Day 28: Yreka, CA

We were camped next to a tiny little creek and through the night got to hear the various creatures that lived near it, bugs chirping, frogs croaking, and owls hooting. Some pleasant sounds to hear as you drift to sleep. Other than that we are definitely getting started a little late in the day now that the sun isn’t up until after 7.

Today started with a long steady climb up Old Siskiyou Highway which was a wonderfully quiet road meandering through the trees to meet up eventually with Interstate 5. Along the climb we stopped a few times, waved at a few cyclists going up and down the mountain with us, and the air was just right kind of chill for a large climb.

Finally, we crossed Interstate 5 and started up old highway 99 and the Pacific Crest Trail which briefly follows that route. Then we crested Highway 99 and could see all the way to California, including little glimpses of Mt. Shasta in the distance. We cruised down Highway 99 for some time with virtually no traffic until rather abruptly it ends and dumps you on to Interstate 5.

As usual Interstate riding is a mix of exciting and boring, you have large shoulders, but lots of high speed traffic. We cruised down several miles of downhill grades into Hornbrook. We had hoped that there was a convenience store, or some place to get a drink as it was heating up, but nothing looked open, so we ate lunch under the shade of a random tree.

Continuing along we passed over the Klamath River following along Ager Rd toward Montague. It was a smaller climb than earlier in the day but the heat was taking a toll, bike computer said 85F in the shade, 90+ in the sun. The benefit of climbing up was getting better and better views of Mt Shasta towering in the distance.

Just outside of Montague we had a decision to make. This part of the route is severely lacking in places to sleep. There was Yreka 6 miles off route, or the next town was Weed 29 miles down the road. It was 2:30pm, we felt we could make it to Weed, but that put us with no good options for places to stay the following day. So we rode into Yreka and splurged on a hotel room.

Dinner at a diner called the Purple Plum yielded some great hamburgers and fries. The waiter realized that refilling Matt’s drink would be tricky, so an entire pitcher of strawberry lemonade was produced. Then we settled in for the night. Mccloud is the goal for tomorrow, then out towards the Lassen Volcanic National Park.