Day 42: Pearch Creek to Happy Camp

September 26, 2011

51F and no dew in the morning. Not bad. I got on the road miraculously early at 8:20.

The only services today are in Somes Bar, 7 miles upstream. I stopped for a long time at the Somes Bar store. Got a fuel canister and solar charged my phone from 40 to 100%. I was there more than an hour, and it was finally starting to feel warm when I departed.

Somes Bar is where California's Salmon river flows into the Klamath river. The Salmon river has a very small flow now, but it's much bigger during spring snowmelt. It's popular for fishing and whitewater rafting. The state of Idaho has a bigger and more famous Salmon river.

Somes Bar store, near the confluence of the Salmon and Klamath rivers.

I thought these two license plates accurately describe the libertarian atmosphere of Jefferson and most rural areas in the west. "I don't care what you do, as long as you don't care what I do".

The State of Jefferson is a libertarian place. Tree Huggers don't bother Buck Slayers, and vice-versa.

Highway 96 was even more of a roller coaster today. Typically the road was 100 to 300 feet above the river. No convenient river access.

I saw no services and no settlements for 38 miles between Somes Bar and Happy Camp. It's a long, lonely road with monotonous hill climbs.

The views are great even when I can't see the river. And the weather was pleasantly warm, with the sun on my back.

It's nice even when there is no view of the river.

Today the weather warmed up closer to normal. High of 80F, mostly sunny.

Klamath river in a narrow rocky channel.

I went in to Happy Camp for groceries, then crossed the river and backtracked a mile to the Curly Jack USFS campground. $15, with piped water and vault toilets.

I arrived at 4 PM, allowing plenty of time to wash (and dry!) clothes, make a shower and explore the riverfront. The campground was mostly empty. No neighbors, but I could hear the occasional truck across the river on the highway.

The elevation is 1080 feet. The warm sunny evening helped me feel rested for tomorrow's big climb across the Siskiyou range.

Yesterday morning I had Verizon service in Willow Creek and Hoopa. And tonight I have Verizon 3G in Happy Camp. But there was no service between Hoopa and Happy Camp.

Distance: 47.3 mi. (75.7 km)
Climbing: 2813 ft. (852 m)
Average Speed: 9.9 mph (15.8 km/h)

Today's ride: 47 miles (76 km)
Total: 2,074 miles (3,338 km)

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