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Southward Bound
  • Holly and Karl

Southward Bound

A 264-day adventure by Holly Read more
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  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    No Rest for the Wicked...

    October 26, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    We aimed to camp at Henry Cowell State Park after the big descent from Skyline Boulevard, but failed to notice that the campground is accessed via a road north of Felton. So instead of resting our climbing bums immediately, we took a tour of Roaring Camp (a period town set up in the park) and then rode 3 more miles of very steep and occasionally sandy trails through the park to get to the campground just as darkness descended. The one plus was the beautiful sunset over Santa Cruz that we got to take in before getting to the campground.Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    Surfing & Sea Birds, Monarchs & Bikes

    October 27, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    We really enjoyed touring the seaside pathway in Santa Cruz and watching the many surfers catching waves. We also sampled some beer at a local organic brewery and saw pelicans on our way to Natural Bridges State Beach, where the winter generation of monarch butterflies were hanging in droves from the eucalyptus trees. To top it off we were directed to the "Bike Church" where volunteers offer tools and tips for fixing up your bike, and Karl finally solved the ticking noise that was driving us both crazy on long climbs with a simple re-grease and tightening of his pedals. Our last stop in Santa Cruz was at Trader Joe's - it was our first time shopping there - which our American friends have often talked about given the great deals that can be had on delicious organic food. Yum!Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    Capitola Connections

    October 27, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Back in 2008, Holly met the mayor of Capitola on the long Alaska Ferry ride from Skagway to Prince Rupert; Michael was riding his Harley through Alaska and Canada, and Holly (along with co-pilot Jess Thiessen) happened to strike up a conversation with him and some other bikers (the motorized kind) on the ferry. Capitola, California seemed quite far away at the time, but seeing it on the map triggered Holly's memory, so we looked up Michael, and were thrilled to be hosted in his beautiful home and have dinner with him and his fiance Alexa. Michael is still on town council, and doing some amazing community and environmental work - it's so inspiring to see what change can be made by starting small. We shared stories and compared our respective 'biking' adventures, and had a great time chatting with Michael and Alexa - we only missed getting a photo of the 4 of us together to mark the moment. Perhaps we'll be lucky to snap one if they come north and visit us in Whitehorse!Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    Strawberry Fields Forever...

    October 28, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Soon after we let Capitola we were riding through an area known as "The Salad Bowl" and Karl had flashbacks to his childhood days growing up on a small strawberry farm in Pemberton, BC. We rode past hundreds of acres of strawberries at various life stages as well as huge fields of artichokes and brussel sprouts. It was both impressive and disturbing to see agriculture of this scale and the impacts it has on the land and waterways. Regardless, we still enjoyed the bounty at a roadside market and loaded up on an assortment of fresh fruit and veggies.Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl
    2

    Monterey Bike Trails

    October 28, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    There was a surprisingly long network of paved trails taking us into Monterey, allowing us to avoid riding on highway 1. Sand dunes covered with the colourful ice plant along the trail made for some beautiful scenes. We tried to get some information about the route ahead at the Visitors Center, but the two ladies on duty were too overwhelmed with the concept of cycling to be of much use. Luckily, we met lots of other cool people as we rode the seaside trail through the many tourist shops on Fisherman's Wharf and Cannery Row out to Lovers Point and watched some surfers riding waves off the rocky point.Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    Stunning 17-Mile 'Drive'

    October 29, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    We stayed the night at Veteran's Memorial Park in Monterey and found that our trusty MSR Whisperlite was having some issues, so the next morning we backtracked ~16kms to REI to get a new pump cup and other spare parts. A few hours later, and back where we had started the day, we bought a bunch of groceries and headed out of town on the scenic route. 17-Mile Drive is certainly not the fast way to head south, but even we (who have seen a lot of coast in the last 2 months) thought it was particularily stunning with a big swell crashing on the rocks as we rode along. In general we thought Monterey was a really interesting town, and would definitely return in the future to spend more time learning about the history of the area and taking in the stunning scenery.Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    Point Lobo Tide Pools

    October 29, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Point Lobo had been recommended to us so we stopped in for a late lunch by the tide pools and watched the waves and intertidal critters for a while before we started onto highway 1 in earnest.

