Day 23

Tuesday July  8th

S at G Gate

Breakfast in bodega bay. B has decided to head home after SF so I cancelled plane ticket and we made call to amtrak to try to figure the timing (starlight sold out for several days ahead but not today) and the bike issue.

It was deemed possible if difficult to make the 10 pm train at emeryville and so it turned out to be.

Long day's journey into night.

Got to have been 70 miles. Barren hills, li valley backroads through Sonoma and Mendocino and Marin counties, shady residential streets in the wealthy enclaves north of San Francisco, cold hard wind over the big bridge, crazy BART station search ripping through crowds on the waterfront and finally on to market in downtown and into the embarcadero station up and down stairs with heavy bikes, now amtrak and their weirdness (amtrak won't put B's bike on the train at this moment cause the box bulges), but it was sort of epical.

B at BART

Mr. 14 at MacArthur station At East Bay.

Counted 9 people who we asked for directions between SF end of Golden Gate and Emeryville train station.

Game over. 

Day 22 Monday July 7th

Sea ranch cafe

What I had there.

B out first. Me making special coffee on tent. Miles of the Sea Ranch development. B bike parked at sea ranch lodge. Go in for nice breakfast in elegant setting; change of scene is fun. Freshened up and applied whiteout in elegant restroom. 

Crushed the 25 miles to Fort Ross. Arrived just on time in the open area inside the walls for a wonderful presentation about the place partly in Russian for the Russian family at the next picnic table. Demonstration of the atlatal throwing stick, description of the 4 or 5 cultural communities surrounding the fort,moved inside the warehouse full of skins and incredible array of commodities of the time period. The speaker had spent 15 years as a park ranger near lake baikal in Russia sort of by accident. Very cool hour break from the pedal.

Jenner market for calzone and other items for dinner at bodega bay dunes camp.

Set up and slipped into village of bodega bay for a cold beer and was tempted by the frying seafood but just got some fries. 

The calzone was poor earlier at camp anyway.

Six bikers and one hiker in camp.

Shower and rest. 

Barrack at Fort Ross

Typical road south of Ross

California Longhorn

Day 21

Queenie's at Elk

B at Queenie's

Sunday July 6th

Queen's at mile 10 from camp at Albion for breakfast, village of Elk. 

33 miles to camp at Gaulala on tidal river mouth among the tall strange Bay trees. Quick swim in River with bike short suit; perfect. One hiker biker spot for $5 and a whole stretch of walk in sites for $32  

B was misled by the map and arrived later; I asked a teenager and got the skinny but too late to catch B heading back the way we had come.

Went into Gaulala later for a beer and brought a big bottle of that Boont stuff back but B was in bag and said he had already brushed his teeth so I offered some of the big bottle to a guy who had biked in In the meantime and he said no he had already brushed his teeth so I drank my beer and ate my nice salted peanuts alone in the dark.

Shower and slumber then.

Traditional house posts from Siberia in acknowledgement of early contract sea hunters during Russian era on this coast.

Gaulala camp

Day 20

Saturday July 5th

Cafe 1

Out of Abalone at 7:30. Stopped at the store in Westport for coffee and oranges and restroom. Owner lady mentioned by future blood tech the day before as having too much overhead was at counter seemed distracted probably by business issues.
Very pleasant ride to Cleone and Fort Bragg, I thought it was the army town but it clearly was not. Great breakfast at the Cafe 1, the Hippie Scramble.
Thence to Fort Bragg library and the computer to write this and the clock is running out on this machine after a productive hour.

Thence to Mendocino and the shoe store and unfortunately Dick's Bar.

Mendo kind of a bust so off to Albion which was a repeat of Abalone for crowded funky camp this time private.

And expensive.

Checked adjacent private camp further up river - better. 

