Forks to Astoria
We didn't sleep inForks proper, but rather at a small campground on the beach south of Forks,named Klaloch. It was an incredibly beautiful site in the Hoh rainforest with aneighboring lodge where we ate an extravagant meal overlooking the driftwood -littered sea before inflating our sleeping pads and drifting to sleepourselves.
The map did not show much in the way of places to stay about70-80 miles south of Klaloch but for one Warm Showers host in the city ofCosmopolis, just south of Aberdeen. We had tailwinds the whole way down, withroads decorated by rivers and timbered hillsides and the occasional giant maplegently shading the road.
Aberdeen is the home of Kurt Cobain of Nirvana and is alsoan old logging town that averages over 100 inches of rain a year. The town isdark and tall buildings tell stories of boom and their cracks and decayelaborate the story. Much to say on Aberdeen, but one must see for themselves!Bring a friend with you or just bike right on through and try not to stop!
The day ended in the most miraculous way possible by landingwith our hosts in Cosmopolis. We rode a multi-use path all the way fromAberdeen to their house - which is a converted courthouse and jailhouse - andnow serves as a coffee and teahouse as well as home for their family. Withutmost generosity they made large sandwiches and bowls of chili and hot lattesfor us and told us stories of their adventures and of their town. We set up ourtent in their yard by the river and they wired an extension cord out for us andgave us wifi. We watched a movie in our tent!
They sent us off the next day with more large sandwiches andwarm drinks! What more could a bike traveler ask for? We had a small 45 mileday and did beer and wine tasting, roadside snacking, local Country Mart icecream shopping, and campsite-neighbor-mingling on our way to Grayland state park.And yes, the name is quite apt. The air remained gray the whole day and we hadour first rain of the tour here- which made the fact that our host from theprevious night dropped off hot soup to our hiker biker site all the moreincredible! Such kindness and such people are a huge part of what makes a largeand ridiculous adventure such as this completely doable and furthermore -unforgettable.
The next day we crossed the very terrifying bridge fromWashington into Astoria with not many dead birds in the small bike lane andeven a tailwind instead of crosswinds! Aconstruction worker stopped us on the middle of the bridge and told us tales ofall the bikers he had seen get hit by cars on the bridge, and then let usproceed into the windy town of Astoria where we bought Tri-flo, expensivelunch, and tasting flights at the local craft distillery. After sampling handdistilled spirits, we rode our bikes up some San Francisco like hills out ofAstoria, and then southwards towards Seaside we went - with only potatoes andabsinthe in the belly…
- IMAGES OF THE ROAD -
Gear List
- FROM: Bonny Doon, CA
- DOB: 1999-11-30
- OCCUPATION: Adventurers
- Genesis Moment and Inspiration for your Trip? We have biked the entire Pacific Coast already, and it may seem odd that we are doing it again. Along the last journey we met a screen printer and fellow bike tourist named Justin who had ridden the Pacific Coast route over five times. When we first heard this we thought he was crazy – there is so much out there to explore! But he went on to explain, and ultimately convince us – that not only is the ride experience different every time due to weather, new companions, older selves, etc; but traveling known roads you can come back to the places that really impacted you, and try the alternate routes you had to pass over last time. The ride just gets better and better because your relationship to the trail is what frees you to explore more deeply. When you know that there is a taqueria and clean water only ten miles away you are more likely to actually stop and jump in the roadside lake that otherwise remains unexplored….
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Have you Traveled by bike in the past?
Matt and I live in a Tiny Home deep in the mountains above the town where we work and our daily commute requires a year round touring set up. At every moment we have to have everything we need for the day – heavy bags full of produce, a down jacket, bike shoes and sandals, water for the day and a lunch, the list goes on. We have a daily relationship with loaded bike travel!
Matt has been bike touring since he was 17, and set off on a very aggressive pedal across the country on ACA’s Sierra Cascade Route and Northern Tier Route attempting 5,000 miles in two months. After making it all the way to the ACA headquarters in Missoula, Montana and earning his ice cream he was hit by an SUV just east of Missoula and heli-evacuated to the nearest hospital. That accident, which snapped his leg in half and exploded his bicycle is what “saved his life,” as he says. Through the long recovery process he learned to slow down and his relationship to bicycle touring, which had formerly been focused on mileage and destination, is now more focused on the slow and simple pleasures of the road.
Kate has been biking to different ice cream parlors all over California her whole life but didn’t start her first multi-day bike travel until she met Matt. They have been on two bike tours together, one big, one small. On the first one, she had a small heart failure in the mountains of Big Sur and had to bike eight miles of steep uphill to get to cell service. She learned that she has a mild heart condition, and biking is good for it. That “adventure” has been a similar inspiration in her relationship to biking and using her body as a means of excursion – a long journey in patience and thankfulness for the incredible feats that a body can perform!
- What is your goal for the route? Sunshine, lakes, ice cream, back country, rain forest, hot springs, tacos, aged cheeses, and so much laughter.
- What do you hope to get out of this journey? A more intimate understanding of and connection to the Pacific Coast. An opportunity to reconnect to the folks we have met along the way – a real rarity of this type of travel! A relationship to the brands that we use and care about – knowing the people who are making what we are using. We want to live each day 100% fully.
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What’s in my bag? List four things that you could not live without (take a photo of each on a neutral background)
Little journals Kate made, Book of poems by Mary Oliver,Our friend’s homemade Organic sunscreen, Rechargeable boom box for pumping James Brown on the climbs
