Olympia to San Luis Obispo

[Dandeforeshadow]

Ok so my friend/travel buddy and I are going to go from Olympia WA to San Luis Obispo CA, by way of trekking and any other way we can think of outside of train hopping (neither of us know how too and we don't much care to do so either simply 'cuz it's not our thing). We'll be going through Oregon, mainly we're planning on hitting Portland for a few hours before heading off to Eugene and than out of Oregon. In Cali we're going to try and avoid San Fran and San Diego, but outside of that we're pretty much willing to check out the sites elsewhere.

So Is there any must be seen things going on in any of the aforementioned areas? Does anyone know any good squats in Mid South Cali or anywhere in Oregon? Any California animals that we need to watch out for since we'll be mainly out in the wilderness trying to avoid the big cities that aren't in route?

 

[compass]

I'm leaving soon, but let me know if you have any questions about SLO. I've lived here a long time.

Definitely recommend traveling Highway 1 down the coast from San Francisco. You go through Santa Cruz, Big Sur. I've talked to people from around the world (lots of tourists through SLO) who say it's one of the most beautiful places they've ever seen. I'd have to agree. I haven't been up to Big Sur since the recent fires, but I heard the fire fighters protected the areas around the highway pretty well, but back up in the hills is all burnt up.

As far as animals to look out for, I'd say people. There's Black Bears and Mountain Lions, but they really aren't much to worry about up there. There are alot of cool locals, but if you trek deep into the hills, be careful not to disturb someones crops, you might get shot.

 

[compass]

You brought up some good points, and a couple things now occured to me. The recent fires fucked up their habitat, so they're probably desperate for food on that stretch of the coast. Not a good situation. There were some sightings recently in the small town of Cambria.

Here's a list of all reported mountain lion attacks and deaths in California through 1/26/07

http://tchester.org/sgm/lists/lion_attacks_ca.html

Attacks are underreported, deaths are pretty well documented. Even if you look at the number of reported attacks compared to deaths, you'll see that, statistically speaking, you don't really have much to worry about.

Actually, you're more likely to be struck by lightning than being in a confrontation with a mountain lion, let alone getting attacked by one.

In the extremely rare chance you encounter a mountain lion, don't run, don't crouch, make yourself look bigger, make noise, grab a stick, throw rocks and scare the fucking thing away. You'll be traveling with a friend, which is one of the best things you can do.

Even if you are attacked, there are many people who've fought them off.

 

[IBRRHOBO]

i recommend the trains in the summer. this time of year ... easpecially as you're greenhorns ... u're gonna have problems (see: dead reider in roseville).

might be able to get a cheap ticket (green tortoise bus [sp?])

i agree with both arrow and compass: first, the wildlife is just that WILD. Second, most people, by in large, become WILD the further south u head! definately stop by mendicino!

there's a couple kidz in your path right now. check out the waystations post for Rise609 and compass is still in the area i think.

Good Hunting!

 

[Dandeforeshadow]

Do you like food? I have spent more time then I care to admit up and down the west coast via road and rails and I can tell you most all the yummy places to grab things.

I'm always up for yummy foods. They just have to be vegan friendly because I have really deadly allergies, and both of us are vegan.

I'm leaving soon, but let me know if you have any questions about SLO. I've lived here a long time.

Definitely recommend traveling Highway 1 down the coast from San Francisco. You go through Santa Cruz, Big Sur. I've talked to people from around the world (lots of tourists through SLO) who say it's one of the most beautiful places they've ever seen. I'd have to agree. I haven't been up to Big Sur since the recent fires, but I heard the fire fighters protected the areas around the highway pretty well, but back up in the hills is all burnt up.

As far as animals to look out for, I'd say people. There's Black Bears and Mountain Lions, but they really aren't much to worry about up there. There are alot of cool locals, but if you trek deep into the hills, be careful not to disturb someones crops, you might get shot.

Thanks for the advice. We're still planning the trip so the advice on Highway 1 helps a lot. We're not worried about cougars and bears since we've both done wilderness squatting up in the Colorado Rockies after the summer wildfires that make the animals really desperate. I've also traveled in Wyoming and Montana so the "don't fuck with the farmer" rule is ingrained in me. We're idiots, but we know what we're doing when it comes to things that would like us with a side of parsley .

