Southward Bound

A 264-day adventure by Holly Read more

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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 56
Sunday, September 27, 2015 at 8:00 PM
🌙 13 °C
Altitude: 81 m
United States Fagan Creek 45.42443, -123.9047945°25’28” N 123°54’17” W
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Rainforest Eclipse
September 27, 2015 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 13 °C
After filling our bellies with cheese we found yet another nice campsite in a small patch of forest between clear-cuts on the way toward Cape Meares. The evening sun on the moss-covered trees was beautiful and we even caught the last of the lunar eclipse through the trees.Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 57
Monday, September 28, 2015 at 1:00 PM
☀️ 20 °C
Altitude: 42 m
United States Cape Meares 45.48647, -123.9783845°29’11” N 123°58’42” W
Cape Meares Scenic Figure 9...
September 28, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
We rode north through Oceanside to go see the Cape Meares Lighthouse and met a group of ~30 cycists on an organized ride with a Seattle bike club. We also met another couple on their own seperate tour, who we talked with about meeting up further down the coast. We swapped stories and road descriptions and after a tour of a "Big Spruce" and lunch with a view at the lighthouse, we decided to complete the loop on the road around the cape instead of doubling back on the hilly road we had taken to the lighthouse. 4 hours later we had ridden around 25 miles and were back where we had started in the morning.Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 57
Monday, September 28, 2015 at 3:00 PM
☀️ 22 °C
Altitude: 8 m
United States Jackson Creek 45.36021, -123.9718945°21’37” N 123°58’19” W
Cape Lookout
September 28, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
It was a beautiful sunny day and we hadn't swam in the Pacific yet, so we took a short break for a quick dip in the cold water before climbing the big hill over the Cape and seeing our first sand dunes on the Oregon Coast.Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 57
Monday, September 28, 2015 at 6:00 PM
☀️ 19 °C
Altitude: 7 m
United States Town Creek 45.21058, -123.9655345°12’38” N 123°57’56” W
Pacific City Salad Bar
September 28, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
We thought we would buy a few groceries in Pacific City, but stumbled upon a $8 all-you-can-eat salad bar in a pizza shop, so we splurged and ate dinner inside for a change. Their pizza was delicious too!Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 58
Tuesday, September 29, 2015 at 10:00 AM
☀️ 12 °C
Altitude: 211 m
United States Kingston Creek 45.04913, -123.9069445°2’57” N 123°54’25” W
Slab Creek Road
September 29, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C
Our Adventure Cycling Association map put us onto a nice quiet road from Neskowin to Lincoln City. Highway 101 has been pretty good to us with wide shoulders and farily low traffic given that the tourist season is coming to a close, but it is always a treat when we get to ride without being blasted by traffic. These quiet roads are also an opportunity to listen to podcasts and music on the bikes using our solar-powered speaker, yipee!Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 58
Tuesday, September 29, 2015 at 2:00 PM
☁️ 15 °C
Altitude: 4 m
United States Taft Park 44.92861, -124.0187944°55’43” N 124°1’8” W
Lincoln City
September 29, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
We picked up a fourth member to add to our team in Lincoln City as we waited out a fog bank. Neda is from Montreal and vegan, so doesn't quite get our ice cream addiction, but instead of being stressed, we ate some desserts and Aaron even took his to go!Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 59
Wednesday, September 30, 2015 at 9:00 AM
☁️ 13 °C
Altitude: 12 m
United States Beverly Beach State Park 44.72849, -124.0577944°43’43” N 124°3’28” W
The End of the Chia!
September 30, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C
We carried chia and flax from our Horizon stockpile at home when we left Whitehorse. ~4000 km and two months later we finally finished it. Karl is much happier now, that is, until Holly weighs him down with another bag of each...Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 59
Wednesday, September 30, 2015 at 2:00 PM
☀️ 15 °C
Altitude: 9 m
United States Cooks Chasm 44.27825, -124.1135144°16’42” N 124°6’49” W
Cape Perpetua
September 30, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C
Aaron was really excited to see Thor's Well, so we timed our arrival at Cape Perpetua to catch all the action at high tide. After yet again taking our loaded bikes on an "accessible" walking path, and checking out the Devil's Churn and Spouting Horn, we joined him to watch the "well" fill and empty with every wave. Watching the ocean work is always humbling and mesmerizing so we hung out for a couple hours in the hot sun taking in the view, and saw a few whales off shore as well. To top off the day Alana, an old friend of Holly's from Whitehorse, and her husband Pete and their lil' tyke happened to be in the area also on tour, so they stopped at the campsite and we got to visit over wine and cheese!Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 60
Thursday, October 1, 2015 at 2:00 PM
☀️ 15 °C
Altitude: 124 m
United States Cox Rock 44.11123, -124.1222644°6’40” N 124°7’20” W
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Heceta Head
October 1, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C
The ride from Cape Perpetua to Florence was spectacular - one of our favourite rides on the trip so far. Tide pools, sea stacks, a tunnel, surfing seals, bellowing sea lions, sand dunes and fresh ashpalt were the main highlights. And when we arrived in Florence it was time for ice cream again!Read more
Bridget McEwan Yikes!
