Day 13: Never Don’t Stop

Well, it started to rain again, and that was a bummer. But today was a day filled with great food, good company, and a nice fire to end the day. The food was the highlight of the day, as we meandered up the South Fork of the Eel, getting ready for a big climb tomorrow.

Our tents in the redwoood camp.

Austen and I left the redwoods and perused the end of the Avenue of the Giants (honestly, the section South of Myers Flat isn’t really that great.) We then hopped on the 101 and followed that South towards the small town of Legget. Legget is notable only in that it’s where we get off the 101 and start going along highway 1. It is also the start of a major climb that both Austen and I have been talking about since the first day we met.

The first food stop of the day was at a diner in Miranda. I got a large omlette plus smoothie, and split a second main dish (French Toast) with Austen. We had a discussion last night about what makes a good diner a good diner, and this one qualifies. Typical diner food, but prepared very well. It was delicious, and the locals gave us lots of advice about the weather.

After the breakfast stop, our next food stop was about 20 miles later in Garbersville. There we stopped at a deli, and got some absolutely fantastic sandwiches. Because we were still pretty full from breakfast, we got the sandwiches to go, and confused the nice lady behind the counter by insisting they be wrapped in foil, and not have toothpicks (they need to fit in our panniers after all.) The deli was picture perfect. The town itself was not as nice, lots of transients hanging out with not much to do (we’re seeing a lot more of that as we head south).

The rest of the day was full of rain, so wasn’t that enjoyable to bike through. But Austen has music going, and the lushes green scenery was still beautiful, so we powered through. We stopped right outside a town called Legget, where we setup in the hiker biker camp for the night, and went across the road to the Peg House for dinner. Their motto is, “Never don’t stop” which is where I got inspiration for this title. There was ran into a group of kids backpacking. I asked them where they were from, and it turns out they are 10th graders that just hiked the lost coast! How cool is that. This high school brings their kids backpacking every year. This year they had a small class (5 kids), so the 5 kids and 3 teachers did something new and hiked the lost coast.

Also at the Peg House we got beers for the campsite, and some firewood. Normally we strap the firewood to the back of our bikes, but this time it was so much wood it was difficult. We finally got it, so here’s a still sunburned mark laughing as I’m holding jelly beans, a beer, and have firewood barely lashed to my bike.

Austen and I hung out that night, and chatted late into the night about everything. Then off to bed, and getting a good nights sleep for tomorrow’s climb to the coast!