PCT 2007 Day 14 – Prairie Creek, CA – Eureka, CA

PCT 2007 Day 14

Stage 14 / 04-08-07
Prairie Creek, CA – Eureka, CA
57.52 miles; 754.83 total miles; 11.9 mph avg.; 4:48 hours
Partly cloudy w/ wind

Last night I had a nice chat with the camp host (person who stays at the campground throughout the season to help anyone with questions. They’re like the front desk person at a hotel) and a couple from Maryland. We talked about bears, cougars and my trip.
I woke up at 7 and while eating breakfast 5 elk came into camp. They were all females.
The day started out on 101 and was mostly flat for a bit. The first town I came to was Orick. On the way into town, I passed a bunch of cabins that appeared to have three elk statues in the front yard. They turned out to be real elk that were sleeping – three young bachelors. Between Orick and Trinidad is located the world’s tallest trees. The next town south was Trinidad. Along the way I passed two large lagoons. I also had two cat. 4 climbs after each lagoon. I turned off of 101 onto Patrick’s Point Dr. and had some great views of the coast. I had a deer jump out into the road at one point. Just before the deer at a view point, I was greeted by the barking of sea lions down below. It’s funny to listen to them.

I had to get back on 101 since the lower section of Patrick’s Point Rd was washed out. As I approached McKinleyville, I got to ride on my first bike trail since the Burke Gilman way back in Seattle. In McKinleyville they have the world’s tallest totem pole. That is all I can say about town, the farms I went through were bad. A lot of the cows were emaciated and their living conditions were poor.

I took back roads through McKinleyville, Arcata and into Eureka which is the largest city in northern CA.

I was planning on a short day and possibly staying in Eureka. Once there I wasted a bunch of time and then I finally decided to stay. My short day now was at 4 o’clock and I was just getting to the hotel. I must have rode an extra 1.5 miles deciding which hotel to stay at. I went cheap and went to Motel 6. After waiting 15 minutes to check in, I got to my room which was non-smoking and it smelled like four smokers had been living in it for years. It smelled so bad there was no way I was going to stay in it. When I got back to the front desk, I had to wait again; then the guy told me it would be another half hour to get another room. I was already at my breaking point and just needed to be set for the day. As enjoyable as riding is, it can be tiring. I got my money back and went back to the Best Western. Before all this during my search I feared I would go cheap and end up with a crappy room. A lot of the hotels here look to have more live in tenants than just people staying for the night. Happily I’m now showered and dry (it’s raining). I did laundry and eat a very late lunch. I plan on eating again later.

My sunscreen is supposed be SPF 30 and sweat proof. I got a burn again today even though I put some on. I also have a chaffed nose from it running every morning. I guess things could be worse. Tomorrow I get to ride the Avenue of the Giants! I can’t wait.

Scatman 2011- This day was quite enjoyable up until I got to the Hotel 6.  The whole ordeal was a nightmare.  Everything took much longer than it should have.  While the desk clerk was trying to get me another room he must have said “non-smoking” to the cleaning lady on the other end of the walkie talkie a dozen times and she just didn’t get it.

I was so tired and so on edge for some reason I almost started to cry.  All I wanted was a God damn room that didn’t stink and when they couldn’t do that I even had a hard time getting a refund.  It was a painful experience that just dragged on and on.

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Scatman

Get out there!

You can check out my Appalachian Trail or Continental Divide Trail journals too!