Redwoods National Park – Crescent City – Trinidad – Fort Bragg – San Francisco
Before we set off on our adventure along the Pacific coast there was one area we were particularly looking forward to visiting – Redwood National and State Parks. The world famous redwoods are the tallest trees in the world and among the oldest living organisms in the world. They can live for more than 2,000 years and some of them were alive during the Roman Empire. They are huge and imperious – making you feel small and insignificant. You get a renewed sense of perspective and scale in their company and a bicycle is the perfect way to explore these ancient gargantuans. We were fortunate to have been tipped off by a fellow bicycle tourer to the wonderful Warm Showers in Crescent City that offers a full kitchen and church hall, as well as advice from our gracious host Katie on the best areas to see some living history. The inside knowledge made our visit to the Redwoods extra special.
This section of the trip was also marked by a particularly special occasion – Olivia’s birthday! We picked the small town of Trinidad to spend our day off to celebrate the occasion, mainly because it had one of the best restaurants in Humboldt County (something we can attest to). We enjoyed a restful day walking along the beach, having lunch and cake in the super chill Beachcomber Cafe (a wonderful little local spot) and treating ourselves to a delicious meal to toast the day the best half of Logansbiking entered the world.
The closer we got to San Francisco the more recommendations our friend Rory was able to offer on our route. It’s always great to have local knowledge of the best spots. Rory didn’t disappoint as we enjoyed wine tasting right on the coast, a trip to North Coast Brewery (we haven’t become alcoholics – honest! – it’s about refueling for the road) and the best camp sport of our trip in Doran County Park, south of Bodega Bay.
The following day we had one of the best days of this trip, for a few reasons: 1) the cycle was spectacular; it had everything from ocean views, woods, wilderness, to man-made wonder – crossing the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco 2) a new and delicious experience shucking our own oysters after watching them being taken from the ocean in front of our eyes, and 3) we covered over 70 miles to make it to our accommodation with Katrina (thanks again Rory!) avoiding the tricky experience of trying to wild camp just outside the city!
We spent the next 5 days in San Francisco exploring the bay and going through the list of delicious eateries and interesting places this wonderful city has to offer that Rory sent us. It really is a wonderful city!
Not long after arriving in San Fran we received news that Olivia’s step-dad’s health had deteriorated. So after covering over two-thirds of the journey along the Pacific coast of the USA (around 1100 miles) we made the easy decision to end our trip. We shipped our bicycles to Denver, Colorado and travelled back to Portland, Oregon to offer what support we could to our family.
LOGANS' BIKING ADVENTURES 