We dragged ourselves away from the Old Growth Redwoods and continued riding/driving   the Avenue of the Giants.  This long tree lined road travels 50 miles from Stafford south to Garberville.   We camped Tuesday at Standish Hickey State Park.  The campground is perched high above the Eel river.  The Eel river parallels the Avenue of the Giants.  In 1964 this river turned into a great inland sea when a series of events caused a 1000 year flood.  The high-water mark of 64 feet can be seen while riding the Ave. of Giants.  

Wednesday morning Jean had the honor of riding the Legget Hill.  This hill is feared by many self contained cyclist traveling the coast.  It's a narrow winding road that reaches over 1800 feet.   Not a bad climb on a light weight bike, but when hauling 50 plus pounds of gear it's another story.  Jean had a great time, encountering only a handful of vehicles on this spectacular stretch of road.   I rode back from Westport and met Jean just before she reached the coast.  This section of the Pacific Coast is a lonesome piece of land with great views of the crashing surf  300 feet below rocky cliffs.  

After we reached Westport I continued on to Fort Bragg and met Jean.  Our post ride chores were shopping and finding the laundromat.   After Fort Bragg we drove to Mendocino and spent an hour wandering around town.  It has the feel of a New England village and a familiar sight to many as it was used in scenes of the TV series "Murder She Wrote" 

We camped Wednesday night at Van Damme State Park.   We had a long day and just managed to get the tents up before darkness set in.    Dinner was in the dark, but we had our head lamps so could see to eat.  We always stow the food in camp cupboards or the car.  We did this as usual, but were startled to hear a clatter not long after retiring to our tents.  A raccoon had been searching through the box of pots and pans.  It also left footprints on the cooler.  After this little commotion we decided to put everything in the cupboard and hoped the critter didn't know how to  work the latch on the cupboard.   It was quiet the rest of the night.  Our plan for Thursday is to turn inland and head for Jenkinson Lake.

Mendicino Cove

Footprints left by our raccoon visitors