July 18, 2007: Ride to Fort Bragg, CA

See route
When I woke up the next morning, I
went down to load the bike and met
this Sheltie. His owner used to be the
owner of the hotel.
When he sold it, his wife wanted to keep
the view. So they kept the surrounding
land and built a house beyond the stone
fence you see in this picture.
Before leaving Port Orford, I went
back down the hill to the port.
It was a wet, misty day. Clouds hugged
the coastline.
The town had created a mosaic wall
which was a pretty place to view...
...this boat.
Wildflowers create a nice front
to the pier.
I'm pretty sure this rock becomes
a pretty neat "island" at high tide.
The rain/mist folowed me for quite
a while.
The further I went south, the more
the mist "burned off".
The roads followed the coast line.
The views were so spectacular...
...it was hard not to stop all the time.
One interesting thing...
all these miles and miles of beaches...
...and no one IN the water.
Evidently, the water, even this far
south is FRIGID.
I crossed the Thomas Creek Bridge
and wanted to get a picture of it so
I went for a hike.
I ended up taking a wrong turn and
ended up back at road level. No pic!
Cool hike, though, and hard work!!!

(Why I wanted to see it...)
HOWEVER, I met this Park Ranger
who gave me a map of the area
and advice on "must sees" as opposed
to "nice but not as spectacular".
Whale's Head Rock
View from the Samuel Boardman
dedication marker.
Look how tall the trees on
this slope are!
Samuel Boardman was the first
Oregon Parks' Superintendant.
Can you tell I'd finally gotten to
California?
Smith River: Ship Ashore
The 101 in Northern California
is called the Redwood Highway.
I've included my bike in the corner
of the picture to show you how huge
the trees are.
I could have easily stood up inside
the trunk of this tree but it was
down a sharp slope and there was no one
around to take the picture.
When I was a kid...
... this is how I pictured
California beaches...
just off the road (easily accessible)...
and a beautifl bright blue.
If you doubt how large some of
these redwoods are...
...get a load of this house!
But equally as interesting were
these wood sculptures.
I would LOVE to own this bust
of a bear!
I turned onto Highway 1 at Leggett.
The next half hour was intense.
VERY winding roads and I was getting tired.
I was glad to get back to the ocean.
The road still was curvy but it was a
lot FLATTER!
I knew I was close to meeting up
with Ross & Charlotte, but I was getting
really tired. I didn't want to miss the
turn so I phoned them.
They recognized the description of
where I was so they said they'd come
and lead me the rest of the way.
I got to explore the area while
I waited... especially these
freaky trees which they assured me
were actually quite normal.
There was a scarey moment on the
drive back to where they were staying.
Many vultures were at a carcass on the
road. Ross's car dispersed them but one
flew right at me. THUNK! I hit one. Good
thing I was wearing a helmet!
There was only time for one quick
photo before I dumped my gear, put on
my jeans and we were off...
to Mendocino...
a truly picturesque community...
where we attended the Mendocino
Music Festival. Brahms & Mahler
were performed beautifully that evening.
During the intermission I was
able to enjoy a Pacific sunset.
Next Day

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