Another Northern(or other part) California tale/trip

[diogenes009]

[Delicate Snowflake]

[campfire]

In our last episode, Jeff was heading to camp when he heard the local ask...

"How'd you load all that stuff on there?"

[campfire]

So with supplies purchased at the Honeydew store, I headed off to A.W. Way County Park and a campsite. Waved goodbye to all the locals as I rode away from their little social gathering thinking that something was missing. Just couldn’t put my finger on it, but something was different there, almost one of those Marty McFly moments.

Down the road to the park, and awesome scenery on this road full of fall colors.



Headed over the bridge but had to stop to enjoy the view.



Around the corner was an open field with the standard evening guests grazing away. They only stopped eating for a moment, then continued as if I wasn't even there. I can't believe all the deer in this area, very peaceful.



https://humboldtgov.org/Facilities/Faci ... /A-W-Way-1

It didn't take long to find the park and as I cruised in to see the Rangers truck parked near a gate, it was the ONLY vehicle I saw. I looked around for a closed sign, but the gate is open and there is the big board with self registration instructions. I grabbed an envelope and explored for the right site.
There are 30 campsites here, and I had my choice of 30. The wind was slightly blowing down the canyon, so I found a couple of good ones, then walked the sites to see how sheltered from the wind they were.

Yep! This one. Start the process and unload. Tent goes here...



That wasn't too bad.


Now for that dinner and a beer.
After eating I walked over and payed my fee, checked out the newer restroom building (they have two) and discovered that they have showers too.
And a pay phone. A working pay phone. I always carry quarters with me, so it will be a shower and a call to the wife tonight in my "free time".
Warm water rinsed the dust of the day off, and then the wife didn't answer.
With all the robo calls we get now a days, neither one of us have been answering unknown numbers. So it cost me .75 cents to let her know that I would be calling back in five minutes. (It's .75 cents! I ride a KLR)
OK, maybe it was a working pay phone, but I was reminded of bad connections of land lines back in the day. She answers and I tell her of the day, scenery, people, and the weather................ PLEASE DEPOSIT 75 CENTS FOR THE NEXT THREE MINUTES.
Wow! There's another throwback.
"Goodnight honey! I'm running out of quarters!"

[campfire]

I quickly figured out that camping in the Pacific Time Zone "after" time change has a huge issue of what to do when it's dark at 6:00, there is a Red Flag warning up with high winds, and no campfires are allowed.
Three laps of the campground with the headlamp, and I decided to just climb into the tent with some music from the iPad. Studied maps, read some, and then rested my eyes.
Woke up at 8:45 and just decided to go to sleep for the night, it had been a long day anyway.

And what the Ranger was doing making rounds at 2:00 AM is beyond me. Oh well, had to get and pee anyway.

Morning was a little chilly, but the JetBoil makes great coffee.

(Hey! It's California)


Packed up and hit the road for the beach.


As I'm approaching the campground at the beach, this 3/4 ton truck towing a 28' plus fifth wheel is heading out. That guy must have fun getting that back in here.

I pull into the campground and see a few open spots that could have worked for the night, but all the good sheltered ones were taken. I was glad of the choice I made to stay where I did.



Met a couple of young women camping there and asked if it had been windy last night. They told me that a friend told them what road to take, and how to get to the campground. They got there after dark, and had to setup their tent in howling wind. But with the views in the morning, they were happy they made the trip.
It was a gals road trip from Massachusetts for two months working along the way to pay for it. Ah! youthful freedom.
Sort of like retired freedom.

Well, while I'm here I better take a walk on the beach. A cup of coffee would be nice to have on that walk.
OK, that can be arranged.


Now this was worth the ride.


Pack up and move on.

[campfire]

Headed north from Mattole Point and in to the little hamlet of Petrolia.
Again, people waving to you as you pass on the road, Border Collies riding on the hay bales stacked on flatbed trucks.
Cruised into town and saw the Community Center with a great local addition.
"We need a skate park for the kids". No problem. Build it out of local lumber.



