July 21, 2008 Pacific Crest Trail

Destination: Gold Pan Lodge
Miles: 32

Adrian:
So we wake up this morning not really knowing where we are and wondering how far it is to the Quincy-La Porte Road. We were up by 5:30 a.m. and hiking by 6:15. We hit the road about 3.5 hours after starting and washed up in the river a quarter of a mile west of the trail, at the roadside. As we waited for Chuck Norris to arrive to give us a ride to Quincy, Frodo shows up with two bikes!!

Yes indeed, we are going to Schwinn-blaze it. After loading some gear not needed for the 80-mile bike trip, stuff like the tent, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, etc., we mounted up and began a wicked descent of about 3,000 feet. I worried about the brakes as we taxed them to the limit to keep from careening off the road and over a 500-foot cliff. Upon completion of the downhill, we had another few miles of ups and downs till arriving in Quincy for the night.

We booked a room at the Gold Pan Inn, and went for dinner at Sweet Lorriane's, which was pretty good.

After dinner we went back to the room, watched Young Guns and Bowling for Columbine before going to sleep.
Tomorrow we continue to Chester, our longest stretch on the bike.

Kirsten:
Hiking 1,300 miles doesn't necessarily mean you're ready to bike 76 miles. When I saw Frodo pull up to Quincy-La Porte Road I was overjoyed. Then I got on the bike and blasted down the hill. At some point - probably when I reached speeds of 30 mph or more - I started to think, "This bike is going really f-ing fast."

Once we hit the few uphill sections I thought, "Crap, this may be harder than I thought."

We got down to Quincy in less than two hours and cleaned up at our motel. We decided to go out to dinner and as we saddled up our bikes Adrian and I shared a knowing look. Our bums were already sore and tomorrow was gonna be a rough ride.

Dinner was amazing tonight. First we went to a little cafe for appetizers and then we went to Sweet Loraine's, where I had an amazing salad. I love the greens!