Middle Fork Deer Hunting With Scott and Jacob

November 2014, Middle Fork Salmon River. Our 13th year hunting together, with Scott and Jacob. The best of memories. 

First night in camp after a calm flight in from Cascade.

But before we could get any sleep, we had capture some noisy unwanted guests.

The weather was awesome, almost too nice for hunting

Deer are seen off in the distance, but nothing legal to go after

After hiking all day up high, I found this nice little 3X3 off the trail within a mile or so of camp.

Celebrating the end of day around the fire

The next day found us up early and hiking to the end of Warm Springs

A cooler morning warmed by a thermos of coffee

Again, more deer to be seen but nothing legal to chase. 

But they have been here.

 Shadow Hunters

walking back to camp at dusk

Ginger Bread for Jacob

The next morning we spot the big one, but....

it requires a little effort

and an opportunity to take a bath

Father and Son holding one another up

Scott was asking for a bigger fire

The next day found us hiking back up to the ridge. Jacob and I have our deer hanging in camp.

And sure enough, we found more deer

How are we going to get this down there?

Scott's patience always pays off

It's another long hike home

Requiring frequent rest breaks

This looks all too familiar

I think we've been here before

Same rock, same hunters, different deer, a different hunt from 2012

Another great time of making memories in Idaho's backcountry. 

After another long wait for the plane home

and watching deer on the air strip

until our ride arrives

And carries us back home. 

Video highlights of our left coast tour

http://youtu.be/RsLwwG9U5jA

day 13: destination!

day 13: destination! by jheggen at Garmin Connect - Details

Although the CA parks may have shut off their showers, Heaven opened up and provided us our first rain all trip. Normally the piter patter of drops on a tent fly should lull me into a deep sleep....

Each campsite in CA was provided with a rustic wooden cabinet for food storage. I'm used to the bazillion gauge metal bear proof food storage containers designed by a bored engineer, able to withstand opening by any able camper as well as the biggest G-Bear. These units look like they are made from scrap lumber found in a pile behind grandpa's shop. Oh, they are not there to protect our food from bears or other campers, but those furry nuisance night stalkers, the raccoon. Sure enough, even before the last light day fell, we were surrounded by an army of rocky raccoons. There were three shelves in our cabinet. I used the middle one, just in case they managed to pry the bottom or top boards off. Other bike campers attempted to shu them away throughout the night. I caught them looking in my frame bag where my sun blocked used to reside. Alas some raccoon won't be sporting a tan next summer. At one point multiple raccoons were heard fighting one another over the opportunity to foil the fine craftsmanship of the cabinet maker. At one point you could hear success. Then finally the rain won and all fell silent.

Sure enough, the biker who used the lower shelf lost his bananas and other delights to the crafty raccoon. My VIA Starbucks coffee survived.

As it continued to rain all morning I really didn't need my SPF 50 sunblock anyway. We loaded the wet condo cabin (those young biker kids laughed last night when they saw my ROOMY 3 person First Ascent Tent) and packed up the bikes, donned our rain jackets and hit the road. Three miles down the road we stopped in Lagunitas at a small market for breakfast.The best heuvos rancheros ever. Then it started to really rain. The locals were dancing. I'm assuming because it hasn't rained forever, but who knows, we are in the Bay Area. 

Our original plan was to work our way towards the Golden Gate Bridge. Looking at our map and route I used some logic and realized we could ride another 25+ miles to the bridge, cross it over to San Francisco, through the city to the ferry terminal and then across the bay to Larkspur terminal and then to our motel. Did you know there are 7.1 million inhabitants in the Bay Area, most of them people? Riding my bike right through the middle of them in the rain scared me to death. OR, we could just turn left in Fairfax, and ride five miles directly to our motel. The shower was hot, the brew cold, and the bed comfy. 

Tomorrow, sans bike shorts, although I'm sure no one would notice, we will take the ferry across the bay to the hub of the 7.1 mill, meet D2 and tour the sites. Looking forward to not riding a bike for a couple of days. 

It will take some time to download my thoughts and feelings about the trip. Don't ask me if I would do it again. Sure, I would love to tour again. For 13 straight days? Don't ask. Along the OR coast? Sure, sometime, after a while. In CA? Don't ask me yet. I'm thinking north of the boarder towards Banff. Maybe retrace parts of the Lewis and Clark trail. But I'll need a couple of days to think about it. 

For now, I can't think of a better way to spend time with Rhonda than on a two week, self supported bike tour. She is my great encourager. I could not have done this without her. I love her so much. 

