March 2019
Our trip on this segment went from south of the Bay Area all the way to Portland. We landed in SFO and spent a night with our good friends, Christoph and Christine, before heading off on the road. First stop was a great state park campground, Bothe-Napa Valley State Park, in St. Helena. This park is ideally located for biking to tons of wineries and restaurants. Needless to say, we did a bit of biking between drinking and eating stops.
There was no drinking on the way to Tolkan Campground in Garberville, though. It was a long haul that ended with leaving the 101 on a narrow road that has tight switch backs and turnouts wrought with giant dips. After surviving that white knuckle drive, we turned off onto an even steeper, more narrow dirt road with deep gutters on one side and a cliff on the other. As one camper put it, “if you go here, be a really good driver, don’t look over the edge, pray that no one comes down while you’re going up, that it doesn’t rain, and use first gear for the last 3 miles.” Our last five miles from the start of the dirt road to the campground took us about 45 minutes. Seems a bit masochistic to drive for five hours for a few days in a campground, but I’d say Tolkan was worth it. This small, very quiet campground sits next to a fabulous trail system cover 23 miles of trails in the Kings Range National Conservation Area. You can bike miles through thick forests with diverse fauna (see banana slug) or hike down a spectacular trail to an empty beach. It was paradise. Paradise that attracts interesting people…
While staying at Tolkan we came across a man that has been living in his truck for 3 years, completely off the grid. He was headed on a three day outback camping trip, hauling all his food for 26 miles. I suggested he take a beer with him. He responded that beers were too heavy. He had grain alcohol to take the edge off. Ouch! Then there was the older woman that had four adult dogs, two cats and eleven 6-month old puppies living with her in a 24″ (if that) old winnebago. She pulled out one of those old, plastic blue kiddie pools as a feeding trough. Cute puppies. Hope they are still cute.
Having survived the hellish drive to Tolkan, we decided to cover another long haul and make it in one day to Bandon, Oregon. Why Bandon you ask? You must not be a golfer. Bandon is home to spectacular golfing, right on the ocean. It’s one of those top ten golf courses that is a pleasure in good and not so good weather. We had good weather. We also had the advantage of staying at a nice state park, Bullards Beach State Park. Oregon has some of the best state campgrounds – clean, friendly, and easy. The campground is biking distance to the small downtown. If you happen to go, highly recommend Alloro Wine Bar & Restaurant. The food is outstanding and they have a good, diverse wine list.
Ready for another camper story? I’m saving the longer ones for Happy Camper Travels. The one from Bullards Beach State Park is why you don’t judge a book by its cover…
The great scenery, good golfing, and great food and wine was a fitting end to this leg of our journey. From Bandon we headed to Portland dropping off Aristotle for a make-over at Ultimate Airstreams. Apparently, I could be happy in a blank tin can, but Matt had bigger visions. Think more storage, better refrigerator (or one that actually works), and a place for our drinking habit. The make-over didn’t go exactly as planned, but Aristotle still makes us smile, especially with a drink in hand. Happy to give details on our experience, just ping us.