It was 7 miles to the California border – an exciting milestone. At the border there is an agricultural checking station. You have to surrender any fresh produce to avoid any risk to California's precious agricultural industry. There was a sign that read: $1000 Fine for Animal Abandonment. I guess one too many Oregon cows had been ditched at the border in order to merit the erection of this sign. I was waved through whilst everybody else was searched. I guess they didn't know I was a vegetarian.
I was disappointed to see there was no Welcome To California sign to take a picture of as I entered this new state. Surprisingly California appeared immediately different to Oregon. Flat farmland stretched out in all directions for miles. The first 30 miles gave unusually flat riding. I knew what was coming though. A 1200 foot hill with 3 summits, one after another. I stopped in Crescent City just before the climb. I ate a foot-long Subway and 2 cookies. I needed all the energy I could pack in.
The climb wasn't too steep but the road was mostly without shoulder to ride on. At one point a truck literally ran Kate and I off the road. It came so close to us we had to ride off the road into the dirt. I descended slowly for 5 miles to make the most of the high elevation views of the coastline.
After another 10 miles I reach Klamath, the only place to stock up on food for dinner. It was not a good place to shop. It was not a good place. The grocery store had recently closed down so the only shop in town was part of a petrol station. I met Brian and Beth outside. Brian offered to watch my back in the shop. You can tell a lot about a shop when you see a sign on the door saying, 'No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service.' I immediately noticed one of the customers was dangerously close to not meeting their dress-code. He was wearing dungarees with no shirt underneath. Everybody in the shop was buying booze. Everybody in the shop was drunk already. The most appetising food in the shop was for cats. I ended up buying some Doritos which I thought might spice up a bowl of rice later.
I was keen to leave Klamath, even if it did mean facing another massive hill. This one was also about a thousand foot climb. It was far more enjoyable than the first hill of the day. The shoulder was good and half way up I turned off onto a small road and entered Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. As I climbed higher I got my first taste of California's giant Redwoods. Some of the trees are 300 feet tall. I'm guess that to walk around the base of some of the older trees would take anything up to a minute. The fun really started on the descent which seemed to go on forever through miles of Redwood forest. I felt very small among these ancient giants.
At the campground I met Kate, Beth and Brian. The hiker/biker site was almost full so we had to squash up a bit. There were no free picnic tables so we all sat on the ground and ate together. I'm camping in bear country again now so was instructed to put all food, pans, toothpaste and lip-balm in a secure bear-proof locker. Brian and Beth realised their new shower gel may not have been the wisest choice. It was honey scented.
We were all pleased with ourselves for making it through today's ride. It was incredibly challenging but I was pretty pleased with how I got through it. Thinking back to those early days in Canada it seemed relatively easy. My fitness has improved so much in the last month and I've learned to eat much more effectively. After today I feel like I could do anything. Well, anything less difficult than today's ride at least.
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