May 20, day 17 Crescent City to Patricks Point

May 20, day 17 Crescent City to Patricks Point

Starting odo 6932

Up at 7:30 I check my email on the motel's iffy network. I can only
get it to work about half the time and even then it's baulkey.

From his tweet, Shyam may be in crescent city too!  I think I'll do
some markings with the chalk today. He gets off earlier than me so he
may already be gone.

A little later I get a phone call from Shyam - he is staying in am
ameracias best value inn! So after a while I get ready and wait on the
road and we meet up and start out.

Not too much farther along the road begins a serious climb. It's
supposed to be about 800 feet but it's pretty unrelenting. We are
climbing up into a redwood forest, so we stop for a picture next to a
"big" tree. Then we descend to a Klamath  we have been waiting for to
have breakfast, except its about 1:30 by now and they don't have
breakfast after 11. Shyam is disappointed, but they agree to do
breakfast for him.

As we eat another couple come in, it is Ben and Liz! They get
breakfast too, plus a little extra for Ben. It appears that any
leftover food will be taken care if by Ben!

After lunch, we all continue on. There is a bit more climbing - then
we start what seems like a 10 mile descent. It's steep at first, then
a bit more tame, but the big deal is that we are descending through a
redwood forest!  Ben is coasting along shouting "big trees!", which
ecoes in the valley space. It is a time of manic delight and beauty!

We stop several times to take pictures, once where the sign says "big
tree ->"!  A bit later we stop by a burned hollow tree. I wonder, can
I get a picture of my bike inside the tree?  You bet! In fact we get
all  four bikes in, and ourselves!

The four of us continue on to Orick, where we think we'll camp for the
night. Ben and Liz do the free camping thing, so they want to stay
behind the convenience store. I go check out the RV park down the
road. The park looks so run down I don't even want to go into the
office to check on details. Meanwhile, Shyam is told by a park ranger
who stops at the store that Orick is not a good place to stay. Shyam
and I decide to continue on about 7 miles to a private campground that
the ranger recommended. Ben and Liz also decide to camp a bit farther
down the road at what looks to be a scenic stop. they are dedicated to
camping for free, and are not much interested in showers!

When we get to the private campground the fee is $15, and I checkout
the restrooms and showers. It is not bad, but not really good. Of
course I didn't know what the California parks were like either.   We
decide to continue on about 7 more miles to the California Patricks
Point state park. The hiker biker fee is $5, plus I need .75 for the
coin shower.  After seeing the restrooms, I decide the private place
was superior. Soap and towels in the bathroom vs. None in the park,
and the shower was better. I would describe the state park as a very
well made Spartan facility - kind of like those stainless steel
toilets that are very durable, but do not have toilet seats. The
restrooms are unisex, and divided into 3 separate rooms. However, I
suppose since this is not the busy season, only one room is available
for use. The same was true of the showers. The shower is a nice tiled,
unheated room. Since the tiles are cold, all surfaces are a little wet
due to condensation. The hot water did kick in, and I had a nice
shower for .75 cents.

The state park does have nice steel boxes for food storage, and that
is a good thing. I tried leaving one of my odorproof bags out with
some nut crunch in it, but the crows pecked through it. I suspect they
are not relying on smell alone! Nothing attacked the butter cookies I
forgot about and left in my panniers!