a young woman who rode her bike out west from GEORGIA and is headed to Grant's Pass, and Daniel, a funny guy who is traveling light, eating multiple variations of Snickers-based meals that we had met the previous night. Laura and Daniel joined us at our camp, as hiker-biker had become very crowded.

We walked over to Sunset Beach to enjoy the sunset, and it was amazing-- the bay is enclosed on 3 sides by rock walls, and the sun set between the rock walls, right in front of a rock in the water, which the wave crashed against as the sun sank into the sea. Unbelieveable!

On the way back I had a nice chat with Rachel, who works for a clean energy foundation in San Francisco. We talked about the future and possibilities of the new green economy, and it occured to me that almost everyone I've met on this trip has or is in some way involved in clean energy, green building, or organic farming. It made me very excited about the future, although I also have to take into consideration the fact that the people I'm meeting are travelling by BIKE, which makes them a bit more green-minded than the average Oregon Coast traveler.

We stayed up much later than we should have chatting, but it was fun to have a social night. That is all for today-- we rode 53.23 miles, climbed 2263 feet, and averaged 12 mph.

Beverly Beach State Park to Jesse E Honeyman State Park

Today we rode to Jesse E Honeyman State Park, where we warmed up on sand dunes before jumping in the lake for a swim at the end of the day. We passed through many neat areas on the way to Jesse E Honeyman-- through Newport, OR and the neighborhood of Nye Beach, which had a really nice feel to it. We also ogled at the rock formations at Cape Perpetua, and had a stop at Strawberry Hill to look at a large seal colony.

The campground we're staying at is gorgeous-- the hiker-biker sites are situated in the woods, and a short walk leads down to the bathrooms, as well as an amphitheater where there is entertainment every night. Tonight some gentlemen were performing songs on Native American flutes, and they told the story of how the flute came to the First People. Apparently the woodpecker pecked some holes in a hollow branch for a young fellow as an aid to impress a woman.

In camp, we had a nice campfire before drifting off to sleep-- all in all a really nice day! We also met another German man named Albrecht who is from the South of Germany, travelling solo. He is soft-spoken and very thoughtful-- a really nice guy.

Today's stats-- 60.15 miles, 2874 ft. of climbing, 11.2 mph average