Journal Notes and Favorite Highways direction and offered few photo turnouts, so it definitely deserves another turn. Hwy 1 north of Fort Bragg. While Big Sur gets all the credit for beauty and drama, my favorite segment of 1 is north of Fort Bragg, where the traffic almost disappears. It wasn’t long before a surprise appeared out of nowhere ... an elephant ... and a Buddha! ...in the middle of a field. (
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ravel always brings lessons … some more weighty than others. In the featherweight category: I really like two-lane roads, especially those that twist through beautiful scenery, especially, especially those beautiful scenic ones with lots of turnouts supposedly put there for slow traffic to use, but actually there to allow me a multitude of photo stops. I don’t like highways with more than four lanes and am terrified by one-lane snail trails with heart-pounding drop-offs. On my jaunt, I developed special fondness for these highways: Hwy 128 east from 101 to the coast. This was my first excursion off the beaten path and one of the most varied. Unfortunately, it was late in the day when I chose this
Hwy 3 through Scott Valley. A green and peaceful valley surrounded by snow-tipped mountains. Every mile soothed my spirit and the historic town of Etna was unexpectedly charming.
Hwy 36 Red Bluff to Lake Almanor. Stunning and isolated, Hwy 36 winds though land from another time, volcanic and harsh, and strangely beautiful. The miles west of Red Bluff look like a curvy challenge with few services.
Hwy 199 - Smith River This area became my favorite as I crept through it at a snail’s pace. A CalTrans worker told me about Gasquet (locals say GASkey) and a couple of short hikes which turned out to be trip highlights. Old barn in Gasquet