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl
    3

    Highway 1 to Big Sur

    October 29, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Many people told us that we HAD to see Big Sur, and there were times when we wondered how different it could be from the many miles of coastline we had already ridden in Oregon and California, but we were glad we listened. The views from the road carved out of the steep hillside are spectacular, and while the road is narrow, it is well known as a scenic route; we found the drivers to be more patient with cyclists than many other stretches of road we have ridden, which made the narrow winding road a pleasure to ride. We leap-frogged our way through the multitude of scenic veiwpoints with 4 other cyclists, which is always fun as you get to share your excitement about views, downhills and tailwinds with like-minded folks.Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    The People You Meet Along the Road - III

    October 30, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    The spectacular ride through Big Sur was made better by a new set of cycling friends who we stayed with in Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park or rode with the next day. Don and Trevor were a father-son duo of locals - Trevor had been cycling in Europe for months and was finishing with a ride down the west coast, and his dad joined him for the 10-day leg from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Then there was an eclectic crew that included Jamie the Aussie, Robert from England (who had stayed with our friends Jenny and Anthony in Whitehorse shortly after he started his ride from Alaska in July!), Jan and Til from Germany, and Tamara who had been riding and camping together for a few days. We also met Dasha and Kent from Vancouver (but missed getting a photo of them!) who were riding down the coast to Cabo San Lucas - we may meet up with them later on in Central America as they plan to continue their travels south after Christmas. The next day we rode with Edward, a double century rider (i.e. a racer in 200-mile cycling competitions!), who was from Anaheim and had ridden in the area before so was the first cyclist to confirm that riding over Nacimeinto-Fergusson Road is not only possible, but enjoyable if you get a kick out of riding quiet roads with steep grades.Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    More Big Sur Views

    October 30, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    There was a new and amazing view around every corner and at the crest of every hill on highway 1 through the Big Sur area. The historic concrete bridges and tunnels were beautiul in their own right as well. Before we climbed up and away from the coast, we tried to finally get in a swim in California (we had taken a quick dip in the chilly Pacific Ocean in Oregon, but not yet in California). The beautiful beach at Limekiln State Park was inviting, but as with other parts of the coast we found the waves to be a bit scary, so settled for a quick splash in the shallows to cool us off before the long hot climb.Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    Nacimiento-Fergusson Road

    October 30, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    This road was recommended to us by a cyclist we met in northern California, but everyone we subsequently talked with about it had a different description and impression to share with us. The main reason we wanted to ride this road was that we still wanted to get a taste of highway 1 through Big Sur, but also wanted to go to Yosemite and this is the only road through Los Padres National Forest that would allow us to limit the size of the huge detour required to cut back to Yosemite. Very few cyclists seemed to have personal experience riding it and the ladies at the Monterey Visitors Center assured us it was suicide to try and ride it. Luckily Edward (the cyclist from Anaheim described in a previous post) and Murdock (a local Warmshowers host) both assured us that they had travelled it and that while it was a long, steep climb, it was paved and had very little traffic on it. Not only did Murdock give us valuable information, but when he and his crew of firefighters passed us 3/4 of the way up the road he offered us Gatorade, an apple and left water out for us at the fire station at the summit - what a legend! We were certainly tired and sweaty as we rolled over the 825m summit with the sun setting over the ocean below, but it was a spectacular ride!Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    Into the Desert

    October 31, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    From our campsite just down from the Nacimiento Summit, we had a long gradual descent through dry rolling oak plains to Mission San Antonio beside the Fort Hunter-Liggett military compound. This mission was established in 1771 and had a lot of interesting history that was being preserved by the local parish and dedicated volunteers. From there we descended even more to highway 101 and the tiny farming town of San Lucas where we rested in the shade and filled all of our water containers before we started climbing back over another ~800m ridge to reach the true central valley of California.This afternoon was likely the hotest of our trip so far, so we were grateful when we found a neglected fruit tree on the side of the road. It has been a while since we have found apples along the road, but this was no apple tree - we are in pomegranate country now! We ate a couple pomegranates while resting in the shade before we tackled the final climb in the evening sun.Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    Warthan Canyon

    November 1, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    The final leg of our ride into the Central Valley took us through Warthan Canyon on highway 198. After camping beside the dry creek bed in Priest Valley (and cooking breakfast on the clay bottom of the creek, so weird!) we got to cruise downhill through the winding curves of the road through the canyon. Since the early 1900s, this route has been a way for Californians to travel between the beaches on the coast and the inland mountains, we learned on an info panel about the area. As we exited the canyon and approached Coalinga we entered some of the earlier oil fields of California (and maybe the US?) and could see the remains of old wells in the distance.Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl
    2

