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Happy to be in Fort Bragg, happy to have a rest day. It was not that many miles today but a strenuous day nonetheless. The climb over the mountain from Leggett was not as tough as we had expected, just a long way up. The ride down was a pleasure - long and winding with very little traffic which was a good thing as there wasn't much of a shoulder either. Temperatures alternated between cold in the shadows of the big trees and then very warm in the open sunny spaces in between. We could smell the smoke from a local forest fire and the air was hazy. We learned later that the fire was caused by a lightening strike and was only 35% contained. Glad it wasn't near the highway!
We thought that once we were over the mountain the going would be easier. Fooled again! First thing as we came down was an icy blast of wind and fog off the ocean bay. We had to stop and put more layers on. Then the terrain became very rugged along the shore. Short steep climbs, short fast runs down, then switchbacks so steep we had to walk our bikes up a couple of them - the day began to feel like nothing but work- am I having fun yet? We didn't even have the reward of the seascape views as the fog was quite thick. Fort Bragg was a welcome sight. We checked in at the Travelodge where the manager stated that we were lucky to find any rooms at all as this was the long weekend and Paul Bunyan days festivities in Fort Bragg. I don't understand this Paul Bunyan thing - he seems to be everywhere in this area.
A welcome rest day tomorrow, lots to do. Get bike checked over and drive train cleaned, get glasses fixed (one of the nose pads seems to have disappeared a few days ago, get haircut as I'm starting to look like one of the less savory characters we have encountered. A manicure would be nice too but seems kind of pointless at this stage of the trip.
Next day: today I accomplished all of the above. Then we hiked down to the Glass Beach. Apparently the town dump used to be located by the beach about 60 or so years ago. When they finally cleaned it up they left behind a lot of broken glass and pieces of old cars. Overt the years the waves have ground and polished all those glass shards and now you can walk along the beach and find more beach glass than stones! It's quite amazing how nature has reclaimed our garbage and made it into something beautiful! See photos.
Rest days are great but I think I ate too much. Hopefully I'll work it off tomorrow?
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