What are the people in SLO like? I know the people in tourist towns tend to not like tourist very much, at least in the midwest where we're use to traveling. Also how is the weather there? We've only been on the west coast for the past few months and never down to Cali. How does it compare to the Souths ocean weather? Sorry if that's a stupid question, but I've only seen the ocean when traveling the south to see my baby cousins, and Oh has only been to the Caribbean to see family, so we're not very experienced with places that are close to the ocean.

i recommend the trains in the summer. this time of year ... easpecially as you're greenhorns ... u're gonna have problems (see: dead reider in roseville).

might be able to get a cheap ticket (green tortoise bus [sp?])

i agree with both arrow and compass: first, the wildlife is just that WILD. Second, most people, by in large, become WILD the further south u head! definately stop by mendicino!

there's a couple kidz in your path right now. check out the waystations post for Rise609 and compass is still in the area i think.

Good Hunting!

Yeah I saw that post about the rider in Roseville, it was one of the reasons we thought better of trainhopping. The other reasons are that we're just not to keen on trains as is, being tenderfeet in early April just adds more reason not to fuck with lady luck ya know? Thanks I'll check out those posts, they'll fersure be helpful. Mendicino sounds like it would be cool to hit up (especially since it's one of the few places in Cali I don't have any family at, but that's neither here nor there lol)

All you guys rock! Thank you so f-ing much. :worship:

 

[compass]

Thanks for the advice. We're still planning the trip so the advice on Highway 1 helps a lot. We're not worried about cougars and bears since we've both done wilderness squatting up in the Colorado Rockies after the summer wildfires that make the animals really desperate. I've also traveled in Wyoming and Montana so the "don't fuck with the farmer" rule is ingrained in me. We're idiots, but we know what we're doing when it comes to things that would like us with a side of parsley .

What are the people in SLO like? I know the people in tourist towns tend to not like tourist very much, at least in the midwest where we're use to traveling. Also how is the weather there? We've only been on the west coast for the past few months and never down to Cali. How does it compare to the Souths ocean weather? Sorry if that's a stupid question, but I've only seen the ocean when traveling the south to see my baby cousins, and Oh has only been to the Caribbean to see family, so we're not very experienced with places that are close to the ocean.

In general, SLO is a really easy town. Clean, safe, etc. Plenty of places you can find to sleep. We like tourists here, one of the biggest contributors to the local economy. People are friendly enough, alot of pretentious privileged assholes too. Not much diversity, but there's a pretty big university (Cal Poly) which helps that a little bit. Usually a group of travelling kids around. Spanging is rough right now, the homebums I know are seeing more and more people competing with them for the limited change resources (another "sign of the times"). Busking might be a little better, but cops will keep you moving.

Weather? Well, it's "the dead of winter" and it's been in the upper 70's lower 80's lately. Past few years have been strange. Usually, it's pretty much in the 70's all year. During winter, we get some periodic, but fairly brief cold fronts that drop it down into the 60's during the day, and a little below freezing at night. Summers have been getting hotter lately, but usually low 90's tops. Pretty much never rains. California is well on the way to it's worst drought in recorded history.

SLO is a little inland, but you can hitch or take buses to the coast. I recommend you find your way out to Montana de Oro State Park. You can hike up into the hills, or go play in sand dunes, and find a place to slide down to tide pools where you can check out all the cool marine life, or walk along the bluffs trail, then drop down one of the "trails" (be careful!) and you can usually find yourself a private cove where people will rarely bother you. That place is very special to me.

 

[Dameon]

There's a cheap bus that runs from Olympia down to Vancouver, which can save you some time hitchhiking. Just go to the Olympia transit center and ask the customer service people about the CAP bus, they'll give you a schedule and the information on it.

If you hit Frisco, you can grab the BART to the Caltrain station (way down south, you can see it on the station maps), then grab the Caltrain to San Jose, and grab a bus from there to Santa Cruz, and be there in a matter of hours for somewhere around 5 bucks apiece. Not a bad deal, considering I've heard of people taking days to hitch that same stretch.

 

[Labea]

If you hit Frisco, you can grab the BART to the Caltrain station (way down south, you can see it on the station maps), then grab the Caltrain to San Jose, and grab a bus from there to Santa Cruz, and be there in a matter of hours for somewhere around 5 bucks apiece. Not a bad deal, considering I've heard of people taking days to hitch that same stretch.

funny, i took that same route, but backwards. dont get stuck in fremont 2 bucks short.