I knew when I headed to San Francisco that this would be the part of the trip that could test me mentally. In case you can’t tell, I’m doing this trip by myself. While I did do a coastal detour from Seattle to Portland two years ago (at least 500 km through nine hours of driving), I’d have to do this two days in a row and get distracted with impressive vistas of oceans and redwood forests. Now who wouldn’t want that?
After leaving San Francisco, I paused at Healdsburg, at the edge of wine country. While taking in a winery tour would have been nice, I wasn’t risking going back on the road after some tastings. I settled instead to buy a local bottle for my dad. I also had a cup of French-pressed coffee at a cafe that had St Vincent and the Be Good Tanyas as background music. Lovely!
After Healdsburg, I took Highway 128 to get to the coast. This road was curvy beyond belief, but fun to drive. It was along here that I experienced the first of many, many redwoods along this drive:
Indeed, the forest continued right until Highway 128 meets up with the coastal road, Highway 1. And the awe-inspiring scenery continued with the Pacific on my left side for a number of miles before it curved inland. Just before Highway 1 ended, all the curves finally got to me; I had to pull over to the side (no mean feat, as nature dictated simple two-lane roads most of the way) and succumb to carsickness.
After refueling the car and myself in Garberville (the guidebook description of a “pot”-ville did hold true), I got to the Avenue of the Giants. This is one of two scenic detours of the main Highway 101, and I highly recommend both. There are enough pull-outs to attempt explorations on hiking trails, but the views are just as good on the road itself:
Along the Avenue of the Giants
The second day started a bit rainier than the first, but the coast and the redwoods are still there. I paused quite a lot early on, such as this one shot, right at the ocean. I briefly soaked my feet in the water soon after taking this photo; it wasn’t as cold as I was expecting.
On the coast at Redwoods National Park
By mid-afternoon, I veered inland; the redwoods mixed with other trees the closer I got to Oregon, then thinned out completely. By this point, I was just driving; after almost 500 miles, I got to the point of exhaustion and felt all the awesome bits were behind me now. But aren’t trip odometers awesome? My first day, I drove 314.4 miles (506 km) from San Francisco to Arcata. The second day was much shorter, but no less epic: 221.6 miles (357 km) from Arcata to Ashland. Here’s a map of the general route I took.
So 537 miles later, I arrive in Ashland, but my day wasn’t done.