Fort Bragg

Bragg library

Day 19

Friday July 4th

KOA Benbow to Westport-Union State Park

Sunset at Abalone - W-U S P

Abalone site - Westport-Union State Park

Long haul down the 101 from Benbow to Leggett for break, but Leggett hardly exists. Took side road past closed cafe and working service station hoping for town; no town. At top of climb adjacent to 101 found decent Redwood Merchantile. Two microwave breakfast burritos - very nice. Bought luncheon items; B. rolls up, no cell service.
Headed toward coast on Hwy 1. 28 miles to Westport. Hard, hot up first few miles, long down cruise into creek valley could feel the chill of the ocean but one more good climb and around a corner and pacific fog forced more clothes suddenly.
Westport-Union state park a series of primitive camps along bluff above water. Very crowded and undefined layout.
Lay in at Abalone site next to fee kiosk. Chatted with a couple of good old boys with a hot oak fire and cheap beer. Info on what is what in village of Westport a mile or two south. Sounded good but took nap.
Awoke and into Westport. Gen store only establishment open and doing a raging business. Young woman clearly channeling Paris Hilton in line with poodle in arms and a muffin.
Had beer and chips on the store porch, chilly but nice table and climbing nasturtiums.
Returned to Abalone and had another beer with George and friend the pipe fitter. Very good fire. Both guys camped free because of Pomo tribal membership. Pipefitter bemoaning the fact that after 40 years of camping here his posse was sick or dead and his kids didn't get it.Companion George was mellower, had a nice situation as custodian with a college in Ukiah and social security. Both were still working; the pipe fitter had a steady job with some outfit called The City of Ten Thousand Buddhists; fixing pipes.
Some fireworks; sleep.

Westport Store - see nasturtiums on left

Westport US 1

Day 18

Thursday July 3rd

Out of the fairgrounds around 7:30. 

Grizzly bluff road past terraced cemetery on side hill then flat then up to rio dell. 

Ranchero very fine.

Alone over bridge to Scotia

Bought chorizo torts but lost B for couple of hours. 

All day on Ave of giants. 

Short swim at 3 in eel. 

Left pack in red crest uphill to retrieve. 

Long hot up Benbow and crowded KOA. 

Day 17

Laundry and next door deli 

Wednesday July 2nd

Super high speed and efficient break of camp myself. B only just stirring as I cranked out on the small road to Trinidad, 5.3 miles south.

Signs were good for a more classy village than say Orick or Elma; no busted and abandoned mobiles, mad dogs, etc. 

And it turned out to be so.

Took a chance and descended to the pier and the excellent Seascape cafe, to wait the arrival B, in some style although since it was at least an hour I should have ordered a muffin with my coffee. 

Very nice sourdough short stack with the poached egg browns etc. 

Put the pedal down at 10:30 - 11:00 to rise from the pier to the secondary road along the cliff and a touch the 101 and spent at least an hour on a paved trail called Hammond all the way to Arcata and a laundromat and deli adjacent to Humboldt State University.

Couple hours later push out of the Hammond onto 101 and lots of fresh asphalt into Eureka. Lunch on the park lawn across from the marina on Samoa Island.

Chatted for a while with a guy on a recumbent who knew Brian McKenna from Langley in the mid 70's. 

Off the 101 into Loleta and on to Tompkins Hill Road, over the Eel on a long crazy bridge, across miles of flat farmland and finally onto the Humboldt state fairgrounds camping area. Paid the cat ladies in charge the $5 fee and buzzed into Victorian Fermdale for groceries and beers at the old inn and the Ivanhoe across the street.

Near dark on return to fairgrounds.

Don of Reno already in his tent next to his monster Suzuki moto which he plans to ride south on the continental divide trail.

Shower & slumber. 

Blue Moon pint at old watering hole - Ferndale Inn 

Day 16

Tuesday July 1st

Trinidad Bay

Patrick's Point hike bike camp - yes that green lump is B early Wednesday morning. 

Lay into Patrick's Point SP in the early evening yesterday. Hiker biker area empty but well appointed.

Considered bar run to village well spoken of by Jeremy the contract logger at Mill Creek the previous night but couldn't find the gas.

Showers at PP tepid but near to hand. 

Walked about on some of the confusion of trails in park; rocky fog bound shore where ever I went.

So we retired after soup at about nine.

Pier and cafe at T. 

Trinidad light

B rolls in to the cafe at 9 giving me a good amount of time to coffee and compose and assure the waitress that yes eventually I plan to purchase something more than their slightly better than average coffee.