II said goodbyes to everyone as I knew I was venturing farther than everyone else. The Bike The Pacific Coast bible everyone uses on these trips it sketchy at the borders. They don't really say where to camp, and the miles between the camp and the border are missing. So while the California part of the trip starts at the border and goes to Elk Prairie campground at 60 miles, it does not include the 8 miles from Brookings to the border.
Dorian shared the Whale location, and I saw the street and store where it was said to be located, but I opted against it. But I did see this great golf cart that looked like a hot rod Studebaker! Jacob was one of the guys who worked on it for Jim, whose wife is from Peterborough. On the right is Mark who owns the shop in the background. Jim was going to take it to a few car shows. I think it's how he plans on getting around car shows or something. He got the front end off Ebay and the engine is all polyurethane. I set off and a few minutes later he honked as he passed me.
I short while later I got to the California border. I stopped for pics and took pics for some bikers going the other way. I made sure to get a shot of leaving Oregon too. I don't recall Washington thanking me.
But I had to keep going if I wanted to make it to Elk Prairie. A short while later there was a border crossing thing, which I believe the book said was for fruits and vegetables checking. But they were closed so I got to keep my apples!
I was excited to be in Northern California. The redwood forests was a place I had always wanted to visit, and I was looking forward to the magic of these magnificent trees.
But the first thing I encountered were migrant workers on farms. One of the detours off the 101 hwy was through done really peaceful farmland when I wasn't being overtaken by tractors.
Buying had been warned with signs that there would be many tractors much like deer sign warnings. I saw no tractor road kill.
I also came across my first cemetery of the trip. Small, but nice.
And I've discovered that cows state at me. All the time! I think they haven't seen trikes before.
It wasn't long after that I noticed what I thought was a ranger on the side of the road. Eventually a marked patrol car came up to him, as I was passing. He was an officer and waved for me to stop, but the officer in the car told him I could go so he waved me through. I then noticed I was passing a penitentiary. And it seemed as though someone had escaped. As I continued, there were officers lining my side of the road which led into forest.
One guy asked to switch spots with me. I told him this was my excitement for the day. A few officers had rifles, and as I rode, marked cars wizzed by.
I noticed this house and singled back. Looked like old redwoods to make the entrance to their place.
I passed a place that had really cool old junk machinery parts.
And of course they had the coolest mailbox!!!
And I passed Johnson's store a few days back, and now I was passing Ming's store! Ming-Yi!? Ming Tree!!!
There wasn't much to Crescent City. I found a good place to eat based on a recommendation of an elderly gentleman on the side of the road. I had a beer with my meal to celebrate crossing another state border.
They didn't have a lighthouse, but they had a mural of one.
As I left town, Ernie rode up beside me. When I guessed his real name was Ernesto, we became best friends. He veered off at work, a liquor store, and offered me a bottle of whatever I wanted. I said I was fine and we parted ways.
You see done strange things on the side if the road. This chimney in the middle of nowhere was interesting. Maybe it was part of a house, although I saw no foundation.
If you haven't seen the magnificient redwood trees, you must. They are a marvel. They are so straight and seem to shoot out of the ground like they existed and then pushed out of the earth like something from a sci-fi movie. No picture, even showing scale, will ever do them justice. You need to be awed in person.
But like everything, people must capitalize, and so we have Trees of Mystery. I have no idea what this place has to offer aside from overpriced things you won't want anymore after 2 weeks, but it was interesting to trike in.
Paul Bunyan was a big man, from what I can tell. No as bib as the statue of him, but pretty big. I was saying how scale can be hard to judge with the redwoods.
So too with the statue, but you can get some idea from this shot... See the lady? About to get stomped by Paul Bunyan? Actually she didn't get stomped. That costs an extra $10. Who'd pay $10 to get stomped? It's rediculous.
So that was Klamath. They had a cool sign indicating you were in them. They love salmon I guess.
I had to get the golden bears picture from the other end than the entrance because I noticed it too late and the bridge was one lane so I couldn't stop till I got to the other side. These lights at both ends to control the one land traffic are nerve wracking for bike riders, let alone trike riders. One lady rolled her window down on the other side to say, "you made it!"
On the way up this hill this awesome bus gave me some horn toots and a thumbs up from the driver as I glanced over.
6% grades are fun, sometimes. It's dependant on whether you are climbing or descending.
Here's a pic with my trike which I still think isn't doing the tree justice. Arrange to go see them. It will be worth it!
With the 68 miles of triking, I was scared it would be too much and getting to Elk Prairie would be too much, but the bike bible seemed to know well enough. I will post the 10 minute video of my descent through a redwoods lane way, which is only half or less than half of the descent down to Elk Prairie, and it was generally straight and not too steep, but steep enough that you would be going a reasonable clip. Again, the picture doesn't do them justice. That one tree is the width of one side of the road.
I got to Elk Prairie with at least an hour and a half before sunset. I asked some guys if I was in the hiker biker area, they said they didn't check out the groves but I could, which I think meant "leave us alone in the area we staked out."
I headed into the grove and was welcomed by Thomas, who is one of the coolest dudes ever! He asked me, after finding out I was a teacher, how to popularize budget travel for youth. Seems he didn't discover it until later that he had wished. Would it be a blog, website, movie, or perhaps a song and music video? I don't know. I think you need to have the wanderlust and just figure it out. I do wish more of my students and young people in general would explore the world.
And wouldn't you know it, David rolled into camp about 45 minutes after me. He said he knew I'd be here, since I seem to accomplish whatever I set my mind to, which was nice to hear. I didn't get a picture of him, but here's his gear. And the campsite! I'm starting to take pictures of the campsite! To be continued to the following morning...
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