after the night at the beach i made my way through the wonderful section of northern california coast between crescent city and orick. there are a couple challenging climbs, but the big trees one slowly passes lend encouragement and thimbleberries provide some sustenance.
in crescent city i stopped to get some water at a donut shop. their apple fritters looked really good, but i resisted, reminding myself how many nutritional points they have against them... refined flour, refined sugar, probably fried in veggie oil (used to be healthier with lard), conventional fruit. i remember eating these occasionally on the trip i made down the coast in 2003. my favorite. but now i'm more of a wild berry kind of guy!
when i passed through klamath, on the reservation there, i stopped at a little place that sells smoked salmon. there i was able to learn a bit from a woman about the yurok people's, and her family's, history. she accepted my gift of dried bullwhip kelp on behalf of the tribe. i brought several packages, intending to give gifts to as many tribes as i could along the way in thanks for their people showing us a way to live symbiotically with the earth. so far this was the first opportunity i found.
i bought some smoked salmon and i was given a little extra.
as i rode on i realized i'd left my water bottle back before klamath, outside the cafe across from the 'trees of mystery' tourist site. it was about five miles back, but i decided to go get it and take the opportunity to see the museum there. the woman at the salmon shop had said i should check it out, but i had already passed it... funny twist of fate. so i spent over an hour there looking through the collection of this 90 year old woman who i am told is still collecting! there are many very special objects there, including some remarkable photos that i believe were by this man edward s. curtis. take a look and you might get an idea of the impact these images had on me.
after i passed through klamath again i saw this guy walking who i'd seen since way back up on the highway. i stopped to inquire about his situation. he was walking to eureka he said to get the pay that he way owed. i wondered why he didn't try to hitch a ride. he said he hadn't had luck so he just decided to walk... i told him it was powerful to me to see him out there walking along the highway. i gave him a piece of the smoked salmon.
a while later i stopped to talk to another, younger fellow i saw walking the other direction. he said he was walking from orick to crescent city to work. i've never heard of people doing this... walking 50 miles to work or walking even farther to get ones pay! sure is a nice walk through the redwoods though. this second guy said he'd been munching on the thimble berries and i was like, "YEAH!"
traveling through Prairie Creek Redwoods i was thinking of what wealth is in this ecosystem. you can feel it when in the embrace of the woods. moisture is attracted and held by the trees, and an abundance of soil is built up to support the plants and animals in the understory. most of these forests have been destroyed. what an honor to be in this place.
i'd contacted a man in to stay with in orick through warmshowers.org and made it there shortly before dark. he has two goats, a bunch of chickens that roam the yard, and a couple of verdant vegetable plots. those plots were fenced from the chickens. he also grows his own weed legally. the dinner i made myself included nettle i'd found just before orick. i was surprised to find young plants not yet going to seed. i then enjoyed his hot very hot tub. i am so blessed!
i'd ridden a little over sixty miles with the back-tracking. it felt like an easy day though since i had many breaks and the trees and fog had sheltered me from the sun.
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