We left Garberville today with the sun
shining and the hopes of warmer weather ahead. Garberville is a very
strange town. There are many young people, who are homeless by
choice, hanging around bumming money for hemp, hashish and marijuana. It
seems this is where the hippies are starting to hang out. There was a
store for purchasing hemp right there on main street, but it looked like there were marijuana plants as well in the store. I feel sorry
for the residents who have worked for so long to buy a house here,
only to have their neighborhoods invaded.
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| Leaving Garberville |
The sights were quite beautiful as we
left Garberville. The landscape was rolling hills overlooking green
valleys. The hillside is just beginning to change from the redwoods
and pine trees into more of the brown grasses that will become so
predominant once we are further south. We passed by the Benbow Inn,
where Aila and I had stayed just 2 weeks prior. From there, we got
off of route 101 and started to take the little used back roads that
wind through the hills.
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| View from the back roads in the hills |
Today was one of the top 3 days for
degree of difficulty. There was 5500 feet of climbing, with most of
it concentrated as part of 2 major ascents. Baltimore Mark rode with
Joe and me for much of the ride, but on the longer climbs, Joe and I
went on ahead. After the 1st climb, there was a 12 mile,
highly technical, descent which was laced with many switchbacks
requiring the frequent use of brakes, in order to keep from running
off the road. In many of the turns, there were signs for cars warning
them to remain below 15 or even 10 mph. The descent was lots of fun,
but didn't allow us to reach anywhere near our top speeds of over 50
mph.
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| Baltimore Mark climbing one of the hills along the coast |
After the climbs were over, we arrived
back along the coast, which was absent of the fog we had become so
accustomed to. It was a pleasant change and reinforced the feeling
that the west coast is far more beautiful than any other place I have
seen in America. The weather is getting warmer, but still required
the use of under-armor and a jersey.
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| View from a climb near the coast |
A few wineries were seen lacing the
roads as we headed into Ft Bragg, but these are not the high-quality
vineyards so prevalent in Napa or Sonoma. As we got closer to Ft
Bragg, the road became narrower and without a large shoulder that we
had been blessed with. Cars were still careful to get around us.
Along the way I noticed a Department Of Corrections fire truck that
was giving some prisoners training in fire-fighting. It sounds like a
good idea, to provide a skill set for when they get out and back into
the general public.
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| People learning fire-fighting skills |
Let's see what tomorrow brings.
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