Daily Mileage: 55.77 mi
Daily Climb: 8858'
Total Mileage: 457.41
Total Climb: 46236
After a much needed night of rest and drying out we departed Crescent City with lighter hearts, knowing that we're halfway home and (hopefully) the bad weather is behind us. A few miles out of town on the 101, which is now called the Redwood Highway, we entered the National (and State) Parks.
We were immediately greeted by a 1200' climb, but the landscape was an interesting change from the Oregon coast.
The other side of the hill gave awesome views.
Just down the hill was the Trees of Mystery. I'd read in the book it was interesting and we checked out the brochure in the motel last night, so we had to drop by.
The giant Paul Bunyan talks to you and answers questions from visitors. Todd and I reminisced on a book we had with him in it we used to read as kids. Anyhow, inside there are some pretty weird trees. First up is the Family Tree.
It's a tree with other trees growing off of its branches. Here's a better shot.
Straight out of Avatar. Then there is the Cathedral Tree, apparently lots of weddings take place in front.
They also have a gondola system to the top of the hill. I found this odd sign while waiting to board.
We were expecting more at the top, but I guess it was pretty nonetheless.
And on the way out, a timeline.
Pretty crazy to walk around the groves and think about how long these things have been standing just where they are. Klamath was just down the road, which we headed to for lunch. It's funny in these small towns the only places that serve food are the bars. So we dropped in for lunch.
While ordering I noticed the dollar bills decorating the wall, so I asked if I could add to it.
And on we went, finally with a tailwind, across the Klamath River on a bridge adorned by golden bears.
We then took the Newton P. Drury Scenic Parkway off the 101. As always, "scenic" was synonymous with "steep".
But once over the hill, the road was a dream. Miles and miles of slight downhill through gorgeous redwoods.
It was seriously the best section of road we've been on so far. We stopped by one tree to park our bikes inside.
Once we finally came out of the forest, it opened into Elk Prairie.
No Elk on our way through, though apparently you can dial your radio in for the latest.
We wound our way back to the coast, through Orick where we picked up supplies for the night. Once on the water we got a HUGE tailwind. Here's a pic of Todd hauling it along the beach.
We had to circle a few large lagoons, including Big Lagoon, before arriving at Patricks Point State Park. We finally met some other tourers, 2 of which were also on their way to San Francisco. Less conventional than us however. One was on a fixed gear, and the other is trying to make it in three days.
After we cooked we headed down one of the trials to try to catch the sunset.
And then only a few hundred feet later.
Amazing.
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