    Orchards and Headwinds

    November 1, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    We pedaled into Coalinga and did what intrepid travellers need to occasionally do: stop at McDonald's to get free WiFi and figure out where to restock provisions for the trip ahead. In the process we were lucky to meet Geronimo and Wendy who told us about the area and gave us intel on sideroads we could take out of town that would allow us to miss the hills AND the more heavily traveled roads. So we headed out of the city and through acres and acres of orchards and open fields, unfortunately directly into a headwind which made the flat riding less easy. This area of California grows much of the fruit and veggies consumed in the US, and likely Canada too, but due to the water shortage, the history of water rights, and other water management decisions, many of the fields and orchards have had to be abandoned since there is no water available to water the crops. The canals that criss cross the valley showcase the magnitude of the water movement that occurs, while the fields and fields of fruit trees still in production was mind-boggling. We stopped for lunch under a tree in the middle of the vast fields, feeling quite far from anything in this cropland, only to be invited into a farm worker's compound just metres from where we were sitting by Blanca, the wife of a horse trainer for the massive company producing almonds, walnuts and many other crops in that area. Blanca and her daughters offered us multi-vitamins and water, and some Hallowe'een candy from the previous night's trick or treating and we communicated in broken Spanish and English about our trip and their lives working in the valley. The generosity and curiosity of people on this trip is so amazing to experience - these are the moments that certainly lift us up - especially when the rest of the day was more flat pedalling into a headwind as we inched toward Fresno.Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    Friends in Fresno

    November 3, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    After a loud sleep beside the highway, we were up quite early to make our final break into Fresno. With 60 kms to go and rain looming on the horizon we wanted to make as much distance as possible before getting soaked. It was a wet ride through the misty farmland and suburbs as we approached the south west corner of the city, which is the rougher part of town. We found a grocery store, stocked up, and thankfully headed to our friends Cory and Theresa's house before noon with the rest of the day to get showered and dry, do laundry, catch-up on our blog and generally relax as we watched the rain pour down outside. Cory and Theresa came home that evening and we hit up their favourite Mexican place to catch up: we had last seen each other back in our UVic days when we climbed together. Since then they had gotten married, Cory had done a post-doc in Edmonton, and they had moved to Fresno where Cory is a tenure-track professor, while Theresa teaches and helps conduct research - but more importantly, they head to the mountains regularly to play, being only 2 hours from Yosemite and the high country. After another rest day, and a tiny bit of exploration of Fresno State University, we got to head to their climbing gym and work our underused arms. It was fun climbing again, but we sure felt weak! We left the next morning, en route to Yosemite, and thankful for the chance to relax and catch-up with old friends.Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    Into the Hills

    November 4, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    We left Fresno and started up toward the high country by following the Auberry Road. High cliffs across the valley told of a wetter time when the river carved out this valley. From Auberry we followed Powerhouse Road which led us to the San Joaquin Reservoir - the first major water feature we had seen since entering the Central Valley. Along the way we also saw the evidence of recent fires, as well as many 'Thank you Firefighters' signs along the road, which was heart warming to see.Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    Low Water at Bass Lake

    November 4, 2015 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 6 °C

    We rode up to Bass Lake from North Forks late in the afternoon. When we finally reached the lake we saw the large dam that originally created the lake, but such low water levels that the lake was only a fraction of its former size. Huge shorelines and dry marinas abounded. We camped at the end of the lake in a group campground all to ourselves - Karl got a good kick out of how huge the picnic tables were, but it did make for a lot of room to cook! Having left the coast and low elevations, it was the first of many chilly sleeps, as evidenced by the frost on the table in the morning.Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl
    2

    We Rode to Yosemite!

    November 5, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    We were pretty excited to have made it to Yosemite under our own power. We climbed over a couple of high passes, the highest at 6000 ft (~1830 m) at Chinquapin before getting our first glimpse of the Yosemite Valley with El Cap, Half Dome and all the other stunning granite monoliths that rise thousands of metres from the valley floor. Pictures don't do this place justice, but we still snapped away trying to capture the awe that we felt.Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    Glacier Point via 4-Mile Trail

    November 6, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    Despite the chill in the fall air, we had beautiful weather in Yosemite. We made the most of it by hiking the 4-Mile Trail up to Glacier Point. We climbed ~1000 m from the valley floor (at ~1200 m) to the Glacier Point viewpoint (at ~2200 m), only passing a few other hikers as the road to Glacier Point was closed for the season. The views of the valley only got better as we got higher, while it got colder and then snowier above 1800 m. The views of the high monoliths and distant peaks definitely inspired dreams of future climbing and mountaineering trips in the park. We had originally wanted to climb in Yosemite as part of this trip, but it was a bit logistically challenging to get our gear to us without pedaling it 1000s of kms or paying a lot to ship it - having had this small taste of the possibilities, however, we'll be sure to return!Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    Nevada Falls via Panoramic Trail

