Since we haven't had a rest day in about two weeks, except for short daily stages, we decided to take one at Standish Hickey State Recreation Area. We used the time to sleep in, work on the blog and let Sigrid and Kevin ride our tandem once.

Rested, we drove south the next day to the highest point of our trip in the "Lower 48". Before climbing the 550m high "pass" we visited the second drive-thru tree in Legget. This one was even more beautiful than the first one in Myers Flat, unfortunately the photo, which a helpful tourist took for us, was not quite as good as the self-made one two days before.

We overcame the first pass relatively easily in the shade of the forest. A long descent to about 50m above sea level was followed by a second steeper climb over a lower pass.

After these two passes we reached the Pacific again after a few days inland.

We could enjoy the narrow coastal road with many curvy climbs and descents in best weather and tailwind. Apart from some photo stops we made our only break of the day in the small village of Westport at noon. There we exchanged with two Swiss, who after motorized travels in Alaska were now also on their way south by bike.

In the afternoon the hot sun did not seem to be good for all road users: We were amazed at some drivers who bravely overtook us on the opposite lane in curves or before crests. Fortunately for us and unfortunately for the local body shops/car salesmen, this always turned out well due to the low traffic.

A little before four o'clock we reached the state park in Cleone. With about 1100 vertical meters this was now the day with the biggest climb on our trip. Interestingly, the two passes were less significant than the hilly coastal road.