Summer 1997 - Yukon to California
Journals - 17 August 1997
Day 38
17 August 1997 (cloudy and cool; mileage = 30.7; Nadelos/King Range
Campground [1.5 miles from Shelter Cove]) -- A - We were ready to leave
well before the Grange breakfast was to be ready, so we ate a quickie
breakfast and headed for the mountains! It was very reasonable getting to
Honeydew (about 10 miles out of the way -- whew!). The climb out of there
was promised by many to be challenging and it did take a very long time,
but it wasn't any worse than some we've already climbed. We had up and down
the rest of the way. It was too foggy to get a really impressive view, but
we were both thankful for the lack of sun, so I guess that was a compromise
we didn't mind. The road was mostly dirt and rock, but in pretty good shape
most of the time. There were a couple places where mini-creeks crossed the
road. I'm sure that fewer cars passed us in the entire day than would have
in one minute on Highway 101. It was very nice riding due to that and the
nice scenery. We stopped for lunch at a bizarre parking area in the middle
of nowhere. Just a couple miles further was a campground we could have
used. Oh well. We passed by Shelter Cove -- way down the hill -- and a mile
after the turn onto our new main road there was this campground. We could
have gone a little further, but Stinkyhole is next and it's a huge drop to
the campground. So we had potatoes and quesadillas -- quite yummy. Now it's
early to bed and early to rise. We should be able to get to Ft. Bragg
tomorrow. X - the big climb was very big. We climbed up to nearly 700
meters. The main climb was like Indian Hill Road or Straight Street times
10 with lots of turns. We had 1 nasty (~300 meters) descent that we had to
rest on to cool the rims. It was impossibly steep and dangerous to go fast.
With no spare tube, this was very worrisome. Also, going fast down very
rough surfaces can easily cause unpatchable flats. The 2nd half of our ride
was filled with 100 meters up, 100 meters down. All very steep.
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