As I parked and started taking pictures, a couple gets out of a minivan and asks about the bike, where I'm from, and what brought me here.
Seems to be the same questions. Asked nicely, but asked. Same response...needed to get away...always love this area...just riding.
They seem to kick it down a notch and start the conversation about the weather, blah, blah,blah, but when I ask if they're locals.............
"Oh no. We're from Canada, we just come down for six months to work and help with the harvest."
I didn't ask. I could see it in is eyes. (And he pulls one out and lights it up.)

But there's that feeling again that something was missing in this town.

Up and out of Petrolia headed north to more great views, roads, and riding.
And back down to the beach.


Now this is what I had read about. This section of the road must be one of my favorites now.


Now it's not ALL greenery back in here. There are huge cattle ranches that have been here for generations, and over a hundred years. Sheep and cattle dot the fields, a few goat farms also. And so many of the farms & ranches I passed had the most amazing looking gardens with orchards. Rows of produce, apple trees, walnuts, chickens roaming free and a few coops. They are very self sufficient out here.
But these cows? They have it made for now with beachfront grazing.



I start the climb out of the Lost Coast and it is a climb. First gear gets the loaded bike up some twisties with repairs of slides that are just basic gravel leveled out.
I look back and think of how long it will be before I get back.


Over another ridge and.. WAIT! There's more!
Drop down into another valley and Capetown California.
Going to have to find more out about this place. It must have a good story.




Climbing again with awesome views and then I round a corner with a complete view of Eureka and the bay to the north. And then.......
Ding, ding, ding, buzz buzz, buzz, buzz, ding, ding.
Must be back in cell service. That was rather nice not being called or texted multiple times a day......
WAIT! THAT"S IT!

That's what was missing in those little towns. No one was walking around like zombies looking at their phones non-stop all day long.
People talked to you, to each other, held conversations.


I wind down Mattole road for the last time into Ferndale.
Oh, I'm bringing the wife back here for a night or two to explore and relax.
I pull over on Main Street (literally) and take in the sites. Locals saying hello to each other going in & out of Valley Grocery, tourists walking around enjoying themselves, kids from the high school on lunch wandering back to school.
A little lunch special for me at Poppa's Joe's Pizza and I'm set for a while.


More back roads to Rio Dell & Scotia where I can get back on Hwy 101 south toward home.

I ride 101 for a while and see my exit. Time for more side roads and less slab.


Avenue of the Giants is worth the time if you're in the area.





Stop at some of the groves and walk around, look up. It's worth it. There are a couple of little towns on the Avenue with some tourist traps and small Inns.
And some cool old stores. Must have been fun in the heydays of the 50's & 60's up here.


As I get back on 101 and head for home but decide to hit one of the traps myself for gifts.
Then this guy wants to ride my bike. Sorry buddy, you're going to need a bigger bike.



Hit a rest stop for adding another layer as the temp drops in the late afternoon. I head south and start seeing what I think is a fog bank blowing in over some of the ridges. I make a corner that opens up leading to Willits and I see it's not fog. I pull over and watch it, it's blowing in from the east. I text the wife "What's on fire?" as I take some pictures. Seeing this before, I can't believe that it's happening again here in California.
She texts back "They're calling it the Camp Fire, Paradise is burning".



As my heart sinks thinking of that area, I head home.
That much smoke from that far away (96 miles) is not a good sign.
The rest of the ride home is getting cold, and with all the smoke I start going back into work mode. The Strike Teams I've been on heading toward those fires, my friends and former co-workers that are probably heading there right now. Then I start smelling it. Smoke follows me with the north wind all way back and the mood of a great ride turns somber.

