Last weekend, July 21, I drove over the mountains to
Big Basin State Park. The main road there is this narrow, winding, two-lane road through the mountains--and Saturday is apparently the day every cross-country biker in California decides to take his bicycle through the mountains. There were swarms of bicyclists pedaling up the mountain road, adding to the 'interesting' level of the drive. Not only did I have to pay close attention to the curves and oncoming traffic, I had to avoid running over bicyclists who were around just about every corner. It was definitely not a drive for zoning out and listening to music.
These mountains, the coastal mountains, are not the dry, sere brown hills of the eastern, inland mountains. They're like the Appalachians - covered with tall conifers and quite green. Just how tall those trees are, I was soon to find out.
On the way up the mountains, there's quite a bit of vineyard country--you pass roads leading to quite a few California wineries. There's also several towns that don't look like they've changed much in a hundred years, or have been restored to their historic look.
( Then we get to the park... )