Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Day 10 Burlington Campground to Leggett 42.5 miles (total miles 426)

Brutal day on the bikes today.  As we rode inland from the redwoods the temperature soared until it peaked in the afternoon between Garberville and Leggett at 98 degrees. Here is Catalina waiting for breakfast at the campground in the redwoods. 

For the first 15 miles or so we were still on the Avenue of the Giants which looks like this.  That is Grandpa up there. 

Lunch in Garberville. At an Italian cafe.  Perhaps we found a happy medium between vegan sandwiches on nutty bread with sprouts and the Happy Meal. It was so hot all I could get down was a Salad and lots of ice tea.  

Popsicle stop with 10 miles to go in the 98 degree heat. 

A bit further down the road we came across Confusion Hill... a throwback old tourist trap that sucked us in. That is supposed to be the worlds biggest freestanding wood carving.  

With 5 more miles of hills we ran into a group of bikers from Fresno who we have crossed paths with and met over the past 3 days.  They were riding without packs with some support pickups and were kind enough to haul our tired bones the last 5 miles with their truck.  So we cheated a bit but still rode 42 miles mostly up hill in the heat.  

Our original campground is no longer a state park but turned over to Mendicino County and now run on a first come no reservation basis.  Since every other campground has been full so far we thought it prudent to find alternate lodging.  The only motel in 10 miles had one room left so we grabbed it and are happy crashing at the Stonegate Villas and old style motel that is perfectly adequate. 

Tomorrow brings the two final big mountain passes as we cross back over the coast range to the ocean on CA highway 1 which will take us the rest of the way down the coast to San Francisco. We are still on schedule to reach the Golden Gate on Sunday July 7. 

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