Day Total - 44.1 miles
Trip Total - 626.9 miles
The morning was, unusually, quite warm. Kevin was very slow to get going though, and it took a full three hours to get out of camp. We began the day by climbing back up to the highway, which, at 500 feet above camp, definitely gave us a good warmup. Once we got to 101 though, we had a huge descent in front of us. It was 1200 feet down into Crescent City at an 8% grade. We covered the remaining 7 miles to town in a little over 20 minutes, even with a headwind slowing us down.
In Crescent City, Kevin again wanted fast food, and again, the place he wanted to go, Jack in the Box, was closed. We settled for Burger King, and after a nice calorie stop, we were on our way around noon. We cut west back to the ACA route along the coastline and away from 101. We would mostly avoid the highway for the rest of the day. The coastline at Crescent City looked a lot like Oregon's, by now less than 30 miles away, and we had gorgeous views of waves crashing against massive rocks before we turned back inland.
We made good time into the headwind before stopping for a short break in a driveway near the town of Fort Dick. Kevin's first thought was that we were at a back gate to an airport or lumberyard, but we both realized at the same time that it was neither of these - we were outside Pelican Bay Prison, one of the most notorious in California. We didn't linger very long there, and soon we were back to 101 for a brief stretch to cross the Smith River. The bridge was narrow, but it had bicycle detectors that activated flashing lights on the shoulder.
Within a half mile, we turned to the west of the highway again. We were now riding through more dairy farms around the village of Smith River, notable as the last town in California. Our route took us through the outskirts, before we crossed over 101 onto Oceanview Dr., a parallel and hillier, but much less trafficked road. We were a couple hundred feet above the sea with expansive views, but at this point, Kevin and I had one thing in mind - we were less than 5 miles from the state line.
Shortly after a right turn onto 101, we saw it. We rolled up to the "Welcome to Oregon" sign, took the obligatory pictures, and then turned into the welcome center. We got maps and information sheets (some forced on us) before moving on to the town of Brookings, still about 6 miles away. We got off 101 yet again onto Oregon's Oceanview Dr., where we passed a farm with a 60 foot rock outcrop jutting out from the middle of a field. After a drop down a hill a couple miles later, we arrived in Harbor, the town right across the Chetco River from Brookings.
The next episode is not fictional, crazy as it may seem. Kevin wanted to stop and look at the boats, so we slowed down to pull into the parking lot. As we did, I saw an old red Suburban with Idaho plates coming from behind. It slowed down, and we both realized who it was. They rolled down their windows to get us to pull into the parking lot. They were the same people from the motel in Orick who had Kevin's bike lock! They had realized they forgot to give it back, but we have no idea how they found us. We weren't on a major road, and we had been off 101 for most of the day. Nor did they know where we were going. It was an incredible coincidence, and it saved us at least $50.
We got back on 101 to cross the Chetco River into Brookings, where we stopped to get pepper spray (for use on crazy dogs) and groceries at Fred Meyer. With food and some celebratory border crossing beer in hand, we pedaled the final mile and a half to Harris Beach State Park.
We had heard that campgrounds in Oregon were nice, but this placed had free showers, soap in the bathrooms, even a laundromat! Not to mention the view - the rugged beach was incredibly beautiful, and it was definitely rockier than anything we saw in California by far. In camp with us was, among others, the Starving Cyclist. He would be joining us as we took the next day off - a lucky plan, since the forecast called for rain showers all day.
Trip Total - 626.9 miles
The morning was, unusually, quite warm. Kevin was very slow to get going though, and it took a full three hours to get out of camp. We began the day by climbing back up to the highway, which, at 500 feet above camp, definitely gave us a good warmup. Once we got to 101 though, we had a huge descent in front of us. It was 1200 feet down into Crescent City at an 8% grade. We covered the remaining 7 miles to town in a little over 20 minutes, even with a headwind slowing us down.
In Crescent City, Kevin again wanted fast food, and again, the place he wanted to go, Jack in the Box, was closed. We settled for Burger King, and after a nice calorie stop, we were on our way around noon. We cut west back to the ACA route along the coastline and away from 101. We would mostly avoid the highway for the rest of the day. The coastline at Crescent City looked a lot like Oregon's, by now less than 30 miles away, and we had gorgeous views of waves crashing against massive rocks before we turned back inland.
We made good time into the headwind before stopping for a short break in a driveway near the town of Fort Dick. Kevin's first thought was that we were at a back gate to an airport or lumberyard, but we both realized at the same time that it was neither of these - we were outside Pelican Bay Prison, one of the most notorious in California. We didn't linger very long there, and soon we were back to 101 for a brief stretch to cross the Smith River. The bridge was narrow, but it had bicycle detectors that activated flashing lights on the shoulder.
Within a half mile, we turned to the west of the highway again. We were now riding through more dairy farms around the village of Smith River, notable as the last town in California. Our route took us through the outskirts, before we crossed over 101 onto Oceanview Dr., a parallel and hillier, but much less trafficked road. We were a couple hundred feet above the sea with expansive views, but at this point, Kevin and I had one thing in mind - we were less than 5 miles from the state line.
Shortly after a right turn onto 101, we saw it. We rolled up to the "Welcome to Oregon" sign, took the obligatory pictures, and then turned into the welcome center. We got maps and information sheets (some forced on us) before moving on to the town of Brookings, still about 6 miles away. We got off 101 yet again onto Oregon's Oceanview Dr., where we passed a farm with a 60 foot rock outcrop jutting out from the middle of a field. After a drop down a hill a couple miles later, we arrived in Harbor, the town right across the Chetco River from Brookings.
The next episode is not fictional, crazy as it may seem. Kevin wanted to stop and look at the boats, so we slowed down to pull into the parking lot. As we did, I saw an old red Suburban with Idaho plates coming from behind. It slowed down, and we both realized who it was. They rolled down their windows to get us to pull into the parking lot. They were the same people from the motel in Orick who had Kevin's bike lock! They had realized they forgot to give it back, but we have no idea how they found us. We weren't on a major road, and we had been off 101 for most of the day. Nor did they know where we were going. It was an incredible coincidence, and it saved us at least $50.
We got back on 101 to cross the Chetco River into Brookings, where we stopped to get pepper spray (for use on crazy dogs) and groceries at Fred Meyer. With food and some celebratory border crossing beer in hand, we pedaled the final mile and a half to Harris Beach State Park.
We had heard that campgrounds in Oregon were nice, but this placed had free showers, soap in the bathrooms, even a laundromat! Not to mention the view - the rugged beach was incredibly beautiful, and it was definitely rockier than anything we saw in California by far. In camp with us was, among others, the Starving Cyclist. He would be joining us as we took the next day off - a lucky plan, since the forecast called for rain showers all day.
View Day 16 - Crescent City, CA-Brookings, OR in a larger map
Congrats on making it past the Oregon border! Gregg and I stayed in Brookings once... in a motel, of course. We are enjoying following your journey via this blog... thank you Matt!
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