Cycling the West Coast: Lost Coast or Bust! [Day 21]

Cruising into Ferndale. Photo Credit: Luke Guilford Day 21

We tried to get out of Eureka early before traffic got too crazy. As soon as we got out of town, we stopped at a McDonald’s for a breakfast sandwich before pedaling toward Ferndale. Related: Cycling the West Coast: Fish Tacos and Scenic Drives! [Day 20] – SnowBrains

Ferndale marks the last town before we enter the lost coast, so we decided to hang around and chat with the locals. The people were incredibly friendly, and we learned a bit about the unique area. The vast, remote mountainous landscape contains around 60,000 acres of federal land under the King Range National Conservation Area. The remaining land is scattered ranches and farmland. Downtown Ferndale. Photo Credit: Luke Guilford I talked to a local business owner who used to have a restaurant on the other side of the mountains in the town of Petrolia. She described the area as a mecca for cannabis farms since the area receives an insane 100 inches of rain annually. She also mentioned a rancher releases their old horses into the wild, so supposedly some horses roam the beaches out there. Related: Air-Dropping Hay to Feed 1000s of Starving Cattle in California – SnowBrains

While talking more with the locals, we got the impression that the climb to the coast would be brutal. Many truckers recommended that we shouldn’t bike the road because of the conditions, steep grades, and wild drivers. I agreed with them, […]

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