[trip-list] Getting out of Oregon before the whole thing burns

[drewish@katherinehouse.com]

FT. DICK, CA 07/28/02 - I was the last one into the hiker-biker camp last night and the first one out this morning. There were two girls, a European couple, and two guys who didn't have bikes staying that night. I think the most I said to anyone was howdy. I got early start wanting to pickup as many miles as possible in California.

As I crested the first grade I saw two cyclists coming up behind me. I stopped at the bottom to take a picture of some dinosaurs in front of a tourist trap called "The Prehistoric Gardens" and the first of the girls from the campsite rode past me. We started talking and I ended up riding with Ilana and Ann for the next 20 miles into Gold Coast, OR where we all ate breakfast together. They'd both finished school in Boston and Ilana had talked Ann into riding from Canada to Mexico with her. I had the email to Martin all writen in my head "Sorry, I've decided to ride to Mexico with two pretty girls. I'm sure you understand. Good luck finding another rider."

Shortly after I parted ways with the two of them I stopped to walk down to the ocean. Looking south I saw a big swath of smoke. I asked a lady standing a bit down the beach where the fire was. "Oh, that's not smoke it's fog." she replied. I pushed my sunglasses down my nose and squinted "Is fog usually that yellow?" I asked. "Yeah, it's fog, it burned off about the time we got to Brookings." "Hummm okay thanks." I was almost convinced. Back on the bike. It kept getting darker and darker, everything was turning yellow, the sun became a bright sunset orange. When the ash started swirling past me I realized how coked up that lady had to of been. She probably thought the ash was snow.

By the time I was in Brookings it was getting pretty creepy. I had this urge to go indoors and hide. I kept riding. By 17:00 it looked like dusk, everyone was driving with their lights on. When I could catch glimpses of the ocean was dark red. It got darker as I crossed into California. The ash had made a mess of my "clean" white shirt. Cars would throw up colums of ash as the drove past me down the road. I started taking a lot of photos. The light gave everything a great contrast, I think I got a couple of good pictures of a monument in a cemetary that I rode past. I finally pulled off to camp in a field once it started sprinkling. I'll probably wake up with a tent covered in ash.

andrew
Oh one more thing. I just want to go on the record as saying the State of Oregon has done an excellent job with the Coast Bike Route. All of it I rode had an excellent shoulder. The bike detours were well marked for the most part--apparently people steal the signs for souveniers. I'm interested to see how California compares, especially since all I have is AAA's California road map.

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