4/22/2006 Two Tiny Frogs and Eel River Porter

Our journey started out with Mac pounding two Negro Modelos while crossing the Golden Gate and us making it two-and-a-half hours North to Harbin Hot Springs, the ethereal baths of the gods (i.e. naked retreat for liberal-thinking Bay Area-ites).

After soaking, sobering up, and exfoliating our bodily fumes, we headed North along 101. The first revelation that we'd left our modern world in San Francisco came when I spotted a pinhead-sized frog in the pygmy forest off the Mendocino Coast. If you don't know what a pygmy forest looks like, imagine bonsai trees on plant steroids. The shrunken, Neon frog looked like he'd just shed his flipper for legs. Uncertain of himself, he took it slow and wobbly. We stared at him for a while, hiked on, and stayed the night off a 10-mile stretch of preserved dunes.

Dunes in California - like black bears in california - are a dying breed. Attempts at saving the dunes and the roads from erosion marked the area. But Californians like their beach houses and will do anything to save that million-dollar view.

My second revelation came upon following the turquoise, crystalline Eel River road up the Mendocino Coast to Humbolt County. This beautiful ravine, while impeccable in its natural state, is even better bottled. The label on an Eel River Porter says "brewed with the finest certified organic hops and barley." I'm on my second today and think the label needs a little marketing work to bring this beer to the masses. It should say, "the best bottled porter ever."

We picked up this wonderful nectar at the co-op in Arcata, an idealistic town which epitomizes everything good and bad about Humbolt County. Good because it touts environment, some of the world's best bud, and green-card toting, brown-bag carrying thinking individuals. Bad because it sits smack dab North of the desolate logger town of Eureka. The dichotomy reminds me of what Austin used to be like - Rednecks living with Hippies.

Third revelation: The second tiniest frog ever. Mac spotted this one in Redwoods National and State Park. Frogs, I believe (without cheating by looking at wikipedia), signify rebirth. The fact that we saw two says something, right? This induced a long discussion of amphibian symbolism among the world's tallest trees. California has been good to us