Note: I don’t know why Strava is giving us credit for 6300 feet of climbing. I suspect it’s closer to 3500

Refreshed from our rest day yesterday, we enjoyed a day of minor setbacks, elk radio, but sadly no actual elk.

Today’s route had the main climb of the day early, split into two chunks within the first ten miles. Then we’d have another ten miles of gentle descent, giving us a good start for the day. That was the plan, anyway.

We got through the first part as the sun started to beat down on us on 101. This was a freeway section, so there wasn’t much shade. We came to the turnoff for Newton B Drury Scenic Drive. There was a small road closed sign, but Anne held out hope that it was a trick or something.

So up we went, a much quieter road with plenty of shade. Once we made the first turn, about halfway through the climb, we saw the more serious road closed sign, blocking the way. This time Anne failed to disbelieve.

Back down to 101, which we knew would connect, but not how direct or how hilly. Again we were exposed to the sun, and got fairly hot. At least the shoulder was pretty good for most of it. Up it went, and eventually we were excited to see some down. But it didn’t last, and we went up some more. Finally we saw a brake check sign and rejoiced. There was even a sign for the summit, which at 1485 feet was about 50% higher than we had expected. It’s not super high in the grand scheme of things, but we still had plenty of ride ahead of us.

We enjoyed the descent (signs for 7%/3 miles, plus two runaway truck stops) and stopped to eat lunch at a turnout before Orick. We passed a state park sign “for elk information tune 1650 AM”. Our bikes are not equipped with radios, so we had to use our imaginations. I spent the next couple miles using my best bored supermarket announcer voice to provide exciting elk facts. The adult male elk weighs approximately 357 thousand pounds. (After seeing cows, but still no elk) Some elk disguise themselves as cows to confuse tourists.

Orick is a small town with many sculpture merchants and some sketchy looking motels. As we worked our way through, fog rolled in. It was amazing how fast it went from sunny and hot to foggy and kind of sticky.

We next worked our way along some lagoons. Fortunately, the fog mostly stayed above us, giving some interesting views. Parts of the road were winding and hilly, with drivers overly eager to pass on blind turns.

We made the final climb into Patrick’s Point, and turned off 101 for the last few miles of the day. We had expected the road to be flat, but it had rolling hills and some surprising vistas.

After more small hills than I really needed, we made it to our housing for the night, Sylvan Harbor in Trinidad. We have a cabin in a sea of RVs and campers.

We walked down Patrick’s Point to downtown Trinidad. It’s a very cute area, with a number of restaurants and a (reproduction) lighthouse. On the way home it rained a tiny tiny bit. We’ll see if it persists tomorrow.

This was the day of drivers stopping to interact with us. First, a car pulled over into a business in front of us. That’s a good sign you’re about to get doored, so we swung out into the lane as a precaution. Instead, the passenger hopped out and held out CO2 canisters, used for inflating tires, saying they were getting on a plane so couldn’t take them, and offering encouragement. Anne took them, marathon water cup style, not realizing that you need adapter/regulator doodads to be useful. We’re a pump family. We’ll find someone to pass them on to.

A little later, we were stopped to take pictures and an SUV with a family stopped to ask what we were doing. Anne answered questions through the car window. I guess they hadn’t been aware of bike touring as a thing people do.

Tomorrow is another relatively short day. Unless we hit more closed roads, anyways.