4th Of July On The River...And The 18th of July, too!

Eric and I did a 2-day camping trip up on the Eel River over the 4th of July weekend. Highway 1 goes up the coast all the way until just north of Fort Bragg. It then veers inland as the terrain on the coast gets too gnarly for a highway. This area of the coast is called the Lost Coast due to it being so inaccessible. As the highway veers inland, a dirt road continues north all the way to Shelter Cove. It is called Usal Road now, as it used to be a lumber hauling road owned by the USA Lumber Company. Lots of spectacular views, as it is high on a ridge thick with redwood trees overlooking the ocean. Normally the water is a stunning aqua greenish blue, but on this day it was foggy...







This is what it looks like in the winter...





The road is about 25 miles long and pretty tight and twisty in some places. There's one sticky clay section that is always wet and rutted out, but this year it wasn't too bad...





We dropped down into Shelter Cove and lunched on fresh clam strips and fried calamari before heading inland to the Avenue of the Giants...



The tree pictured above is by no means the tallest nor the largest tree in the area, but it was easily accessible

It was 102 degrees when we breezed through Redway, and our plans to ride some forest OHV trails evaporated in the heat. We headed east towards the Eel River instead.

We dropped down towards the tiny townlet of Ft Seward (no postal service since 1972) thinking we could find a spot to cool off then head up into the forest to look for a spot to camp. We rode through sand and rocks to the river, and stripped off our gear as fast as we could...





Once we realized the water was a phenomenal 82 degrees, we decided to put down roots for the weekend and scout a good place for the tent. We found a good spot, but had to ride through some more rocks and water to get to it...





This would be our home for the next few days...



Our own private island...



We set up the tent, built a fire ring, and cut up some wood in anticipation of the evening's entertainment...



After sunset and it's still in the mid-eighties...




More to come...



WoodsChick

That looks like a better time than my fourth of July and I thought mine was pretty darn good.

Wow, All I did was a bunch of BBQ. Great stuff as usual WoodChick.

After finding it hard to sleep due to the brilliant moonshine (no rainfly)and the non-stop cacaphony of nocturnal song birds, we awoke to a lovely sunrise...



Kitchen with a view...



The water was warmer than the ambient temperature so we walked upriver in the water. I saw a golden eagle eating fish on the shore and tried to take photos of it through my binoculars, but it didn't work out. I've done this very thing before and have had good results, but not this time. I'll never forget what it looked like, though. He hung around for most of the day. We also saw a beaver, a family of deer drinking in the river, tons of fish, birds and frogs, an extended family of wild boar, and of course, the ever-present flowers...



We spent the whole day swimming, sunning and floating down the river all by ourselves on our 17" spare tubes...



We also spent a fair amount of time planning a way to get ourselves and our equipment across this super-deep section so that we can camp on the sandy beach on the other side...



I put towels in our dry bags last night and soaked the bags in the tub. Everything came out dry...oddly enough We will probably put everything in our dry bags, rope them together and then float/swim across on the tubes. This plan adds a few more river crossings on the bikes that will be much more...exciting, shall we say?...than the previous non-dramatic puddle crossings, but we should be ok I'll let y'all know how that turns out after next weekend

Anyway, we were there for 2 nights, camped on a fairly accessible stretch of super-warm river on a hot 4th of July weekend and we only saw 2 trucks and 2 quads go by the whole weekend. It was heaven! In fact, we had such a good time we're going back next weekend to celebrate our 17th wedding anniversary

Packed up and ready to go, even though I wanted to stay longer...






Eric preparing for his ride through the rocks...




We hurried back on the "supermoto heaven" funky pavement of Alderpoint Road and the fast sweepers of Hwy 271. We had a huge blast on the pavement and it made me wonder why I keep riding my 610 in the dirt

Anyway, it was a great 3 days and I can't wait to do it again next weekend



WoodsChick

Thanks! It was quiet and relaxing. Eric remarked that he wasn't even tired on the way home, which is not usually the case when we spend all weekend riding

Come on up and I'll take you out there! We saw lots of fish and I'm sure they were really glad you weren't there

Thanks, Rajo We did BBQ, too! We slid frozen steaks down into our Camelbaks next to our bladders that were filled with ice and topped off with iced tea. They were still slightly frozen by the time the dinner coals were ready, and we had cold steaks to BBQ the next evening, too

Do it, do it, do it! :devil: It's so much fun, and adds a whole new element to the riding experience. Exploring this great state of ours while on a motorcycle is one of the great joys of my life. There's so much to see! Don't wait, do it now!



WoodsChick

Woodsie.

I just love your reports.

You're anniversary is next weekend? What a coincidence so is ours ( only 15 yrs. for us).

Neener-neener! I win!

Congrats to you and the Mrs, Rajo It seems like 15 year and 17 year marriages are really something to be celebrated these days... My parents only made it 17 years, and Eric's parent's only made it 17 years, so this one is a big one for us



WoodsChick

Yeah, we remembered the pot...and forgot the chairs! We didn't need them, what with all the rocks to sit on, but now we're paranoid that we're going to forget something important We devised a list yesterday that we're going to double check from now on before we take off

This is the first time I've ever ridden Usal in the summer, and I must say I much prefer it in the fall and in spring. Not as many people (we saw 3 trucks ) not as much dust, and not as much fog. I camped up at Mattole Beach for 3 or 4 years in a row over the Thanksgiving holiday and spent a week riding up there each time. I love the Lost Coast


WoodsChick

Happy Anniversity to you and Eric.

Must have been a busy weekend, My 18th is this next weekend also.

18th neeeeener neeeener,

- awesome trip woodschick

Awesome trip yet again! You and Eric are making everyone jealous!


Happy anniversary to you and everyone else

Dang it...I hate losing




Congrats to you and Mrs Motosportz on your 18th! We're breathin' down your neck

We celebrate our anniversary on the 18th, as that's when we had our wedding, but the preacher never showed up so Eric's cousin led the ceremony and we said our vows in front of family and friends. We partied hard that night, then spent the rest of the next day trying to find someone to marry us before our marriage license expired, which was a total hassle because I had to go through the story over and over and over ("Hey, Mildred! Get over here! You gotta hear this poor gals' story! Go on, hon, tell Mildred what happened, will ya? You're gonna love this, Mildred" and so on...) We found a judge in Berkeley that would do the ceremony (she pronounced us "Wife and Husband" and said "you may now kiss the groom" Gotta love Berkeley...) the day we returned from our honeymoon in Mexico, and I can't for the life of me remember that date







WoodsChick

You seem to lead a charmed life.

24th. August 9th.

Seems a lot longer....

By the way, next time you go to the river for a vacation, don't forget these. Then you won't have to use your mc tubes.