Bob's Blog

Pacific Crest Log

The Lost Coast

11th September 2015

I'd been cycling down the Pacific Coast route for the last couple of weeks, the scenery was great, I had good weather and there were other cyclists around, all the ingredients were there, yet something was missing. The adventure - it was all too easy, and all too mainstream.

After following highway 101 since Port Angeles in Washington, the increasing number of RVs, and logging trucks eventually turned into a six lane freeway. After passing the town of Eureka, the thought that sprang to my mind was to get off the Pacific Coast Cycling route and away the fumes. Enter the Lost Coast.

I had no idea the territory I was entering or it's name, I just saw the lines on the map and seeing they went south, happily went off route. The first warning was from a couple exiting the narrow entrance.

Garet led me down to an old campsite used by the electric company decades ago. It was rather eerie and a mosquito bite to the foot reminded me that are things that want my blood.

Blood Moon

30th September 2015

Woke feeling great about life (or maybe it was just the coffee). I was looking forward to each and every day. Who would I meet, where would I sleep, what would see. The campsite we'd stayed in was a beautiful spot. I knew the road ahead was flat. I even woke at 6.30am fresh and ready to roll. The day was through a whole lot of soulless urban areas. Santa Barbara, was rather a bourgeois trap, exquisite church's excepted.

Once we'd cleared the banal drudgery, life began refilling my veins. Back into the rugged coast. Ditched the expensive camp ground, equipped with drug users in the hiker/biker section, climbed a big hill and camped at the side of the road. Bliss. It is blood moon night but it's yet to rise.

Baja California

1st November 2015

Great excitement crossing the border to Mexico. I had been warned by countless Americans of the dangers of Baja but was fairly certain it was just fear-mongering. I've just read that Adventure=Risk+Purpose, there was a little fear but I'm not sure of the purpose, except to cycle to La Paz and get the ferry to the mainland.

I spent a few days in Tijuana (or TJ as the locals call it), hooking up with Miguel, a Mexican friend I'd met cycling the Pacific Coast. Spent the first night up till 6am enjoying some great local music, and rum! It was a great introduction to Latin America.

Baja itself was awesome, with all the cacti covering the landscape backed by the emerald Sea of Cortez. I met up with cyclists from Canada, South Africa, Spain and France. We spent most of the time following a route made up by one of the warmshowers hosts- he'd kindly put together all the distances and all the places we could stop to camp, be it roadside restaurants, beach camping or friends of his. In the end we only really did one truly wild camp, out in the desert surrounded by huge rocks and an array of cacti.