For us seasoned backpackers, bike trippers and all-round self-propelled adventurers, this is the ultimate in luxury vacationing: Full queen size bed (over cab), large dinette (turns into a double bed), 3-piece bathroom (toilet, sink, shower), good sized sink, 3-burner gas stove, oven (!!), fridge with freezer, furnace, stereo, 35 gallon water storage plus 5 gallon hot water tank (for those hot showers!), plenty of lights and almost more cabinets, closets, drawers and hidden compartments than you know what to do with. End up with 11 pairs of shoes on your trip? No problem! (Don't ask...) Oh boy - I think we're hooked! Not once did we dine out, and not once did we pay for camping!

From Crescent City we drove south to Klamath, then took the small Klamath Beach Rd. (Scenic Coastal Route) and found a place to park for the night at a Redwoods trailhead (Flint Ridge) with sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean, the surf crashing on the beach far below us.

Monday, March 19:

Rain, rain, rain. And not California rain, but Vancouver-style rain - exactly what we'd come to get away from! A long beach walk in the morning, then Andre went for a run up the Flint Ridge trail while I stayed in and read, then we drove south to the Prairie Creek Redwoods and had another wet hike on the Ten-Taypo trail. We soaked through all our Gore-Tex, numerous pairs of shoes, socks, shirts, etc.

Off to Arcata to seek camping for the night!

After lunch we walked the length of the bar along the Eel River about 15 minutes up as far as we could to a sandy point (left)

Camp Garberville

Well, not an official camp, just our camp on a pullout on a farm road in a town called Garberville on the 101 (s. of Redway). Had a bit of a tricky time finding a place the night before. We'd first found a nice gravel bar similar to High Rock Bar below the town of Redway, but discovered it was populated by a suspicious group of drug-addicted toothless squatters so didn't feel too good about staying overnight in their midst!

This is a beautiful, huge park boasting about 10 miles of beach, sand dunes, a small lake, a long bike path, coastal trails and lots & lots of camping. Its located by the tiny town of Cleone, just north of historic Fort Bragg, and is named after the first settler to the area who came down from Quebec.

Right: Laguna Point, looking north.

Below: The old haul road that parralells the ocean for about 5 miles. Closed to any motorized vehicles, it was a perfect place for a little bike ride.

Andre was itching to go for a beach run, but I was more in the mood for a solo beach walk. So off he went - from the parking lot the full extent of the beach next to the dunes to where the beach was intersected by Ten Mile River, only a hop and a skip from where we'd camped!

A favorite spot of ours, and one of the main highlights of this trip. Mendocino is renowned for not only its unique setting and historic buildings, but for its unique west coast culture of art, food, wine, festivals, and progressive environmental attitude.

Left: View out of the dinette window...

Below: View out the foot-end bedroom window

First on the agenda: A 30 mile bike ride along Big River!

Our first pit stop, however, was the bike rental store across the highway bridge (below) for a spare innertube for Andre's bike.

We got up at 6am to get an extra early start heading back north. We had some unfinished business in the Redwoods, having been rained-out and all, and were hoping to spend at least one full day exploring a certain area - Gold Bluffs Beach.

We were making much better time than anticipated, so when we came upon a long stretch of beach north of Arcata at noon it was the perfect opportunity to stretch our legs and get in some more adventure!

Beach Biking Bonanza at Clam Beach!

With still a good amount of daylight left, we went for a 4 mile hike up Flint Ridge and admired the giant redwood trees. There was even a very mysterious owl hooting in the forest (watch the video).

Well, well, well. What is this place anyways? A RAINHOLE or something??? Sure enough, at around 2am we awoke to hear the unmistakable sound of rain on the roof. Ugh, not again.

So once again we started the morning off with a beachwalk (where Andre found the umbrella he'd lost a week before on the steep, muddy trail down to the beach), but this time the sun broke through by 10am.

So, back to the camper and off to Prairie Creek Redwoods for an afternoon of biking down to Gold Bluffs Beach!

Around 4:30 we rode down the length of beach road and checked out the campground (full, of course), then cycled to the Fern Creek trailhead. We cycled back up the the truck via the Miner's Ridge trail and were only back right at dark, about 7:30.

Right: We spotted a couple Roosevelt Elk on the side of the beach road. There is a large herd that always seems to be around the main park headquarters (we saw dozens of them whenever we drove past).