In the land of Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Bannana Slugs, and acouple really big trees!

We camped in Redwood NP 2 nights ago, got a good campsite, shared some beers with the guy across the street, and basically went to sleep in awe of the huge, gigantic ass trees right outside of our tents. It is a magical place as far as forests goes, and to be honest, if I were a bigfoot, it is for sure where I would live-no doubt about it.

Scott and I spent last night in Eugene with his buddy Larry. We went out, had a good time, got to hear acouple bands play, got up this morning, grabbed a burrito and hit the road. Much thanks to Larry and his housemates, we had a great time, and really apprechiate the indoor accomodations. Before we left though, Scott was packing the car, and shut the door on our can of Bear Spray, and consequently the can began leaking Bear Mace. Thanks to his quick reactions, the damage was minimal. However enough managed to leak out to cause any passing pedestrians to cough and quickly vacate the area. We aired out the trunk, cleaned up the mess, and disposed of the can. No further damage was done. Were comming up into Bear country though, so lets hope for the best now that we are lacking protection. I bought an axe the other day, and I am confident in my swinging abilities, so we should be ok as far as bears are concerned.

We have been stoping for surf checks all along the coast, and have found nothing. Like, we're talking nothing, both of us have been wave starved for so long and all we want to do is get in the water and surf, and there are no waves. That is how it goes sometimes though. I'm sure as soon as we leave the coast the swell will pick up. In the meantime we have been paddling where we can, the middle fork of the Smith in Nor Cal was inside of the Redwood forest so we decided to run it. We underestimated the river just a bit, and we were pleasantly surprised with the class IV stretch of pool drops and the translucent blue water. In some parts the river looked to be at least 30 feet deep, and you can see every stone on the bottom. The fish swimming around, the sunken trees, the whole deal. In all reality, it was probably more like 50 or 60 feet deep. Just totally out of control as far as water clarity and color is concerned. It is a beautiful tight canyon with bony drops, technical moves, and stunning scenery...and we had it all to ourselves. Zero complaints!

Now we are about a mile south of Newport Oregon. We found a good campground on the beach, and turns out it was Oregon State Park day or something, and we got to camp for free. Chopped wood on the beach, and have a nice fire now, with an electrical plug, wifi, and free hot showers just around the corner. All things considered, were sitting pretty.

Our goal for tommarow is to find waves. After that we will mosey towards Portland where we will begin our journey inland. Don't worry though, we'll let you know how it all works out.