Avenue of the Giants

Saturday morning we had a fine stroke of luck. As we continued down the jaw-dropping Avenue of the Giants there were a ton of port-a-potties and a work crew setting up event tents. The next morning there was going to be a marathon through the redwoods with a full road closure. Thankfully we got to enjoy this scenic alternate instead of travel along the busier and noiser 101 highway. For the beauty of the massive trees we had to make a trade though - it was very chilly in the shade of the groves. But it was beautiful and worth it. There is a peace and a serenity among the redwoods. Traffic was light and the only sounds were the quiet thrum of our tires over the asphalt, the squawk of a few birds, and the crisp crackle of branches yielding to squirrels racing over them.

First stop of the day was in tiny Myers Flat where Rach and I enjoyed 2nd breakfast milkshakes. We had a blog post queued up to post so we took turns standing on top of a brick wall and playing radio tower by holding my cell phone up to the sky and hoping to improve the shaky connection. As we continued on we followed the Eel River on our right hand side. The sun glinted and shimmered off a nearly still surface. We think we saw an otter frolicking. Much of this section of the river has suffered toxic algae blooms and we've seen various public notices instructing you to be advised of health danger.

In Garberville we stopped at the grocery store and were bewildered to see tons of vagabonds and travelers hanging out in the parking lot and street immediately in front. As Rach went to buy groceries an employee lumped me in with the rest and told me I couldn't loiter in front of the store. "Even if my wife is inside buying groceries?" She wandered off without apology. We later learned that these people are looking for work as manual labor in the marijuana industry. Just as we were leaving a pickup truck pulled up and found a couple of workers. We didn't get hired so it was time to press on.

Our home for the evening was the Richardson Grove State Park, a beautiful campground nestled in redwoods. A man named Chris stopped by and offered firewood for sale. Delivery firewood is just the kind for a bike tour. Chris turned out to be from South Carolina, and a gunsmith, and kind of a down-home character and he and my Dad got along famously and shared many stories. The days are shorter now so the fire was a treat to enjoy in the darkness after dinner. Rach made a "circle of protection" this evening. That's where you take a can of beans that needs draining and spin in a circle as you release all of the bean juice and form a juicy bean ring on the ground to protect from malevolent forest spirits. It worked.

The weather has been phenomenal recently. Lots of sun in the middle of the day and wonderful blue skies. Yesterday was our tallest climb of this Pacific Coast part of the trip. We all did well and topped out at around 1500 feet. Some driver shouted that there was beer at the top as we were climbing but he was not being truthful. The descent was curvy, windy, and delightful. The miles are easy when they're downhill. On a descent later in the afternoon Rach and I were riding closely and swung around a tight turn to find a startled deer scurry off into the trees. It was close, but thankfully not too close. We've now departed the 101 for the 1 and a return to the California coast. We stayed at a state park campground just above bluffs and the beach. If all goes to plan we'll ride one more day before a day off and be in San Francisco before long.

Break after a long descent

Working the redwoods

Along the Eel River