Today I got an early start thinking I had a short if challenging day, with a lot of climbing for only 50 or so miles. But... When I got to the the turn for Coast Trail Road, the Pacific Coast Bike Trail sign gave me a pretty good indicator that I should be following it instead...
I discovered that the Coast Road is more trail than road, and THAT was why my gps mapping app was thinking there was so much climbing. So... After a quick route adjustment, I cut about 5 miles and 2500' off day's ride, making it both short, and pretty easy in terms of climbing!
First on the agenda was riding through Prairie Creek Redwood State Park, home of many of the biggest old growth redwoods stands remaining. It's a remarkable place, with thousands of 200-300' tall trees lining the road for more than 10 miles.
Today I was again blessed by almost no traffic, due to the US 101 road closure just north of here from 8:00am to noon. I felt like I had the whole park pretty much to myself :-) Heading out of the main groves of redwoods there is a large meadow that I was lucky enough to finally see a small heard of Roosevelt Elk, grazing right up next tothe road.
These are pretty impressive beasts up close, and I was happy to grab a quick photo and move on! I then kept on southward through the Humboldt lagoons,
And then on toward Patrick's Point State Park,
Close be my destination in Trinidad, CA
I then grabbed a quick lunch and groceries in Trinidad and then settled in for a relaxing afternoon at my VRBO. This is probably the best spot I've found on the whole trip so far! I'm writing this sitting in a rocking chair in the sun while hummingbirds flit back and forth all around me feeding on the wild fushia bushes growing every where here... Here's the view from my porch:
And if I walk another 30' to the cliff edge, this is the close in, shoreline view:
Absolutely spectacular! I'm definitely going to need to get back here in the future with Norma!
Cheers :-)
So impressed! I wish I was with you, Scott! You not missing much here in CNY with the constant rain...
ReplyDeleteSo I hear... Not as bad as I. Germany, but it does sound pretty wet there! No sign of rain here-- probably not for months. The landscape is pretty parched, though the marine layer moves inland to cover everything with dew every day. That's enough to keep the redwoods happy!
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