California Day 16 - Hermosa Beach to Doheny State Beach

 HE SHOOTS HE SCORES!

Do I look like a guy who needs a hiker biker campsite or what?

Despite reading many reports that Doheny State Beach no longer has hiker biker sites, I decided to give it a shot anyway. The alternative is to ride seven more miles and pay $180 for a two star dive motel room in San Clemente.

The guy at the campground registration said they did away with the hiker biker site years ago but they will try to accommodate hikers and bikers who show up if they can and "if they look legitimate". (Apparently the old hiker biker site was being abused by the local homeless population, who would monopolize it and steal from the regular campers.) He asked me where I stayed last night and how far I'd ridden (60 miles). I told him a story about how I still had shower tokens from Leo Carrillo State Park, because when I tried to give them back, they told me to keep them because they are good at any California State campground. So I figured they would have a hiker biker site because otherwise the guys at Leo Carrillo would have taken the tokens back, right? I am so legitimate.

$16. Such a deal. It's literally on the beach. 

Here is my happy tent all set up.

See that white building though the trees? That's the Hilton Garden Inn. Rooms start at $450/night. HAHAHAHAHA

Today was a pretty great day of riding. The day started by going inland through Torrance and Carson to get to Long Beach. Otherwise there is a giant hill and a container terminal. 

This is Carson Street between Torrance and Carson. I suspect this is what most of Los Angeles looks like if you are not near the ocean.

Between Carson and Long Beach it's very industrial. Long Beach is a major container terminal, with rail service. 

Near Long Beach, I rode along one of these LA "rivers" which are basically concrete drainage channels. You see them in car chases in movies all the time. Now I've seen one in real life.

At the end of this you get to a bogus "Festival Marketplace" deal like the Baltimore Inner Harbor, complete with Bubba Gump and Hooters. It's so generic and so tired. 

However the one in Long Beach also has the Queen Mary!

Apparently it's a hotel! You can rent a room! And also a history museum. This actually sounds kind of cool.

This was the first third of the day. 

The next third was riding along bike paths along the beach. After Long Beach, I stopped for a burger at a Small Cafe on Naples Island. It was yummy.

Here's an example in Huntington Beach.

Huntington Beach is a dog beach! All the dogs are running around playing! It was great! Non of the other beaches allow dogs to run around and have fun, if they allow dogs at all.

The final third of the day was a bit inland from the beach, and it had a lot of ups and downs. Here is what it looks like entering Dana Point. No beach. Hills. 



The good news was there is a killer old school Mexican restaurant right by the campground.

It's across the street from Reptropolis. Which I gather is a reptile store.

That's a Prickly Pear Margarita there.

Which was followed by a spicy Watermelon margarita with my awesomely gooey enchaladas.

So I am now totally happy. Electrolytes are replenished, I'm stuffed with tasty food, and I have a super comfy campsite. Which only cost $16. 

Perfect.

Here's the Strava track: https://www.strava.com/activities/17882390932