Trip Description
Scroll Down for the Pictures! | February 16, 2007
We were less than an hour late to pick Tom up at his house. Carefully
picking our way through loaves of bread, bottles of sunscreen, and bowls of
bubbling sourdough starter, we helped him load his bike and gear into the
car. We drove to Carmel, and looked for a place to stash our car for
the weekend. We drove to a T-intersection,
and headed in the "Pray" direction - even though our intent was to
"Play." Fortunately, the church didn't have a problem with
us playing, and they said that we could leave the car there until
Monday. They didn't even ask us to let them borrow it or leave a
donation. We packed up the bikes, and headed down the coast at a solid
8 miles per hour. Thanks to a brisk tail wind. We were surprised
by the abnormally high temperatures and clear skies - but no one was
complaining. The scenery was beautiful (see our pictures). Not
too long after we started, I wanted a break - so we ditched the tandem. and sat
down in the river. We crawled South, checking out places to land
our kayak in case we decide to paddle this coast some day in the
future. We visited the deck of the Napenthe restaurant, and several
other scenic viewpoints. In true Japanese Fashion, we took as many
pictures as the camera could handle at each Spot. I managed to talk
Tom into taking pictures American style after we used up the first battery a
few minutes into the trip. When we got to Mc Way
falls, we were
fascinated to see the wonderful waterfall that I had passed so many other
times while zooming by Julia Pfiefer Burns State Park (They shouldn't have
put this park along a downhill)! While we were watching the falls,
some guy saw a Turkey Vulture that he proclaimed was a "California
Condor." At this point, the crowd which was ooh-ing and aah-ing the
waterfall craned their necks the other way and ooh-ed and ahh-ed harder at
the Turkey Vulture. Not everyone thought it was a big deal, though,
as one guy informed Tom that he had seen two Condors yesterday. We moved on since it was getting dark. We checked out the
Limekiln Campground (which apparently HAD showers until a big rock slide
fell down and blew up their propane tank). The park was closed due to
"hazardous conditions." We made camp at Kirk Creek
instead. February 17, 2007
Having seen the movie "Over the Hedge," we were prepared to deal
with the events that occurred last night. A coon only got one bag
of trash, which I managed to pry from its hands/mouth with a stick.
Yes, they are THAT un-afraid of humans. Today was hotter than
yesterday (in fact, I've never seen the coast this warm - even in
July). Shirts off (well, except for Janet) we headed up
Nacimiento-Fergusson Raod out towards Fort Hunter Liggit. In case you
are thinking of going here, this is not an easy climb. We descended
quickly to the fort boundary. Upon arrival, we were asked for
identification. We managed to smuggle in a guy without a driver's license
(me), and a non-American citizen (Tom) - all thanks to Janet's good
looks. To round off the criminal-ness of our posse, Janet insisted on
calling her mom from the cell phone while riding our bikes. I think
she was inspired to do this when she saw the sign that forbade driving while
using a cell phone within the fort. Tom and I
didn't want to attract any attention given that we were already walking thin
ice - and we managed to talk Janet into pulling over to make her call.
It's a good thing we did, because it gave us a chance to talk to some
hunters who mis-directed us, Their kind help sent us a longer and less
scenic way. At least we got a picture of This
Tank, though. Tom really liked the Tank - he mentioned it several
times, even after the trip was over. Tom likes everything,
though. We barely got to camp before dark. Thanks to a
flat tire (our only one on the whole trip). We slept near the former?
sportsman's lodge, our sleep punctuated be frequent mice visits.
February 18, 2007
After filtering some water, we started the 18 miles of dirt to Arroyo Seco.
Amazingly, Tom's bike had made it this far (in spite of a broken bottom
bracket, 4 our of 9 useful gears in the back, mis-aligned brakes, a corroded
headset, 200 lbs of gear in his BOB trailer, and various other bicycle
maladies). Fortunately, this trail was better suited to his bike than
ours, and he easily passed us on the rocky descents. There were two
sections in the trail where rockslides had covered the trail. Now
there is only one, thanks to an impromptu trail work session we did with a
fire-fighter from Arroyo Seco. We headed deeper into the
gorge, and
finally stashed our bikes near the trailhead going towards the Buddhist
meditation center. Tom and I sought enlightenment as we eagerly
tromped down the trail. I think Janet saw hot-springs on the map, and
decided that she'd go too. Anyway, the hiking trip lasted until we saw
the sign that said "5 1/2 miles to Tassajara meditation center" We opted out, and started
thinking about whether there might be showers at the campground... and
mmmmmm... Tasty Bites for dinner. Sure enough,
85 degree Fahrenheit showers are available at
camp. For those who don't know, a nice shower is usually 104 degrees
Fahrenheit (hint hint, Camp Host). After we
thawed out, we made dinner, and had our first critter free night.
Since we didn't get a chance to meditate, Tom and I spent the evening
philosophizing about astronomy and the end of the world.
February 19, 2007
This morning, the temperatures were finally getting close to standard February
in California temps (so it was about 60 F). We bundled up, and rode the
tandem up another big hill. I was sad because this was the last day of
our bike tour. We extended the journey by taking the Cachuga road route,
which adds on a bunch of extra climbing and a few extra miles. I'm glad
we took it, though, because we encountered some tree
faces. My sister got a big kick out of buying these tree faces for
everyone's Christmas present last year - and here is some evidence that some other people like
them too (or my relatives were successful with their Craigslist
postings). We finally made it back to the car - surprised at how many
hills you can pack into an 8 mile stretch of Carmel Valley Road.
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