With only a few hours sleep I struggled through the five or six miles to the town of Petrolia. I had wanted to avoid another river crossing so took the alternate route, which went through the town. Petrolia added miles, something I really didn't want to do at this point. If the river was dry enough I could walk along the sand and not have to deal with crossing it, but I wasn't sure. So I went for the detour.
I picked blackberries and ate sunflower seeds as I walked into town, and said hello to a runner passing by. There looked to be marijuana farms lining the street, the properties were surrounded by tarps making it hard to see inside their chain link fences. A woman pulled over to ask if I needed a ride to town, I told her about the trek. She said she would probably see me at the store (she did), and that there was free Wi-Fi at the Community Center. The Community Center came first and I stopped to connect. Unfortunately preschool was in session until 3pm, so I couldn't use an outlet to charge. The solar charger was there for me through the Lost Coast, but did I really need it now? As soon as the sun went down it appeared to start draining my batteries, and fast. It wasn't as good at charging as an outlet and with towns up ahead I planned to stay in hotels when I could.
I walked to the store. A man on the way told me with a smile that it was the only cash register in town. I bought produce, hummus, and vegan ice cream. Two cyclists and the wife of one pulled up, they were biking from Canada to San Diego. I told them about my solar charger dilemma and talking through it, I decided I didn't need it anymore, it was extra weight. I walked next door to the post office and mailed it, along with a tiny vial of sandalwood essential oil I had picked up in Mendocino. I had hoped it would ward off critters and make me smell better, but I didn't want to have to carry it.
The man at the post office said he did the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI). I'm from Iowa and RAGBRAI often ends in my hometown of Muscatine, on the Mississippi River. That was cool. I went back to the store to reorganize and a man, Jay, sat down at the other side of the table. I told him about my journey, then said I wanted to make one last trip to the Community Center to recharge.
I saw him again at the center, he was with a local, Yesiah. Yesiah was enthralled with my journey. He had done a 200 mile trek up the coast and was planning another, longer walk through the midwest. He was also from the midwest and had attended the University of Chicago. He said he knew of an ultramarathon runner from Petrolia who I might want to meet, Ken Young. I told him the name sounded familiar. Not long after my friend Paul, an encyclopedia of ultrarunning knowledge, messaged me to say hi. I hadn't heard from him since the first day of my trek. When I told him about Ken he went crazy. He said Ken was a legendary runner who was doing fast 100 mile races in the 70s, before Western States existed, and that he maintained the http://www.arrs.net/ website of running statistics. Work Ken did helped create the National Running Data Center, which developed road records in the United States (http://www.arrs.net/members_ken_young.php). Ken still holds the American 40 mile record.
After I was done charging Yesiah walked me over to Ken's house and we knocked on his door, he was home! In addition to all of the above, Ken developed a currency for the town of Petrolia, which he showed me. The coins feature local wildlife including salmon and medicinal plants. We discussed races and people we both knew and Ken gave me a few running tips. His talk of not eating or drinking during races -- even 40 mile races -- in the 70s inspired me. I guess I had only had a single cookie in my best 100 mile race, the rest of my calories had come from liquids. He encouraged me to run the last bit if I could. It was neat to meet such a legendary computer scientist and runner. Ken also told me about his forthcoming book at http://japaneserules.net/, and I told him I hoped to write a longer account of my trip.
I headed out with renewed vigor and told him I aimed to run to the beginning of Mattole Road and camp there, he had said I shouldn't run Mattole Road at night. Everyone kept telling me Mattole was full of gigantic hills. Multiple people, including Ken, had referred to the first segment as "the wall."
After making my way back to the coast, first up was a long beach stretch. It was dark by now. A dune buggy passed by. I went as far as I could before the tide hit the rocks in front of me, blocking my path, then took the road up to Mattole. Sure enough, it was a hard climb up. I had taken four caffeine pills only an hour ago but was already tired. In another hour or so I decided to stop to take a short nap. I woke up eight hours later.
Skateboard ramp at the Community Center. I sat here using the Internet and my solar charger before I mailed it.
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