I got on my bike my first morning at Orr and rode two miles to Montgomery Woods, hoping to have a nice long ride among the redwoods. Everything started out just fine. The trail was pretty:
I quickly encountered a few giant redwoods:
To give you a better idea of their size, here’s a picture of the bike leaning against a stump:
I soon encountered a few funny sights, like this small tree bent over the trail:
But the next sight was a bit disconcerting at first. My eyesight isn’t what it used to be, and I came to an abrupt halt when I saw this:
No problem, though, and so I went on my way. But the trail soon got narrower:
And the forest got thinner:
Obstacles soon appeared:
I decided to leave the bike and continue on foot. Here’s the bike looking forlorn and fearful where I chained it to a tree:
By now I was starting to think that I had make a mistake and that this place couldn’t be the real Montgomery State Reserve. And then I came upon this friendly sign, and another sign on the other side of the very same tree:
Notice the grafitti: “Walk along creek to parking lot”. So I turned back, picked up the bike and made my back to the road where I realized that I should have payed attention to some signals. This trashed and abandoned camper:
And this tacky sign:
Notice the name of then-governor Arnold Schwarzenneger. I’ve lived abroad so long that I sometimes forget that Schwarzenegger was actually California’s governor for a number of years, the state’s chief executive. The “governator”, as he was known.
Now I realize that I definitely made some mistake. There must be another entrance somewhere. So on I go, looking for the right place.
Interesting snake! What kind was it?
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Hi, Jon. It was a tree root, in fact. Cheers, John
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What a lovely way to share this trip, dear John. I just got on today, finally having some time after a week of friends visiting, and am caught up. You look good. Looking forward to more. Love, Lois
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Thanks, Lois. It’s good to hear from you. There’s more to come on the blog. Cheers, John
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