Day 21 (Monday June 1) Point Arena to Mariposa CA

Went for a run through Manchester State Park because I wanted to go all the way to the beach and see what it looked like and that was a little far for Max.  I came around a little corner and there was a deer up the trail in front of me.  He just kind of trotted along a few hundred yards in front of me, and was eventually joined by another one.  They didn't seem too alarmed, but didn't want me too close either.  After about a mile, though, I was on very soft sand so it was like running through 6 inches of chewing gum (or something equally sticky and difficult to run on).  So that was enough exercise for the day.  I really enjoyed this campsite and so we lingered a bit in the morning, had a very casual breakfast, etc.  

By around 10:30 we were on our way South to San Francisco.  I'd always wanted to go there and, while a drive through is not really "experiencing" a city, I would say from the drive through that I definitely want to go back and spend some time there.  We went over the Golden Gate Bridge (with fog on top), saw Alcatraz out in the harbor, went through downtown SF, Chinatown, and then over the Bay Bridge to Berkeley.  Ever since I was, I don't know, 15 and getting into punk rock I had always had a mental picture of the UC Berkeley area.  It was exactly right on.  I think I would fit in there quite well.  Punk rock record stores, "End Empiralism Now" signs tacked to lightposts, all kinds of hippies and punks and rockers and college kids and bums all living together in some kind of harmony.  Very nice.  Max and I walked around the campus for a little bit and then we were only a block or so from Ned's Bookstore.  I had helped one of my employees from Orlando get a job there about a year ago so I stopped in to say hi.  Kelly seemed to be doing good and her boyfriend Ron is working as a P.I. in SF so I guess they're making their dreams happen, which is great to see.   

For the record, and this has nothing to do with anything, but I think Berkeley sounds like the best dog name ever.  Not sure why, but it just does.

It was getting a little late in the afternoon so I tried to hit the road and get out of the SF area before the traffic picked up.  I think we pulled it off as well as anyone ever does in a real city like that.  We went pretty much due West to get out of town and head towards Yosemite National Park.  I didn't intend on going all the way out there but there were not really any places to camp until we were pretty close.  As soon as we got off the freeway and past Manteca (where the 580 dumps into the 5) the land opened up and soon we were into the Sierras.  Pretty mountainous, desert-like terrain with steep, winding curves.  We saw a red fox trotting down the road out in the hills near Moccasin, CA.



After a brief stop to get groceries we arrived at the campground in Mariposa, California, just before dusk.  Set up camp pretty quickly, ate dinner, and went to bed.  While Max likes the tent better than hotels (too much noise from other rooms), he really did not like the tent this night as there were too many animal sounds outside.  We were the last campsite way up on a hill and could hear lots of movement.  At one point I looked up and he was trying to push his head through the corner where the zippers come together.  I think that was step 1, with step 2 of his plan being to figure out how to get in the Jeep.  I calmed him down and eventually we both went to sleep.  

Day 20 (Sunday May 31) Eureka CA to Point Arena CA

Today we took our time in the morning to give the tent a chance to dry. Breakfast, walk, the usual. There was a guy in the next tent over who rode in with his grandson on a big touring Harley. It freaked me out a little bit because he looked just like Brett Wattles, who passed away last week. Helped another group jump-start their car, then we hit the road around 11 I guess. South from Eureka down the 101 to Humboldt Redwoods State Park, which is home to the Avenue of the Giants. We spent a few hours wandering down the Avenue, taking it all in. Some stretches were simply amazing, then there would be a stretch that was lackluster, but then that only allowed you to appreciate the next good grove.

We stopped at one turnout, and I don't even know which one it was, but we walked this little loop trail that was maybe half a mile long. No one else was there and it was great. Max really liked it. There was this one big tree that was all hollowed out to maybe 10 feet up that we could walk into.



We took a slight detour down Mattole Road to Rockafeller Forest to see the "Tall Tree," which was indeed very tall. Even Max seemed impressed, he kept walking up to it and looking up.



There was one more great grove we stopped at, right beside the road, oh... Bolling Grove. Once again, no one else was really around so we stopped there and ate lunch.

After we had our fill of Redwoods, we continued down the 101 and stopped at Leggett to do the road trippy thing of driving through the Chandelier Tree at some roadside stop. Had to do it. Some old guy even took my picture.



Continued down the 101 for a few miles before realizing that the Leggett exit was also the exit for California Route 1, which I wanted to take down the coast. So we backtracked again, but only for a couple of miles.  The first 22 miles, and actually the whole thing so far, is a driver's road. You see lots of motorcycles, corvettes, bmw's, that type of thing. Very narrow, tight winding turns, etc. Fortunately for me I love that sort of thing, even though we weren't going all that fast and often used turnouts to let others pass. Unfortunately, Max was sleepy after all our walks and just wanted to sleep but couldn't with the constant back and forth.

It was getting close to 6 and we were both worn out so we pulled into a campground just north of Point Arena, California. The lady let us drive around and pick our own campsite. This was pretty close to the ocean, within sight of it, so it was windy and there were not many tent campers (plus it is Sunday). We basically had the place to ourselves, and took a site by the back gate that lead into Manchester State Park. We ate dinner, then went for a walk. Of course, no dogs were allowed, but I figured no one would be around. After a little while, we spotted a jackrabbit. I finally got Max to see it (he was sniffing around for another one that had run into the woods) and he gave chase. This thing kept running in circles and figure 8's, and eventually looked like it was getting tired. I thought after a minute that Max was going to get it, but I think he got a little tired too. Eventually the rabbit dove into some underbrush, but Max must have chased it for 30+ seconds. Then we found another one and did it again, but this time I kept seeing where it ran to and we would go over and chase it again. We must have ran a couple hundred yards after that one. Then I heard someone talking, and I think it was just some guys out drinking beer, but they could have had something to do with the park. Anyway, I heard someone say "they're chasing the rabbits" so I got Max's attention and we ran all the way back to the campsite (another half mile or so).



After we got settled in, I convinced Max to go for another walk to explore the park behind us going the other way. There was a long trail leading down to the coast. The sun was setting into a cloud bank over the Pacific, the wind was blowing, and it was a surreal landscape all around us. We didn't make it all the way down to the ocean, but it was still one of those times and places that you know will stick in your memory. I think I'll run all the way through and around the park in the morning.



I'm writing this with a tired, happy dog asleep in the Jeep next to me, a nice fire burning in front of me, and the last shades of blue fading from the sky over the ocean behind me. What a great day. One of the best of the trip.