The next day it was back to the coast and cooler temperatures again. We hit Highway 1 at Jenner, and continued north all the way past Fort Bragg to Leggett, where we jumped back on the 101 to Myers Flat and Hidden Springs campground in the Humboldt Redwoods State Park. I had never ridden this northern section of Highway 1, and it was beautiful. Much less traffic than further south, few if any RVs clogging the road, and stunning scenery.

We had two nights reserved at Hidden Springs, and it allowed us to cruise the Avenue of the Giants and marvel at the giant redwood trees and the beautiful lush surroundings.

Riding down the Avenue of the Giants north of Myers Flat, CA.

They knew we were coming?

A tip from a local sent us down a dead-end dirt road, where we parked the bike and hiked through the trees to the “Lost Bridge”.

Parked the bike at the end of a dead-end road and hiked into the woods…

Suddenly we noticed that if you kicked the pine needles away, there was pavement and even striping under it. Then we saw the bridge.

There’s a pretty sizable piece of road missing just as you approach the bridge, but the bridge itself is intact.

The “1938” date in the rail almost looks like a tombstone for the old bridge.

We had two nights of great (cool) sleeping temperatures, and met some neighbors who gave us some good tips about Alaska. After two nights, it was time to head north again, and we continued along 101 though Eureka and into southern Oregon. The winds were strong, but the temperatures never exceeded 65 degrees.

Not far into Oregon, we stopped to meet another long-time friend. Darren and I go all the way back to kindergarten, though we lost touch for nearly two decades when I moved to Texas in the 1970s. When we reconnected in the 1990s, we found that we shared similar interests in motorcycles and airplanes. Back around 2012, when he needed a place to keep his Beech T34, he offered to let me plane-sit, and for a couple of years I flew it on a regular basis. Just before I left on my Round-the-World ride in 2015, I flew it back to Southern California and returned it to him. Not long after that, he sold it.

So it was not only great to see Darren in Oregon, but it was great to suddenly see the T34 sitting in the hangar as well. He had re-purchased it, and it brought back some great memories (we actually flew the plane from New York to California together when he first bought it around 2002).

I loved flying this plane. As soon as I saw it again I wanted to fly it.

Darren is doing his own tour on his BMW, although he’s doing it Darren-style: quickly. We may cross paths again in Idaho or Washington.

We spent the afternoon with Darren, then got back on the road and headed for Eugene. It was our first time riding after dark in quite a while, and while I try not to do that, especially where there are Elk Crossing signs, we arrived at our hotel safely just after dark.