Day 1

This first post Nate wrote as we were driving from Grants Pass, Orego; to Brookings, Oregon to start the trip.

     Here we are, headed out from Grants Pass, Oregon when we spent the night in a hotel for maybe the last time during our 2 week, 1000 mile bike ride down the California coast.  There are three of us right now, Danny, Danny’s dad and myself(Nate).  More will join later.  We are trying to decide where to start.  Either we can go all the way to Brookings, OR or just start at the border.  Danny and I are enjoying the thicker, more moist air and we haven’t even reached highway 101.  We’re hoping for super human abilities when near see level.  We’ll let you know what happens.

Ok, it is time for me to rant now.

      The trees are BIG. As you can see by some of the pictures that I am going to post. These suckers are impressive. According to the bicycle tour map, some of them are over 2000 years old! that means that some of them were around in the time of Christ. that is incredible. From what I know the climate has to be pretty specific for redwoods, which means that it has to be cool, and wet. It is definitely cool and moist here. I don't know if the temperature went over 65 degrees, and we didn't see the sun for most of the day because of the fog. I can tell that my dad enjoys it. He has always said that if he wasn't an accountant he would be a forester.

For the ride we started in Harbor, Oregon and headed south to the California Border which was about 5 miles away.

Ok, I am laying down on the bench as I type this because my back hurts so much.

It was fun to ride through the California fruit-check station on a bicycle. They didn't even ask! I was offended, I could have been bringing in diseased strawberries - stashed away in a jersey pocket. After the border we skirted around the 101 on different smaller roads. A break from the traffic was nice because at points there was no shoulder and we would be passed by logging trucks that would come within inches of hitting us. It wasn't very fun. The one of the very first stops we made in California was in front of Lily fields. The town's sign (Smith River) said that it was the Lily Capital of either California or the world. I can't remember. But it had large fields of Lilies. Only a few were in bloom as we passed, but it was still impressive.

At around 25 miles into the trip we hit Crescent City where Nate and I stopped for Lunch. We were already hungry because we started late due to the almost 2 hour drive to the Coast. We stopped at a burger joint and ate buffalo burgers at a table next to a few of Crescent City's finest. After we were full we headed out oblivious to what was coming next.

Full on buffalo burgers we snapped a shot next to Ocean World (We didn't go in because are too cheap and time pressured to visit too many tourist traps) After that we headed out and at the outskirts of very small Crescent City we saw the start of a hill and a sign that was spray painted to say the hill was a type of cat. We started up the hill just as the food had bottomed out in our stomachs. I didn't realize that it was the second highest hill in the whole trip. It took us a while, and a lot of pain but we finally made it to the top in the midst of amazingly sized redwoods. (I think the larger ones are up around 1000 feet as opposed to on the Coast). I think we climbed from sea-level to 1240 feet in a few miles. It wasn't that difficult, but again we were full, and surprised by it. After we started down, and almost hit the beach again, I could hear Nate screaming at me, so I stopped. It turns out he had a flat tire. A nail had gone in one side of his tire and out the other. We fixed it at an overlook, helped a family take a picture, and then they took a picture of us.

As we continued on the highlight of the trip was probably taking the Prairie Creek bypass through the scenic redwoods. Beside being the 3rd biggest climb between here and San Fran it was spectacular. Again bigger redwoods, and to my suprise ELK! As I tried to take pictures here I realize my Camera ran out of Juice and so we reverted to cell phones. It is neat to see a 6x6 bull  in the wild, but we saw FIVE grazing right next to each other within 40 feet of us! we probably could have gone up to pet them. It was awesome! and then as we were leaving we saw about 5-7 cow/calve Elk crossing the road about 20 feet in front of our bikes! it was way cool. As we went on we saw about 20 head in a meadow laying down, and then later in the evening about 100 head in the distance in a pasture next to a corral of horses. There is just so much vegetation here they just really prosper.

After the elk we were pretty tired. We are headed north to south because that is how the wind is supposed to go, but apparently it didn't get the memo. We were headed into a headwind most of the day. It was always discouraging seeing the grass pointed towards you, and then another rolling hill in the distance. This is a really rugged part of the country. Despite all of this we rode about 5 miles further than originally planned (85 miles over all) and are now camping at the Emerald Forest RV and camp. It is sold out and busy, but being in a redwood forest makes it very nice. Plus Wifi is very, very nice.

Hopefully I can figure out the picture thing.