I get home safe, park the bike without even unloading, and watch the news a little. Tell the wife about the ride as we both wonder about some friends up there. Their place is 22 miles north of the fire, and "should" be fine.
That was Thursday night. As of today (Saturday) the town of Paradise is virtually gone, 6,453 residences, 260 commercial structures destroyed and 9 fatalities.
And I found out today that 10 of my former co-workers are up there on teams. Stay safe my friends.

So sorry to end this ride report on such a down note, but it's helping me adjust from that career.
Get out there and ride while you can. See the places that you want to before they are gone.

And ask yourself if it's worth getting worked up over the small stuff. Maybe they needed the toilet paper really bad.

[LadyDraco]

Thanks for sharing

[diogenes009]

[campfire]

As I'm sitting here on Sunday morning remembering the ride, sights, people, and the report, I feel that I gave a false sense utopia for the area.

It wasn't all Redwoods, ferns, beaches and great views. You have to be entertained by the local dumps too.
Where ever they may be. And they were usually on the side of the road.



But at least they put most of their garbage inside the trailer.

[MrKiwi]

Thanks for the report. I enjoyed reading that, all this is, except for the bit about the fires. That is sad.

[campfire]

The weather is warming up and the riding urge is increasing greatly.

But....

This Northern California fire season is getting to be a bit much year, after year, after year,after year,after year,after year,after year,after year,after year,after year,after year,after year,after year,after year,after year,after year,after year,after year,after year,after year,after year,after year,after year,after year,after year,after year,after year,after year,after year,after year,after year,..........

You get my point.
Had a 600 acre fire start about 40 miles away where I like to ride, and it grew to over 1,700 acres by 9 last night.

So I take off for an evening jaunt to find a cool breeze and...

Junesmoke1.JPG

Junesmoke2.JPG

Junesmoke3.JPG

Here we go again.

[MrKiwi]

smokey, yuk...

[diogenes009]

Fire season in late spring? If it's that dry, how is the vegetation so lush?

[campfire]

Fire season in late spring? If it's that dry, how is the vegetation so lush?

The hills started to dry out fast a couple of weeks ago, and everything east closer to the Sacramento Valley is really dry. The fire is in a windy canyon area just west of Sacramento.
2,220 acres this morning with 30% containment. But the wind slowed WAY down today.
https://yolo.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webap ... 3779001c98



We're at the top of the San Francisco Bay, and the Valley floor gets a lot of early morning fog. That along with all of the vineyards on the valley floor being on drip systems keeps the ground slightly better for moisture.

Yesterday was 95 degrees here with a north wind gusting to 20MPH. And a relative humidity of 11%.
Bad recipe this early in the year.

[diogenes009]

Thanks. Be safe.

[campfire]

The wife asked me this morning if I wanted to go for a little drive in the country today.
"Let's go up north and check out your boar you were talking about after the fire."

I love riding up into Alexander Valley and there are tons of back roads to explore, and there's that odd huge wild boar sculpture that I always ride by at Soda Rock Winery, and have posted pictures of. So we took off to see what the Kincade Fire left behind up there.
Really getting tired of all my favorite riding spots getting torched over around here.

What is was before....



And today....



We stopped and surveyed the damage and were greeted by a cheerful employee who insisted on pouring us a taste of Chardonnay. They are in full recovery mode, and are working out of an old barn the survived the fire somehow. We chatted a bit since we were the only people around, and enjoyed our wine tasting. Decided to buy a bottle and support the recovery effort.

Now that the knee is healing a bit, I plan on getting back up there on the bike to see what some of the back roads look like.
More later after a good recon ride.

[diogenes009]

[campfire]

Sun came out, temp rose a bit, texted a friend I ride with......................

67 miles later I came back home riding one of the same old loops I usually do. But I still like cruising around my own backyard in Northern California.

[diogenes009]

Nice.

I'll point my wife at you when I break down and buy a bike again. "It's all his fault! I can feel my legs again, and he keeps teasing me!"

[LadyDraco]

Thanks for sharing
I love that Metal Razor bag .. cool