I was so wiped last night when I arrived at Carpinteria State Beach. They told me that they were full on the Hike and Bike and I was just crushed, of course it was the 4th of July and EVERYONE and their brother was out. Fortunately, when we went to double check, there was plenty of space, so I got to tent and sleep for the night. See the 2014/07/04 video for just how bad I looked (not sure what the hell happened to the audio).
Yesterday was definitely California Wildlife Day... I saw enough lizards and some amazing birds, but the large snake sleeping on the path I was on and trying to get around without bothering him, that put me on edge for a bit.
I have been keeping a collection of maps of my routes for later reference, but yesterdays is totally screwed, thanks Google Maps. Some of the bike paths are not listed on Google and when it put me into "Map Editor" I could not make heads or tails out of it, so I did the best I could and made notes for myself.
There was a section of the hiking yesterday that ran on the 101 freeway, fortunately they have a line of K-Rails to separate the traffic from the bike-lanes. Even with them there, a bit unnerving to walk along.
I am trying to do some video a bit each day, I think they are going to get pretty messy, but supposedly that is what people want. Well, if I go to far, forgive me and tell me.
On leaving Buenaventura on the 3rd, I had a Park Ranger totally screw me up. As tends to happen when I get to a beach that has camping, I end up walking from one end to the other to check in and often go back to the start to setup. Well at Emma Wood State Beach I get to the far side (it is REALLY far) and it is starting to get dark. I stopped at the kiosk and see that they do have "Hike and Bike", so I ask him about signing in. He tells me that you have to go to the group site and that is all the way at the other end, go out of the park, cross the bridge and then get on the path on the ridge and follow it.
I had just come in that way. So unless he was sending me all the way back to Buenaventura, where Main St ends at the paths, he was full of it. First, there is a kiosk there, it was not manned. I am not walking all the way back there, so I followed it back to the bridge and took the ridge route back up along the trailer camping area and found a great spot to sleep, or so I thought...
What is it with me and ants?
After about an hour, I started feeling like my skin was crawling, when I turned on the light on my phone, I was right in the middle of a swarm of ants, again! Fortunately, I have found a little trick; I have this mosquito repellant that is made from lemon eucalyptus and ants don't seem to like it either. So I sprayed a little around the edge of the tarp and they left me alone for the most part.
I am a touch concerned about the upcoming segment from Mission Santa Barbara to Mission Santa Inez. There are a few routes I can take, but they are all going to take around three-days and I do not really have much in between them. The most direct route has San Marcos Pass Rd connecting them via Lake Cachuma but there is not much in the way of road shoulder and people FLY down that street. The other way is a bit longer, but is pretty barren from what I have heard, I will be pretty on my own for most of it.
Once I pass Mission Santa Ines, I am in uncharted territory for me. I have never been north of Solvang in California so it will be a totally new thing. I have been told that this part of the trip will be beautiful.
Oh well, I find that I am stalling, I need to get my ass in gear. The phone is charged, last nights video is uploaded and the battery unit is well along on its way to being charged. I really should get going and be ready to guerrilla camp this evening. So Ta!
Suddenly all I want to do is take a nap, talk about stalling...
Robert
Yesterday was definitely California Wildlife Day... I saw enough lizards and some amazing birds, but the large snake sleeping on the path I was on and trying to get around without bothering him, that put me on edge for a bit.
I have been keeping a collection of maps of my routes for later reference, but yesterdays is totally screwed, thanks Google Maps. Some of the bike paths are not listed on Google and when it put me into "Map Editor" I could not make heads or tails out of it, so I did the best I could and made notes for myself.
There was a section of the hiking yesterday that ran on the 101 freeway, fortunately they have a line of K-Rails to separate the traffic from the bike-lanes. Even with them there, a bit unnerving to walk along.
I am trying to do some video a bit each day, I think they are going to get pretty messy, but supposedly that is what people want. Well, if I go to far, forgive me and tell me.
On leaving Buenaventura on the 3rd, I had a Park Ranger totally screw me up. As tends to happen when I get to a beach that has camping, I end up walking from one end to the other to check in and often go back to the start to setup. Well at Emma Wood State Beach I get to the far side (it is REALLY far) and it is starting to get dark. I stopped at the kiosk and see that they do have "Hike and Bike", so I ask him about signing in. He tells me that you have to go to the group site and that is all the way at the other end, go out of the park, cross the bridge and then get on the path on the ridge and follow it.
I had just come in that way. So unless he was sending me all the way back to Buenaventura, where Main St ends at the paths, he was full of it. First, there is a kiosk there, it was not manned. I am not walking all the way back there, so I followed it back to the bridge and took the ridge route back up along the trailer camping area and found a great spot to sleep, or so I thought...
What is it with me and ants?
After about an hour, I started feeling like my skin was crawling, when I turned on the light on my phone, I was right in the middle of a swarm of ants, again! Fortunately, I have found a little trick; I have this mosquito repellant that is made from lemon eucalyptus and ants don't seem to like it either. So I sprayed a little around the edge of the tarp and they left me alone for the most part.
Next Segment concerns
I am a touch concerned about the upcoming segment from Mission Santa Barbara to Mission Santa Inez. There are a few routes I can take, but they are all going to take around three-days and I do not really have much in between them. The most direct route has San Marcos Pass Rd connecting them via Lake Cachuma but there is not much in the way of road shoulder and people FLY down that street. The other way is a bit longer, but is pretty barren from what I have heard, I will be pretty on my own for most of it.
Once I pass Mission Santa Ines, I am in uncharted territory for me. I have never been north of Solvang in California so it will be a totally new thing. I have been told that this part of the trip will be beautiful.
Oh well, I find that I am stalling, I need to get my ass in gear. The phone is charged, last nights video is uploaded and the battery unit is well along on its way to being charged. I really should get going and be ready to guerrilla camp this evening. So Ta!
Suddenly all I want to do is take a nap, talk about stalling...
Robert
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