10/7/15Reply
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 60
Thursday, October 1, 2015 at 5:00 PM
☀️ 16 °C
Altitude: 38 m
United States Jessie M Honeyman Memorial State Park 43.93025, -124.1090943°55’49” N 124°6’33” W
The People You Meet Along the Road
October 1, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C
We started staying in the hiker/biker campsites of state parks halfway down the Oregon coast. For $5 you get a picnic table for cooking, a place to put up your tent, and a warm shower. If you're lucky, you also get to meet a gaggle of other bikers who are also pedaling their way along the same stretch of highway, who you don't necessarily see during the day as everyone is travelling different distances, at different speeds, starting at different places each day. At Honeyman State Park we had a reunion of sorts - we reconnected with some guys we'd seen a few days before and met some new folks - and we stayed up late chatting by the campfire about life and biking. We got a group shot before we left to mark the moment. Some of the people we've met along the road include Aaron and Neda, our current gang (shown here excited about Neda's BioLite stove cranking out heat and charge at full capacity), Kish and Omar who are biking from the US border with Canada to the border with Mexico, Graeme a sailrigger and sailor from Vancouver (in hi-vis yellow in the group photo), and the fat biker is Matt, a guy from Florence we met at Safeway and chatted with about the beach and desert fat biking scene - Karl was stoked to connect and talk about fat bikes, since his is currently lonely during prime fat biking season.Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 61
Friday, October 2, 2015 at 2:00 PM
⛅ 17 °C
Altitude: 9 m
United States Halfmoon Bay 43.66681, -124.1964143°40’1” N 124°11’47” W
Sand Dunes!
October 2, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
The main Oregon coastal sand dunes begin shortly before Florence and there is a big tourist scene based around them with options to rent dune buggies and go sand boarding. We opted for an evening hike out of the Honeyman campground to get a feel for their immense size and how difficult it would be to walk any distance through them. It is amazing how they butt up against rainforest as the picture of Holly riding up from the Umpqua Lighthouse shows.Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 61
Friday, October 2, 2015 at 6:00 PM
☀️ 15 °C
Altitude: 12 m
United States Sunset Bay State Park 43.33175, -124.3682443°19’54” N 124°22’6” W
Sunset Bay
October 2, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C
We arrived at Sunset Bay State Park in the evening and enjoyed a beautiful sunset in the bay. We met up with some Alaskan girls in the campground - Laura and Elizabeth were from Fairbanks and were nearing the end of their Oregon bike tour. The next morning we moved out to the beach to dry our tent in the sun after a tiny bit of rain fell overnight.Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 62
Saturday, October 3, 2015 at 4:00 PM
☀️ 15 °C
Altitude: 6 m
United States Port of Bandon 43.11955, -124.4124843°7’10” N 124°24’45” W
Bandon and the 'Treasures' of the Sea
October 3, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C
Laura and Elizabeth had raved about Bandon and it lived up to its reputation. We caught the farmers market and met Dan "the seaweed man", who gave us bags of nutritious and delicious seaweed and told us how to harvest more. We also met many other friendly folks at the market and in town as we deeked in and out of buildings to avoid the cold wind. The Washed Ashore art exhibit was recommended to us, and it was beautiful and informative. Volunteers have been cleaning up local beaches for years and then the artists turn the junk into beautiful art to raise awareness about the cost of disposing of our petroleum products into the ocean.Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 63
Sunday, October 4, 2015 at 10:00 AM
☀️ 17 °C
Altitude: 7 m
United States Fahys Creek 43.14469, -124.3879343°8’41” N 124°23’17” W
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A Warm Shower and Crabs!
October 4, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
Our stay in Bandon was made even more comfortable by another Warmshowers experience. Brian and Nicole not only took the four of us in, but also fed us fresh crab. The only cost was that we had to go and get the crabs out of the trap on the river (and kill and clean them), and wake up very early on a Sunday morning and play with their kids. Oh, and Karl had to wear fairy wings as decided by Olivia, age 7.Read more
Bridget McEwan Oh my gosh..! This is amazing! Good job, Olivia!