    November 6, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    We contined our hike from Glacier Point along the Panoramic Trail crossing Illilouette, Nevada and Vernal Falls under the distant watch of Half Dome. So many people were out hiking in the beautiful weather - we met a couple from Chico who return often to the park and told us we had picked one of the best trails for getting great views of the valley, and we had to agree. The abundance of granite was mind-blowing, however the trail down hundreds of stairs was thigh-crushing for our 'bike-sculpted' muscles.Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    Camp 4

    November 7, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 6 °C

    While we were in the Yosemite Valley we stayed at the iconic Camp 4, the walk-in climbers campground amoung the boulders at the base of the Yosemite Falls Trail. It was pretty chilly when we were there (freezing temps evening, night and morning given how shady it is), so most of the climbers had already cleared out and headed to warmer climes/climbs, but the registration line-up (first-come first-serve starting promptly at 8:30 am daily) was still a long cold wait in the morning. We were happy to spend a couple of evenings in the camp around a campfire with other hikers and climbers, including hikers Josh, Wes and Adam from Nebraska and climbers Tom and Kevin.Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    Ok Fine, it's Winter in the High Country

    November 7, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    We have been surfing the wave of winter, staying just ahead of the cold since we left Whitehorse in August. On the coast it felt like winter would never come, especially since we barely had any rain for the majority of our time in Oregon and California. Even as we headed inland we experienced some of the highest temperatures of the trip. And then it rained, snowing in the mountains just days before we reached Yosemite... We had hoped to ride Tioga Pass through Yosemite to highway 395 on the eastern side of the Sierras, mostly for the experience of self-propelling ourselves from the ocean to 9,945 ft, and after a week of sunny days we were hopeful the snow would have melted and we could still do the ride, even though the road was closed to cars - all the better really. So with more rain and snow in the long range forecast we set off out of Yosemite Valley, upwards. We reached the Tioga Road after 2 hours of inching up from the valley and ventured past the gate and onto the deserted road. We climbed through the trees along a mostly melted road until we had reached 7000 ft, feeling hopeful about the remaining ~100 km to Lee Vining with another 3000 ft of elevation gain. However, with the first major downhill through the trees we discovered that half a foot of unmelted snow and ice still lay on the road, making it virtually unridable. The realization that we might have to push our bikes for large portions of the high elevation ride was a sobering wake up call, so we sadly admitted defeat to winter in the high country. The consolation was almost 6000 ft of downhill from our high point at Tamarack Flats to our campsite on the Merced River at the end of the day.Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    Merced River Exit

    November 7, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Our ride down from Tamarack Flats took us out of Yosmite at El Portal and down the Merced River, in canyon country. We camped just as darkness fell after close to 100 kms of pedalling and many thousand feet of elevation change over the course of the day.Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl
    2

    Ben Hur Road

    November 8, 2015 in the United States ⋅ 🌫 19 °C

    We don't like to retrace our steps if we can avoid it so decided to take the Ben Hur Road through the countryside south east of Mariposa to get back towards Fresno where we had started off a week before. The dry ranch lands dotted with big oak trees was a beautiful landscape and the road was very quiet, except for the regular passage of tarantulas that are migrating this time of year. The descent to Eastman Lake would have been a beauty if the road hadn't been composed of shoddy pothole patches that threatened to loosen our teeth and the bolts on our bikes.Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    Shelter From the Storm

    November 9, 2015 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 8 °C

    A gray day cycling through Raymond to Friant turned into a torrential downpour just after we had resorted to stocking up on Wonderbread and mushroom soup at a gas station in Friant, and our options for camping looked slim as intermittent downpours slowed our progress into the hills. With dusk falling along the Tollhouse Road we started looking for a door to knock on - to ask the owners if we could camp on their land for the night - but found a lot of gates and guard dogs that deterred us.
    Finally, we saw a house without a gate and knocked on the door. Grant, who answered, looked at us puzzled as we made our camping request, but when John and Julie, his parents, came to the door, they kindly agreed, and then invited us in for an omlette dinner and warm tea. Minutes later we felt adopted by the whole family, as Lily, Emma and Grant, the three youngest of John and Julie's six children talked over each other telling us family stories. Luckily for us it was family fun night, so we got to join in with the family and watch Minions with popcorn and smoothies, and chatter some more before turning in to the tent at 10 pm (way past our bedtime!). In the morning the kids headed off to school, and we had breakfast with John and Julie. John had thoughtfully bought us nuts, energy drinks and bars, cheese, apples and more (being a runner himself and wanting to provide us with the right kind of nourishment for our own high output activity) and offered them to us as we were leaving. We feel so blessed to have reached out to this family for so little and been given so much - the warmth, company and generosity of the Owens family brightened our spirits during a low time and greatly helped us for the hilly ride ahead. Thanks again guys!    Read more

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