Scenic start, off-roading in the middle, Babe the Blue Ox, a big scary climb, and a fantastic end to our day

Friday, May 25, 2012 - Day 9

We woke up, ate a little breakfast, packed our gear and James did some necessary bike maintenance (lubed the chains, tightened my headset, etc).  On our way out we stopped by the Visitors Center.  We met a couple from Michigan who had started in Seattle and was heading south to San Fran.  That definitely seems to be the popular direction.  We had heard from the other cycle tourers that they had seen 4 other people heading north.

 

We left Prairie Creek Redwood State Park and headed north on the Drury Scenic Parkway.  The bike tourists who shared the campground rode in on it and said it was very pretty, low traffic, and a must ride.  James had already planned to take it on our route and their feedback reaffirmed it was a good decision.

The Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway is a 10 mile stretch that was full of redwoods, ferns, and a mix of vegetation that made it very pretty.  It definitely met the promises of our cycling friends.  Cyclists who take it heading South are rewarded with a nice 3-4 mile descent.  Because we were going north, we got to climb.  It wasn't a difficult climb and it made for a nice warm-up for my legs. After climbing most of the parkway we had the option of continuing and getting on Hwy 101 or taking the Coastal Range road that is closed to cars.  The Coastal Range road is an abandoned road that starts out with asphalt then turns to broken asphalt, then turns into a bike path, then single track, then nothing where one has to hike a bike, then back to some gravel, then broken asphalt, then full asphalt.  To be blunt -- I do not recommend anyone who is touring this route to take this road unless you have good tires and a need for adventure.  It isn't for the faint of heart.  It did provide some nice views of the ocean and it ended outside of Klamath, CA. 

Klamath, CA has an interesting history.  In the photo below, I'm at the historical bridge that used to cross the river that brought visitor's into the town of Klamath.  The bridge was noted for the two bears that were at the entrance of the bridge, one on each side.  The photo I have only shows one of the bears.   If I remember correctly, the flood of 1964 was a 100-year flood that submerged the town of Klamath and destroyed the bridge.  They tore down the bridge except for what is shown in the picture and rebuilt a new entrance into town.  As you can see in the next photo the the townspeople made sure that the new bridge had bears welcoming guest like the old bridge only they had them painted gold.

We stopped at the Log Cabin Diner for lunch/brunch.  We parked our bikes along a fence and the ostriches in the neighboring field were quite curious about our transportation and came to say hello.








The diner served basic food.  I ordered a big bowl of New England Clam chowder and two sausage and egg burritos and a coffee for breakfast/lunch.  This was a new trick that I had learned.  I don't like eating a big breakfast after I get up so I would eat just enough to get me going.  Then we would ride 1-2 hours and stop at a restaurant for breakfast.  By then I was ready to eat a lot of food and kcals that could help sustain me for the rest of the day.  So I'm sitting and eating my large breakfast and the other thing I started to notice was the people around me were eating similar portions to me.  I knew they weren't going out and riding a loaded bike for 50-60 miles.  My guess they were going to their jobs and sitting.  I was eating a lot of kcals -- no wonder people in our country are so big!  They don't realize how many kcals they are eating and how little they actually expend.

We continued north and briefly stopped at the entrance to the "Trees of Mystery" and saw Paul Bunyon and Babe the Blue Ox.  Paul would talk to the visitors as they approached the giant statue.  It was quite hilarious.

After we left the "Roadside America" tourist attraction, we were committed to Hwy 101 for the rest of the way into Crescent City, CA.  We didn't have any other options.  There was a shoulder most of the time, two lanes of traffic but the cars, trucks, semi-trucks still blew by us at 65+ miles per hour.  A lot of the time the trucks/semi-trucks with trailers wouldn't move over into the left lane.  It was really scary and very unnerving.  To get into Crescent City required a substantial climb over a mountain range.  I clocked it at 5-6 miles and I believe it was a 1200 ft climb.  To make matters worse they were doing road construction on part of it so we had to deal with the stop and go of a one lane highway.  This road was very tight in spots and didn't have much of a shoulder on this section.  It was very unnerving.  James noted that it seemed like the shoulder was wider heading south.  We finally got to the top and descended into Crescent City.  By this time in the trip I had gotten pretty good at handling my bike going down hill while fully loaded and I went as fast I could while staying within my limits -- I believe I topped out at 40 mph.  I just wanted to get off that road!

Crescent City, CA is a really nice sized town (about 8K) right off the coast.  We had strong headwinds going into town.  The Tsunami of 2012 had impacted it and we could see some of the remnants of the damage.  The stores also had a lot of before and after photos that were interesting to see.  James' bike rack was broken so we went to Home Depot so he could buy a part. We ended up talking to one of the workers who had a mullet.  He was a really nice guy with an interesting history.  James had seen him driving a fork lift and heard a string of obscenities leave his mouth and immediately went to ask him where we should get dinner.  He recommended a great local seafood restaurant called the Chart Room.  The Chart Room was right on the dock of the bay and there were seals lying on the docks.  We had a view of the ocean and wonderful seafood with decent sized portions.  We both would go again if we were ever in Crescent City.

We filled our tummies and James then took us the "back" way to Jedediah Smith State Park via Howland Hill road.  I was not very happy about this route in the beginning.  To get to Howland Hill road required a steep climb out of town and while climbing it I sounded like the fork lift driver we met at Home Depot. Once we got to the top and entered the forest it was totally worth it.  Howland Hill road was one of the most scenic roads during the trip and definitely the most beautiful gravel road either of us have ridden.  It was hard packed, curvy, and giant Redwoods everywhere. James had read that the oldest living Redwood lived in the forest but it's location wasn't made known to the public to preserve it.  I'd definitely go back and ride that road again if I have the chance.  Unfortunately the pictures I have below don't capture the awesomeness of this road.

Given the fact it was the Friday of Memorial Day weekend I was a little worried about getting a camping spot.  The nice thing about riding in on a bicycle in the CA state park system (Oregon as well), bicyclists are guaranteed a spot. They just squeeze as many people into a camp spot as they can.  In Jedediah Smith State Park the biker/hiker spot is way back in the picnic area and is very private.  In fact we were a good distance from all of the Memorial Day car campers, which was awesome!  We rolled into the bike area and we were the only bikers in the biker section and no one showed up for that evening.  We set up our tent in the middle of some Redwoods which also happened to be next to the Smith river.  I couldn't believe it, the Friday of Memorial Day weekend we were camping by ourselves - away from all of the car campers, looking up at Redwoods and listening to the sound of flowing water.  So peaceful.  I'd rank this as my all time favorite state park in CA.

Tomorrow we cross the CA border into OR.

Total miles for the day:  56 miles
Total for the trip: 528 miles