No brass band, no press. Fini!

I'm at Crissey Field, a very nice state welcome center on the border.  Diane will soon arrive to pick me up.  A long drive for her. The Welcome Center lady said the actual CA border was about a mile down the beach  "where the houses start" so I did the walk down there and took a picture to mark the occasion although there is no sign or marker of any sort.  The sand was hard all the way but on the way back I took a trail that started well but soon turned squishy.  I can't catch a break!  Like I said there was no cake or ceremony but the welcome lady did rustle around in her supplies and found a limited edition hat pin which has a sneaker on it.  That was the closest she could get to anything having to do with a trail.  I wasn't expecting anything so was honored, honored I tell you, to receive it.  As W used to say, I misunderestimated on miles to go and did 23 today instead of the 15 or so I was thinking.  It's because I didn't have internet access when figuring and had to use an inaccurate paper map. At least that's my story.  Wasn't too bad though, except getting through Brookings-Harbor, which is strung out on the highway for miles and miles.  I started out this morning in woods then after a couple of Miles moved to the highway and stayed on it for a good long while before finishing on a bike path and then the beach again.  Like yesterday I actually chose to walk 101 in places for fear of hitting soft sand on the beaches.  Soft sand was NOT in the brochure!  Best part of the trip was the people in the hiker/biker camps and the deserted beaches. . Worst was- wait for it- loose sand.  It didn't start until Bandon but each day after that I had some or a lot.  As for equipment, Anita's Go Lite Pinnacle pack was great, as was my REI quarter Dome Tent.  I didn't even use the thin upper and lower base layers I brought, and only had to zip up my Down bag one breezy night on a beach.  The most important piece of equipment was my sun hat, followed closely by sunglasses.  I don't see how the old timers did it without shades.  Having no stove worked well too but this post is getting too long to go into that.  If you've read this far or if you've read any of my other posts thanks!

 Not a problem any more but I did have to delay because of it.

I'll bet there's an interesting story to this one.



A fitting end to a non-wilderness trip.  The end is "down the beach where the houses start."

The Unofficial end.

No fire in sight but lots of signs around town thanking the firefighters.

Out front of the Wild Rivers motel in Brookings.  I think the middle one was a Grumman.

Oh ho-hum another spectacular Vista.