Smith River to Eureka
On Sunday we started what’s several days of riding through the northern Redwood forests in California. Sunday we rode almost 60 miles to get from the Oregon/California border to Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, where we spent Monday resting and doing some short hikes in the park.
The unexciting corner in Cresecent City where I waited while Jacob biked around trying to find a place to buy a new hand pump. Ours broke, so we needed a new one in case of any flats!
First moments into the Redwoods south of Crescent City, and also moments before we started the second biggest climb of this trip - nearly 1,500 feet.
The view after that big climb!
PB&J for lunch forever.
After one more long climb on the Drury Scenic Parkway, we had a long, slow descent into the park. The picture does nothing to capture it - totally silent, surrounded by enormous trees as far as we could see. It was breathtaking.
Our campsite in the park at Elk Prairie Campground. There were signs everywhere warning of the wild elk, but we only saw a few from a distance.
Hiking the Cathedral Trees trail on Monday.
On Tuesday, we got an early start and rode to Eureka.
Beaches around Trinidad, CA.
Stopping for lunch (PB&J, obviously).
Dinner in Eureka, continuing to shock servers with the amount of food we order.
Demonstrating my classy bike glove tan lines.
Today we’re riding the Avenue of the Giants, one of the most famous stretches of this route. Then the next two days will include some significant climbing around the town of Leggett, CA. The Leggett climb is notorious among all the bikers we’ve met. We should hit the worst of it on Friday - a five-mile climb that goes above 2,000 feet. But the good news: that’s the last big climb of the trip, so I’m pretty sure we just roll downhill all the way to Mexico then. Kidding! But it’ll be the last long climb, which we’re both excited about. And in a week, we’ll be making our way over the Golden Gate Bridge to San Francisco!