10/10/15Reply
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 63
Sunday, October 4, 2015 at 3:00 PM
☀️ 24 °C
Altitude: 47 m
United States Cape Blanco 42.83704, -124.5637342°50’13” N 124°33’49” W
Bandon to Cape Blanco
October 4, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
We enjoyed leaving Bandon on Oceanview Drive, and felt like we could have spent a long time exploring the beaches with all the sea stacks and coves, but headed on toward Cape Blanco - reputedly the most westerly point in the lower 48. The lighthouse there is the oldest on the coast, formerly helping ships navigate past all the offshore rocks and make good time on their passage between San Fran and Portland. We also enjoyed a sweet tailwind all day, which always helps to make for a great ride!Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 65
Tuesday, October 6, 2015 at 1:00 PM
☁️ 15 °C
Altitude: 95 m
United States Patrick Creek 42.18987, -124.3660742°11’24” N 124°21’58” W
The Good with the Bad
October 6, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
We camped just outside of Gold Beach and tried to get an early start so we could take in all the scenic viewpoints before crossing the border into California... but sometimes things don't play out as planned, as Karl discovered he had a flat before we even made it to the road. 45 minutes later we had finally managed to extract a sewing machine needle tip (!!!) from his back tire. Not long after Aaron broke a spoke and then Holly had tube issues as well. With all that time lost we still endeavoured to explore as we had intended - hiking down to the Natural Bridges and stopping repeatedly for the last of the Oregon coastal views.Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 65
Tuesday, October 6, 2015 at 5:00 PM
☁️ 17 °C
Altitude: 10 m
United States Crissey Field State Park 41.99821, -124.2084141°59’54” N 124°12’30” W
California!
October 6, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C
We sure loved our time in Oregon on the coast - what a spectacular place! We'll have to come back again and explore more of the state, but for now we are really happy with our experience and excited for the next leg rolling through California.Read more
Enjoying reading your blog, Holly and Karl! Your photos along the coast are beautiful! Glad you are meeting so many fellow bikers along the way and sharing stories. Can't believe you are already in California! Guess we aren't meeting you there for Christmas!! Bisous, Mom and Dad
10/7/15Reply
Will GleasonGreat meeting you two! You mentioned you were headed south; here's my blog of my trip through Baja. It probably won't help with any info, but here it is anyway!
10/11/15Reply
Will Gleasonhttps://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=tS&d…
10/11/15Reply
Holly and KarlIt was great meeting you as well Will - we wrote about you in our blog post "The People You Meet Along the Road - II". It was so cool to hear about your crazy marathon ride! Thanks for the link to your blog, we'll be sure to check it out to get some ideas for our own ride down the Baja. :)
10/12/15Reply
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 66
Wednesday, October 7, 2015 at 10:00 AM
☁️ 14 °C
Altitude: 7 m
United States Saint Pauls Episcopal Church 41.75916, -124.2019841°45’33” N 124°12’7” W
The People You Meet Along the Road - II
October 7, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C
We continue to meet great cyclists and cycling enthusiasts as we travel south. The day we rolled into Crescent City we met Will along the road - he didn't have much on his bike so it just looked like he was out for a day ride, but he was in fact touring, riding the 370 miles from Astoria to Crescent City in 3 days! We got a photo with Holly and Will to show the extremes in bike touring styles. We were lucky in Crescent City to get hosted at the St Paul's Church Trinity Center by Katie Berkowitz. On the urging of a cyclist two years ago she has opened up the church's rec area and kitchen to cyclists as a warm safe place to stay. She has hosted more than 300 cyclists per year since then. The night we got there we were a total of 10 cyclists staying the night! We met back up with Kish and Omar, met Owen and Billy from the UK who had been riding the Sierra Cascades route but had ventured to the coast to see the Redwoods, Daniel an Aussie surfing his way down the coast, and Andre who was WWOOFing and cycling (who we unfortunately didn't get a photo of). It was fun to swap stories and talk about the road ahead. The last photo is of Austin and David from Portland who we met in Arcata two days later, and kept running into in cafes in the following days - they recently returned from travelling for 3 years overseas and decided to end their trip by exploring their own country by bicycle. We are looking forward to running into all these folks again down the road!Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 67
Thursday, October 8, 2015 at 11:00 AM
☀️ 17 °C
Altitude: 171 m
United States Nickel Creek 41.69819, -124.1292941°41’53” N 124°7’45” W
Coastal Trail 'Bike Route'
October 8, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