For the record:

676.22 miles

35,525 feet elevation gain

day 12: Lagunitas

day 12: Lagunitas by jheggen at Garmin Connect - Details

Our last night out on the bike route. We are camped at the Samuel P Taylor state park outside of Lagunitas. And it's wanting to rain. So we are huddled in our tent. 

It was a long day of ups and downs for 4600 feet over 68 miles. There was some spectacular scenery today, especially outside of Ft Ross as we climbed some steep hills and switchbacks. Still not much of a shoulder and the road just drops off a cliff to the ocean. I'm pretty sure there was an Alfred Hitchcock movie filmed around here. 

Well, the rain is coming down. And it's really needed around here. Ever since entering CA you can notice the affects of the draught. Especially since many of the state parks have closed their shower facilities. No worries for me, I'm used to stinking on outdoor adventures. Rhonda is learning. 

After the hills of Fort Ross we entered Jenner and then started inland towards Valley Ford and Tamales before circling the bay towards Marshall and Pt Reyes Station. The profile looked simple enough but there were enough hill repeats to entertain any spin instructor for a 90 minute class. 

Inland was hot again, even if it was only 10 miles. The coast was even warm, but what views. Coming out at Pt Reyes we stopped at the Cowgirl Cremery on the advice of a guy who reminds me a lot of C.L. Garey, down to the hiking shorts and boots. They even share the same tastes in fine culinary cuisine. We bought the last two epicurean delightful sandwiches and another bowl of quinoa salad, along with a artisan cookie for desert and packed them away in our bags for the last 9 miles of the day. 

The bike route leaves hwy 1 and winds back roads and finally a bike path through woods into the state park. We made in time to set up camp, eat our cowgirl picnic, and wash up before it got dark and started to rain. 

Tomorrow we navigate an urban environment for 27 miles to find the Golden Gate Bridge, cross it, and find our way through the pier district to locate our ferry back to San Rafael and a shower. 

We heard that Tug and Jim may only be a day or less behind us, so we left them some encouragement 

Day 11: Manchester Beach - Stillwater Cove

I've been reading my book for the past couple of hours and realized it was getting dark, which is pretty early all of a sudden. We have been in camp since 3:30. What a pleasant ride along CA 1. We travelled roughly 43 miles south into Sonoma County. It was a blue bird day. The sun was hot while standing still, but just enough breeze to cool you while riding. 

We left Manchester Beach and road for 6 miles to a roadside motor lodge with a breakfast cafe near the Point Arena Lighthouse. We loaded up on some thick French toast and wound our way south. The ups and downs don't seem all that bad anymore. Still in our short ride we gained and lost 2500' of elevation. 

17 miles into the day, Gualala sported a couple of grocery stores to choose from, so instead of crossing the highway we patroned the locally owned Surf Market. Sort of a non chain store version of Trader Joes. We knew that that there were not going to be many places between here and camp. We packed away some fruit, beef jerky, a tasty and spicy quinoa salad for supper and some breakfast bars for tomorrow morning. 

11 miles down the road we came across Stewarts Point. Similar to Elk, they have an old but pristine mercantile (I love that word), complete with squeaky oak floors. If we would have known we could have stocked up here. These two mercantiles are the coolest places we've visited since returning to the coast on hwy 1.  

It was either going to an easy recovery day or another long grunt, as camps are fewer between. Some of the state parks have been closed due to budget cuts and others have reduced services. We settled for recovery. So tonight we are in the very nice Sonoma County Stillwater Cove park, complete with hot showers. And we are the only bikers in the hiker/biker camp. Although peaceful, I'm still missing Tug and Jim.  

Centuries ago Tug first met Jim at university when Jim was the naive freshman and Tug the sophisticated sophomore. So much more sophisticated, Tug oversaw Jim's initiation forcing him to push a penny across campus with his nose. They have been best friends ever since. Tug became a professor of economics and Jim an attorney. Still, I like these guys and wonder where they are. Their plane leaves San Francisco a few days after we depart, so they have some extra time in their adventure. 

Our journey is nearing its end. We have less than 100 miles to go and are now focusing more time in planning the destination. It is our goal to stroll over the Golden Gate Bridge midday on Thursday, giving us plenty of time to weave through city life and find the ferry to cross the bay to San Rafael and our hotel. That means we need to get about 65 miles tomorrow and find camp near Lagunitas ( I hear they make a fine IPA, so I'm told). From Lagunitas it should be a short ride to the big city.  

We are visiting our friends, "D Square", Dave and Denise West. They will be our tour guides in San Francisco. I look forward to some Rice A Roni, the San Francisco Treat.