Day 12 
Arcata, CA to Garberville, CA 
Daily Miles - 77.3 
Cumulative Miles - 901.6 
Average Speed - 11.6 MPH 
Max Speed -  33.3 MPH 
Ride Time -  6 Hours 36 Minutes 
Daily Elevation Gain 2,890 Feet, Loss 2,369 Feet 
Cumulative Elevation Gain 31,974 Feet, Loss 31,483 Feet 
Flat Tires - 1

A gloomy start to the day leaving Arcata.

I rolled into Eureka, which is about 5 miles south of Arcata.  I rode around the town just to check things out and found a doughnut shop that I could not pass up.  I had to support the local economy. ☺️

While I was enjoying my snack, a lady came out of the shop and asked where I was headed.  I told her a little about my journey and she told me that the skies would clear up in about an hour and it would be a beautiful day.  She was right.

Check out the chair in the middle of this swampy area.  I had to wonder if that was someone's special sitting spot or if the chair made it there by accident.

OK...so I did not want to bring it up since things were going so well, but the inevitable happened.   I got a flat tire.  I was cruising along and got that strange feeling at the back of the bike.  It is a kind of squishy feeling and the back gets a little bouncy.  I knew right away.  I am so happy though that this was the first flat after eleven days on the bike.  The biggest bummer is it was the back tire meaning I had to remove all the gear to make the repair.

Not too long and it was good as new and I was back on the road.

I have not mentioned much about the trucks that are constantly zooming by, but today is the day.  The logging trucks are the fastest and worst.  They fly by one way with a full load of logs and then fly by even faster the other way after dropping off their load.  They do not cut me any slack out there.  Most others leave a nice buffer when passing me.  The logging trucks are not so kind.

Well, if you look closely at the picture, you will see where they are all going.  There is a huge stock of logs in the background.  Then they turn the logs into lumber.  This picture only shows about a quarter of the total area covered by all this wood.  

I found myself staring up at times today.  Not while I was riding.  It was when I was taking a break.  These are a couple of the views of the tall trees.  They go so high up in the sky.

I was riding up the road and saw traffic beginning to stop.  I knew it probably wasn't good.  When I reached the front, there was an accident.  It was a truck that was pulling a trailer.  I could not tell what happened, but it was serious.  The truck and trailer were totaled and there was debris spread all the way on the other side of the road.  I didn't spend much time there because I didn't want to see what I figured happened.  I said a prayer for the passengers and moved on.  The accident made the news this evening.  There was one fatality.  

When I arrived in Garberville this evening, I was speaking with a local shop owner.  He really wanted someone to talk to.  He moved here with his family a number of years ago and bought a business because the place was busy.  He said that he was making a good profit.  Not so much anymore.  The town used to be a prime location for illegal marijuana.  People would come from all around and spend lots of money at the local shops.  The man I was talking to said that has changed now that California legalized marijuana.  The crowds no longer flock to Garberville since they have legal options elsewhere.  I am not sure if that is a good or bad thing.  So twisted.

About those crazy elk.  Here is the cartoon that tells how it really is.

Well, tomorrow will be the half way point of my journey.  Time to get some rest.