Garberville - Fort Bragg

Everyone was chomping at the bit this morning – yesterday’s short ride made them all the more anxious to get going in the morning because there was going to be a really long climb after coffee break.

We came across a scene we’d never seen before – a pickup truck was parked beside the road and the closer we came to it, we saw a hammock attached to the back of it and the other end of the hammock attached to a stump – a dog was laying at its masters feet, keeping guard.  The sleeper stirred and allowed us to take his picture.  He was not about to get up yet.  The dog never barked at us…

Speaking of wildlife – Bill spotted a bobcat this morning but couldn’t get close enough for a photo.  While driving in the van, we spotted two foxes running down the road in front of us – couldn’t get them on photo either.

We come across this one log house that we had to check out - quite unique. 

 The bicycle route leaves Hwy 101 and heads  back to the coast on Hwy 1.  Quoting from a book, “the highway starts out by climbing over the much-maligned Leggatt Hill, which, at nearly 2,000 feet, is the highest point on the Pacific Coast Bike Route.”  From the summit you can gaze out over the miles of forested hills and deep valleys.  Guard rails are not there…..we, as support people noticed that pretty quickly.  

  We could see the route on the GPS and seeing switchback after switchback, we were happy to be in the van even if it was tense driving the route in the van.  Good brakes are a must.  Thankfully no loaded lumber trucks took this route.  Some curves were marked at 10 mph so that shows how sharp some of them were.

The descent from Leggatt Hill is exhilarating and much too short.  The road almost reaches sea level before beginning another steep climb over 690 foot Rockport Hill.  The descent of this second hill leads to the ocean and stunning viewpoints of the coastline again.  The temperature drops drastically as well but today is a sunny day so no one is complaining.  The vegetation has changed as well from forest to windswept grasslands.    Much of the commercial traffic is left behind, and road quality changes from quasi-freeway to a uniformly narrow two lanes.  The cyclists thoroughly enjoyed the downhill –  they said it was one of the best downhills they have ever had and the bonus was the road conditions were excellent compared to what they had on Monday.

All of us met up again in Fort Bragg at 3:00 – we are at a motel that has wonderful gardens that we can enjoy as well….another day of sunshine and safety – how blessed we are!

Total travelled today was 120 kilometers with no flat tires to report.