That girl on a bike

Today definitely deviated from the norm. On my way to cross into California, I was joined by a homeless woman who lives on her bike. She told me about the dangers of the area, and repeatedly tried to give me one of her knives, which was actually very thoughtful. She also warned me a million times about the dangers of Humbolt County, which I had forgotten about until that moment. We cycled together for awhile until she could go no further, and we parted ways near the Oregon/California Border.

After that experience, seeing how rough Crescent City was, and being told how terrible the traffic was due to construction, I decided to take a small California Transit bus from Crescent City to right before the Redwoods. The bus ride was actually really interesting because I was able to see the neighborhoods that public transit services. Alongside a First Nations reservation, there are a few mobile home parks sprinkled into the remoteness of the Northern Redwoods. The rural poverty and lack of services was shocking to me, especially because I expected more of California.

When I got off at my stop I biked up one big hill and then cruised downhill until I arrived at Prairie Creek Campground. I settled into a $5 hiker/biker spot and finally met up again with Ruth and Rob. I’m not a forest girl, so the energy of the forest really spooked me. I put my tent adjacent to Ruth and Rob’s. It didn’t help that the hiker/biker sites are off a ways from the actual campground. But, all in all, it was gorgeous and I saw many jays, elk, and deer. A lot of people even saw black bears near our hiker/biker site; thank god I didn’t.