We continue to try to find ways to get off the bikes and go for a hike, but it is hard to do overnight hikes in the parks here as there is no way to leave gear behind in a secure place as we did during our last bike tour in New Zealand. So instead of starting with a hike in Redwoods National Park we decided to try a trail promoted as a bike trail along the original 1930s coastal highway to access the Redwoods. The day and route started out beautifully, with views of Cresent City and the coast southward, and a great flat hard packed trail. We were warned that there was a steep uphill where we'd gain 1000 ft of elevation in 1 mile. We thought that sounded tough but do-able - what we didn't know was that it was a trail of loose cobble that we couldn't have ridden with mountain bikes, let alone our loaded touring bikes.... so we spent a couple hours and used a lot of sweat and energy pushing our bikes up the trail. At the top we started riding again only to be descending a similarly loose and challenging trail - let's just say we had some regret about the route we had chosen until the grade levelled out and we were actually riding on the old highway surface through an enchanting forest of towering redwoods. What a joy to be riding quietly along in the forest taking in grove after grove of redwoods. By the time we arrived back at the highway some 10 miles later we were super glad we had taken the road less travelled. But we wouldn't recommend it to others!Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 67
Thursday, October 8, 2015 at 2:00 PM
☀️ 24 °C
Altitude: 9 m
United States Hoppaw Creek 41.52174, -124.0364241°31’18” N 124°2’11” W
Klamath Attractions
October 8, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
We stopped at the Trees of Mystery roadside attraction in Klamath to get a photo of the giant statue of Paul Bunyan and Babe his blue ox, check out the museum of Indian artifacts, and sample many types of fudge - those samples always get you and we ended up buying a pound of fudge and eating it in less than 2 days! Our next stop was a drive through tree in which our bikes easily fit but that was fun to experience anyway.Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 67
Thursday, October 8, 2015 at 4:00 PM
☀️ 24 °C
Altitude: 158 m
United States Elk Grove (historical)41.4026, -124.0287241°24’9” N 124°1’43” W
Redwoods Parkway
October 8, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
After yet another detour in the park we got to the Newton Drury Scenic Parkway and enjoyed coasting down through the redwoods awed by their size and beauty. We got to see the corkscrew tree, and Big Tree, estimated to be older than 1500 years and part of what propelled conservationists to mobilize to protect the old growth redwood forests, before the last of these giants were logged.Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 68
Friday, October 9, 2015 at 1:00 PM
☁️ 24 °C
Altitude: 7 m
United States Major Creek 41.33966, -124.0807541°20’23” N 124°4’51” W
Redwoods Hike
October 9, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C
After camping at Elk Prairie we decided to actually pull out our hiking gear and hike ~13 miles down the James Irvine Trail to Gold Bluffs Beach and back. The forest continued to humble us as we walked by grove after grove of tall redwoods. Nearing the coast we got to walk through Fern Canyon, created by past flooding events whose sheer walls are now carpeted in ferns. We walked a mile along the beach, dodging the incoming tide, and then back through the redwoods to our bikes at the campground. After transforming back to bike mode we pedaled onward to a new campsite that night.Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 69
Saturday, October 10, 2015 at 12:00 PM
☁️ 17 °C
Altitude: 21 m
United States Sotsin Point 41.04951, -124.1256541°2’58” N 124°7’32” W
Trinidad
October 10, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C
We pedaled into Trinidad early on a rainy morning and waited out the rain and mist in the warm bustling Beachcomber Cafe. From there we pedaled along Scenic Way getting stunning glimpses of the ocean, and along the Hammond Trail, which took us through farmland backroads into Arcata.Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 70
Sunday, October 11, 2015 at 11:00 AM
☁️ 15 °C
Altitude: 10 m
United States Inner Reach 40.80415, -124.1648340°48’15” N 124°9’53” W
Arcata and Eureka
October 11, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
Our first stop in Arcata was the North Coast Co-op as it had been reccomended to us as an awesome grocery store. We were able to top up all our tiny containers with a huge selection of bulk foods and soaps. We started to feel like we should spend more time in Arcata as we met a bunch of friendly hippies and found a great frozen yogurt place overlooking the town square, but were unable to secure a host on short notice so we settled for a spot between Arcata and Eureka for the night. We awoke in a bank of wet fog the next morning and found that Karl's front rack had cracked again so went into Eureka to try and find a replacement. We didn't have any luck finding a new rack but Holly did get to tour "Old Town" Eureka while Karl did some JB weld magic. By 1pm Karl's bike was ready to ride and the fog had burned off so we headed south once again.Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 70
Sunday, October 11, 2015 at 3:00 PM
☀️ 20 °C
Altitude: 13 m
United States Firemens Park 40.57478, -124.2645240°34’29” N 124°15’52” W
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Fields and Rivers
October 11, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
Our ACA map took us on a detour through the small town of Ferndale. We questioned the extra miles but really enjoyed the quiet farm roads and having lunch in Ferndale beside a couple guys jamming on the street. We then rode through a few miles of tired looking dairy farms and a bunch of steep hills along the Eel River to get to Rio Dell.Read more
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