Eric and I did a 2-day camping trip up on the Eel River over the 4th of July weekend. Highway 1 goes up the coast all the way until just north of Fort Bragg. It then veers inland as the terrain on the coast gets too gnarly for a highway. This area of the coast is called the Lost Coast due to it being so inaccessible. As the highway veers inland, a dirt road continues north all the way to Shelter Cove. It is called Usal Road now, as it used to be a lumber hauling road owned by the USA Lumber Company. Lots of spectacular views, as it is high on a ridge thick with redwood trees overlooking the ocean. Normally the water is a stunning aqua greenish blue, but on this day it was foggy...
This is what it looks like in the winter...
The road is about 25 miles long and pretty tight and twisty in some places. There's one sticky clay section that is always wet and rutted out, but this year it wasn't too bad...
We dropped down into Shelter Cove and lunched on fresh clam strips and fried calamari before heading inland to the Avenue of the Giants...
The tree pictured above is by no means the tallest nor the largest tree in the area, but it was easily accessible
It was 102 degrees when we breezed through Redway, and our plans to ride some forest OHV trails evaporated in the heat. We headed east towards the Eel River instead.
We dropped down towards the tiny townlet of Ft Seward (no postal service since 1972) thinking we could find a spot to cool off then head up into the forest to look for a spot to camp. We rode through sand and rocks to the river, and stripped off our gear as fast as we could...
Once we realized the water was a phenomenal 82 degrees, we decided to put down roots for the weekend and scout a good place for the tent. We found a good spot, but had to ride through some more rocks and water to get to it...
This would be our home for the next few days...
Our own private island...
We set up the tent, built a fire ring, and cut up some wood in anticipation of the evening's entertainment...
After sunset and it's still in the mid-eighties...
More to come...
WoodsChick
This is what it looks like in the winter...
The road is about 25 miles long and pretty tight and twisty in some places. There's one sticky clay section that is always wet and rutted out, but this year it wasn't too bad...
We dropped down into Shelter Cove and lunched on fresh clam strips and fried calamari before heading inland to the Avenue of the Giants...
The tree pictured above is by no means the tallest nor the largest tree in the area, but it was easily accessible
It was 102 degrees when we breezed through Redway, and our plans to ride some forest OHV trails evaporated in the heat. We headed east towards the Eel River instead.
We dropped down towards the tiny townlet of Ft Seward (no postal service since 1972) thinking we could find a spot to cool off then head up into the forest to look for a spot to camp. We rode through sand and rocks to the river, and stripped off our gear as fast as we could...
Once we realized the water was a phenomenal 82 degrees, we decided to put down roots for the weekend and scout a good place for the tent. We found a good spot, but had to ride through some more rocks and water to get to it...
This would be our home for the next few days...
Our own private island...
We set up the tent, built a fire ring, and cut up some wood in anticipation of the evening's entertainment...
After sunset and it's still in the mid-eighties...
More to come...
WoodsChick
We will probably put everything in our dry bags, rope them together and then float/swim across on the tubes. This plan adds a few more river crossings on the bikes that will be much more...exciting, shall we say?...than the previous non-dramatic puddle crossings, but we should be ok 
We devised a list yesterday that we're going to double check from now on before we take off
