I bounced around Crescent City for a while after leaving Mill Creek. I was worried by the WR's slightly uneven idle, so I disabled the FMF programmer and ran Techron through the tank at 1 oz per gal. It seemed to run better, but not perfect. It's otherwise totally fine so I haven't stressed over it since.
I pulled out of town real late, and after stopping by CC Diner (nice spot burger joint that employs the local high schoolers) I headed of to find my campsite. I wanted something more out of the way after my experiences at Van Duzen and Lake Pillsbury, so I aimed for North Fork Camp, a drop in spot for rafters on the North Fork of the Smith River. The whole area burned in the Biscuit Fire in 2002. I hear that in some areas the fire burned so hot it killed the microbes in the soil that support the rest of the plant life, rendering it sterile. The fire roads heading out there were some of the nicest I'd ridden so far.
I got lost a few times and the sun started to set as I rode close to camp. The sense of urgency and the desolation of the area made me uneasy. I was 20 miles from anywhere, a thousand feet down in a steep river gorge. Darkess was setting in fast. I wanted a quiet campsite, but this campsite wasn't just quiet, it was dead. Nothing stirred. No birds, no lizards, no squirrels. Nothing living made a sound. I was 20 miles from anywhere and it started to get to my head.
I walked around and saw where people had left trash, including a plastic lid that appeared to have been scratched and chewed. There were also what looked like long scratch marks on every single tree; I wasn't sure if they were bear marks or made by campers. I took these shots the next morning.
My imagination began to fill the hills with very hungry bears, starved for natural food and waiting for campers on which to feed. I tried to rig up something for early warning in case something did come wandering through, so I used my shock cord as a tripwire and hung aluminum tent stakes to jingle in case anything hit the cord.
Needless to say I did not sleep well. I heard some things rustling around and jumped out with my headlamp, which revealed a pair of beady eyes in the bushes. I threw some stones from a pile I had gathered and flushed some very confused deer from their feeding area. The primitive act of throwing stones at the wild creatures to flush them out gave me some confidence, but I did not relax at all until the moon started to rise above the east ridge and began to bathe the west gorge face in light. Eventually it became bright enough that I could see without leaping out of my tent with a headlamp on, and I actually slept soundly for the few hours between when dawn's light began to illuminate the sky and the sun's rising above the ridge.
I knew of course that my fear was irrational, but it wasn't until I talked with locals that bears stopped occupying the same mental space as sharks (sharks of the forest). From everyone I talked to, black bears are very skittish, and with some noise and bravado they'll run away like cats.
North Fork to Cedar Camp / Cedar Camp to Joseph Stewart State Park
I broke camp early and bathed in the river.
The road (Low Divide Rd) out of North Fork was a real pleasure to ride, taking me from burned areas to more alpine environments near its exit in the town of O'Brien.
I spent some time in O'Brien rejiggering my gear, then headed north toward Grants Pass. I got some food over there and checked my email. I ended up camping at Cedar Camp, on the Illinois river outside Selma. I noticed a lot of juggalos in South Oregon, including one man with an enormous jester tattoo, along with other signs like bathroom and truck graffiti.
This was a nice site far out of town. All the other sites had been totally trashed. Most of the trees had their bark and half their trunks entirely stripped for kindling at chest-height.
I then camped in a low-lying campground on the way to Crater Lake, since I was still sleeping under a mylar emergency blanket in all my clothes after having sent my sleeping bag home. It was pretty cold, I think it was 38 degrees in the morning. On the upside, there were hot showers.
No comments:
Post a Comment