Route 199 (incl Rogue River to Crescent City)

After leaving Crater Lake behind, I took Route 199 toward the Redwoods. This drive is incredibly scenic as you drive through dense forest and raging rivers. I followed the Rogue River for much of this drive and pulled over at one point to take some photos - now this is a river. I think there's a lot of rafting that happens on it? If not, there should be. I read this interesting fact about the land around the Rogue - " temperate coniferous forests, which extend into the southwestern Rogue basin, are among the four most diverse of this kind in the world."  -  this fact was easy to believe by seeing.

There were many small towns that I passed through along the way and would have missed had I blinked. I've heard there is quite a bit of poverty in this area so I didn't make any stops - I figure my car looks enticing all filled with my goodies and my bike strapped on the back. 

People seem to be in their own world out in this part of the country, stuck in a time warp. As I sped down the road around 60mph, on three occasions, I had pedestrians walk out onto the road, without even looking. Once they stepped onto the road, then they looked and realized - oh, a car is coming, and slowly made their way off, only after I'd slammed on my brakes - thanks guys. I've made it to Crescent City, which a bit dilapidated town of 8,000 nestled between different sections of the Redwoods. I've camped here two nights though since the campground is reasonably priced and has free, hot showers. I drove through the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park yesterday to mix up my day of rest/catching up on internet things. I'll do some more of the Redwoods today south of here and then continue southward. 

Beautiful - the Rogue River

The Rogue again

Jedediah Smith SP

Big

Tallest trees in the world