DAY 58 - LEGGETT, CALIFORNIA

WILL NOT POST ANY PICS TODAY.

HAVE BEEN ON THE ROAD SINCE 6:30 AM...MOVED SPIA 4 TIMES...ONE TIME ONLY FOR A MILE.

WE ARE IN MENDOCINO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA. MENDOCINO COUNTY IS VERY MOUNTAINOUS AND HAD RAINED ALL DAY.

HIGHWAY 271 LASTED ONLY FOR 8 MILES THEN WAS CLOSED DUE TO LAND SLIDES BLOCKING THE ROAD. SHIFTED OVER TO US 101, WHICH WAS 2-LANE - NO FREEWAY. IT WAS ACTUALLY MORE NARROW THAN THE AVENUE OF THE GIANTS, BUT WITH 10 TIMES THE TRAFFIC.

WITHOUT CONSTANT CAREFUL ATTENTION, A WALKER'S LIFE-SPAN ON THIS ROAD WOULD BE ONLY A FEW MINUTES. I MET NOT A SINGLE OTHER WALKER. STRANGE SINCE I MET SO MANY YESTERDAY IN GARBERVILLE.

I AM GUESSING MOST OF THOSE "WALKERS" WERE REALLY "HITCH HIKERS" AND DO NOT EVEN ATTEMPT TO WALK THE DEADLY US 101 THROUGH THE MENDOCINO REDWOODS.

IN ANY EVENT, I AM STILL ALIVE...A COUPLE EXCITING CLOSE CALLS, BUT HAVE DISCOVERED THAT I - AND I ALONE - HAVE THE LAST ACT TO AVOID DISASTER...SO FAR, SO GOOD.

THERE IS NOT REALLY TOO MUCH TO TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS OF ANYTHING THAT I HAVE NOT ALREADY POSTED BACK ON THE AVENUE OF THE GIANTS. DID DISCUSS REDWOOD TREE "HOLES" WITH A FELLOW...HE ENLIGHTENED ME AS FOLLOWS:

WHEN THE WHITE MAN ARRIVED IN THESE PARTS - 200 OR SO YEARS AGO, REDWOOD TREES ALREADY HAD GIGANTIC HOLES IN THEM. LOCALS CALL THESE HOLES "GOOSE PENS"... BECAUSE THE NEWCOMERS (WHITE FOLKS) USED THE REDWOOD TREE HOLES TO PEN UP THEIR LIVESTOCK...BET THEY ALSO USED A FEW TO LIVE IN...SOME OF THESE "HOLES" ARE LARGE ENOUGH TO SET UP HOME INSIDE.

THIS FELLOW, DOUG, (WILL HAVE PICS OF DOUG LATER) AGREED WITH MY LOGIC ABOUT HOW REDWOOD TREE HOLES STARTED...DOUG ADDED THAT "LIGHTENING" PROBABLY HAD A HAND IN TEARING AWAY THE BARK ALLOWING DECAY OF THE INSIDE TISSUES.

SPIA IS AT THE MOMENT, PARKED AT A BUSINESS ALONGSIDE US 101 ABOUT 4 MILES NORTH OF THE TOWN OF LEGGETT, CALIFORNIA. LEGGETT CAN BE FOUND BY LOCATING CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY # 1 (GOES THROUGH FT. BRAGG, CALIFORNIA) WHERE IT INTERSECTS WITH US 101.

AL ALREADY MENTIONED, IT IS VERY MOUNTAINOUS HERE. IT HAS BEEN SUGGESTED TO ME THAT I PICK UP CALIFORNIA 271 AGAIN AT THE TOWN OF LEGGET AND FOLLOW IT PARALLEL TO US 101 - WHICH BECOMES EVEN WORSE THAN I HAVE ALREADY WALKED.

WALKED TO LEGGETT AND A MILE OR SO SOUTH ON US 271. ASKED PERMISSION TO PARK SPIA FOR THE NIGHT IN TOWN (1 BLOCK LONG). WILL MOVE IN A FEW MINUTES FROM NOW - IS 3:00 PM - PARK SPIA, AND WALK SOUTH ON HWY 271 FOR 4 OR 5 MILES AND BACK BEFORE DARK.

THEN, I HAVE PROMISED MYSELF THAT I WILL BEGIN PRACTICING ON MY PICCOLO AND SAXOPHONE (WHICH I BROUGHT ALONG). I HAVE DONE NOTHING FOR TWO MONTHS - TODAY IS THE FINAL DAY OF THE FIRST TWO MONTHS SINCE DEPARTING THE PEACE ARCH - EXCEPT WALK, EAT, AND SLEEP...AND CREATE BLOGS.

IT IS TIME FOR ME TO CHANGE TEMPO AND BRING SOME MUSIC INTO MY DAYS.

HAVE A STRONG FEELING THAT IN A FEW DAYS I WILL RECEIVE A "DRIVER". WOULD LOVE THE COMPANY - 'SPECIALLY IF SHE IS COMPATIBLE AND CUTE - AND WOULD WELCOME THE OPPORTUNITY TO WALK "FORWARD" ALL DAY INSTEAD OF DOUBLING BACK HALF THE TIME.


DAILY REPORT: WALKED 26 MILES - COUNT 13 MILES

SEE YOUR IMPACT.ORG: CREDIT 13 MILES @ $0.02 = $0.26 FOR DAY.

SHARI: PLEASE CONTACT ME BY E-MAIL...I HAVE SOME $$ TO INVEST IN YOUR PROGRAM...IT IS THE END OF 2 MONTHS, AND WILL BE ABOUT:

$0.02 X 20 (AVERAGE) MILES PER DAY = $0.40 PER DAY X 60 DAYS = $24.00.

NOT AS MUCH AS I WOULD LIKE TO OFFER, BUT "DOUBLE WALKING" CUTS IT IN HALF.

OUR NEXT OBJECTIVE IS THE TOWN OF CUMMINGS, CALIFORNIA. WE WILL TRY TO STAY ON HWY 271 TO CUMMINGS.