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Long day in the saddle, more than 8 hours– I’m pretty much out of it.  Here’s what I remember.  I got started early.  It was very cold.  It turned out that I was only a half mile from my intended camp ground when I stopped yesterday, but I am still okay with the decision.  After a few more miles on 199, I was on the 101, where I will stay for most of the duration.  Riding on the freeway is no big deal at this point.  The shoulder is very wide.

I’m not used to anything for breakfast except a bowl of some hot whole grains of my own making but after an hour in the cold, I really want to stop and get some food and hot coffee, which is also something I’m not used to.  I do it again, and not knowing that there are cooler spots in the southern part of Crescent City, I stop in a pretty standard diner in a small town, where, I’ve learned already, my vegan options are some kind of fried potatoes and dry toast.  Still, the hot coffee is good and my body will eliminate the other crap quickly enough.  Hopefully, the reputation of Northern California for being a haven for old hippies will hold up and I’ll be able to find better stuff the next few days.

I think this is Crescent City:

and these sea stacks may have been there too (when I set up geotagging, I’ll know for sure)

I forget, I saw a lot of them today.  Sometimes when you pass them, you can hear seals making noise on them, which isn’t a big deal for a San Diegan, unless it is an Elephant Seal, I’d like to see one of them.  You can’t open a paper in San Diego without reading some mean old seal hater from La Jolla complaining about Harbor Seal poop, which I’m sure is tiny compared to Elephant Seal poop.

This is what they look like far away:

Here is another picture of a sign:

This is right before the Crescent City hills, which are a big deal to south bound touring cyclists.  There are 3 of them but the first one is the worst because it is trying to break your spirit and you know that there are 2 more.  They last 8 miles but the first one is more than half of that.  Part of the reason they suck is the narrow shoulder.  Cars are pretty close.  I remember having a lot more to say about them, mostly something about comparing it to Faust F. Rossi’s second semester Civ Pro exam (people were crying and the fact pattern was 24 pages or something) but I can’t remember what it was.  Anyway, that test was 4 hours long and the hills were over in way less time than that.  Also, the second two aren’t so bad.  Also, there are a lot more fucking hills on this stretch that nobody names, which is why I can’t remember.  Maybe what I was going to say is that everyone else has to do it too and you know it’s going to be over eventually.  Maybe not.

This is the sign at the summit.  I was kind of happy to see it.  Also, I keep taking pictures of signs.  It’s an easy blogging device.  Hate the signs, not the sign(picture take)er:

There were lots of great views and Redwoods on the way up but you can’t look at them because the traffic and the climbing are kind of hectic.  The hills are that big bump around 18 miles on the elevation chart below if you care.

Today was a mixture of totally dark Redwood forests and unbelievably beautiful sea scapes.  This part of the northern coast has a bunch of lagoon things where some kind of barrier has formed and separated an inland body of water from the bays or ocean.  There were signs explaining it but I forgot what they said.  Also the Klamath River was really cool.  Here are some more pictures:

That’s obviously not a bay or a lagoon but some Redwoods and ferns.  I think the ferns are just as impressive as the trees.  Totally huge and prehistoric.

This is an elk:

I saw him at Elk Prairie camp ground.

Here is another sign:

It remind me of the time that Bill Maher, in response to a magazine exclusive about Clay Aiken, that said on the cover, “I’m Gay!,” showed his own magazine cover with a picture of a bear and a caption that said, “I Shit in the Woods!”  I probably didn’t say or punctuate that correctly but I am really tired.  This coast is beautiful but ridiculously rolling.  I climbed 10,000 feet today but never got very high above sea level.

Also, if you’re wondering how I am on wifi yet again (you probably aren’t) it is because I didn’t understand the directions to Patrick Point State Park so I’m at another commercial camp ground.

Here’s- another picture of today and the track: