Pacific Coast, Day 14: Smith River, CA to Klamath, CA

This was the first morning I’ve awakened to blue skies since at least Astoria. It was a little chilly, but the sun felt great. As I got close to the ocean, though, the fog got really thick, but it wasn’t very high off the ground, so it was still bright and sunny. It was a lot different from the clouds, mist and fog of the last several mornings and very welcome.

For the first time, I had to strip off a couple layers I’ve been wearing since the very beginning of this tour.

When the route got close to the ocean, I stopped numerous times to look around. The coolest thing I saw was a sort of fog rainbow, or fog bow. I only saw it in that one spot, and I don’t ever recall seeing one before!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fog_bow

I knew today’s ride would be dominated by a long climb from around sea level to 1300 feet. This is the first place on this route where I could see coastal redwoods. They didn’t disappoint.

However, the road and traffic were a little scary. The shoulder comes and goes, is also sometimes riddled with rumble strips, and the traffic was heavy, including lots of big trucks. There were a few spots where construction crews were active, and, perhaps ironically, that made it a lot safer, because drivers were driving a little more slowly and cautiously.

During one part of the descent where there was no shoulder, a driver got squarely behind me, hovering near the left edge of the lane, and put on his emergency blinkers to keep the cars behind him from trying to pass us. I can’t even express how much joy this brought me. When the road was wide enough, I switched to the shoulder and waved a happy thank you to the driver. He gave me a couple short “beeps” and waved as he passed. I love this person!

I still haven’t camped, but I couldn’t get a room in Klamath tonight. I did get a little cabin one-half mile from the Trees of Mystery tourist trap, and a couple miles from Klamath, and I was worried I would have to go into town for food and backtrack, but there is a little store here, with a cafe, and the cabin has FREAKIN’ WIFI!