Camp Closed

Day 25: Leggett to Van Damme State Beach

Today's Distance: 63 miles

Total Distance: 1,163 miles

Again I was one of the last out of camp. And not because I got a really late start, I just think the others got really early starts.  I talked to my tent neighbors in the morning while breaking down my tent.  They were a couple from LA riding up the 1 and back on a motorcycle.  During breakfast I had a really good conversation with Bob the recently retired truck driver.  He retired about a month ago and is riding his bike and belongings north to find a place to settle down.  He's a believer, so we had a good talk about Christ-centered things.  Really nice guy.

When on the road, I finally reached the 1...only problem is that I took a wrong turn at Leggett.  I mixed up the town with the name of the big hill I was supposed to climb at the beginning of the day.  Instead I climbed up the wrong big hill and ended up 3 miles off course.  Luckily, I stopped myself before heading down the other side of the hill.  That would've ruined my whole day.  When I realized I was going in the wrong direction, I backtracked to the 1, and started up the real Leggett Hill. Apparently there are legends of abandoned panniers on this hill, left behind by cyclists who were bested by this beast. It's a 3 mile climb up to 2000ft elevation, with switchbacks, and no shoulder.  A few times I had to get off the road completely to let trucks pass.  I almost ate it in a gutter but that's only because  I was off balance and my bike is heavy as hell. The hill was challenging, but because you start at around 1,000 ft it's not super difficult, just high.  The descent was miles of breaking the speed limit and turning blind corners.  Had a smirk on my face the whole time.

When the downhill finally ends you hit Rockport Hill.  It isn't as high as the previous one, but in my opinion it's more challenging because of its steepness.  I can see why the town of Rockport is abandoned...nobody wants to visit because of this damn hill.  The mile markers either changed, or my book is off again, because I climbed a whole mile more than the marker my book said was the summit.  That's it, this book is definitely getting a bad review from me. 

Talking outloud carried over from yesterday as I struggled to climb up today's hills.  The downhill after Rockport was fun and led me right to the beautiful Pacific Ocean.  The ride was still tough after that, with medium sized steep hills and switchbacks along the coast. But it was beautiful and felt exactly how you expect riding on the coast of California would be.  I stopped in Westport for a sandwich and chill and after that I saw a condor eating a deer.  It flew away as I got closer, and then I looked up and saw 3 more perched up in a tree nearby.

If you look closely you can see the condors

After that circle of life moment l passed a few tree tunnels as I rode into Fort Bragg.  The campground was only about 6 miles away, so I decided to take my time. I stopped at a bank to pull out some cash and got into a conversation with Steve from Mendencino Wine Tours.  We had a short conversation but he told me how his son recovered from cancer and brain surgery and then rode his bike from Tahoe to the Grand Canyon.  He kept telling me I'm amazing and I must admit it felt pretty good.  I've had a craving for chocolate milk for days now, so I went into the Safeway and bought a big thing of Ovaltine and a liter of lactose-free milk.  Took my time riding to Russian Gulch State Park because even though the sun was setting, I would make it with plenty of time to spare.  I stopped at Jughandle State Reserve to check out one of the coolest views I've seen.  When I got to Russian Gulch I went down to sea level and deep inland from the coast to the campground where I learned the camp closed for the season a week ago. The website wasn't updated. Bastards. I considered stealth camping, but when I saw that the other guys from camp weren't there doing the same thing I decided to press on another 5 miles to the next campsite.  I rode about 4 of those 5 miles in the dark.  Very sketch.

I got to Van Damme and there were tons of campers doing it right. One group had an entire campsite just dedicated to their kitchen.  Impressive.  I rode by the hiker-biker camping area and all my touring friends were there except the Czech who apparently went even farther today.  I was greeted with a warm, "Heeeeeeyyyyy!!! Brandonnnnnnn!!!" in the dark. I really screwed up the end of the day, but I still have my Ovaltine.  Set up camp, showered, bed time.  The plan is to wake up at 6 to stay on track for San Fracisco by Sunday!