On the Pacific

On day 6, I rode from Mendocino to Westport, CA. It was a short ride, but the next campsite is in Leggett, which is up an 1800 ft climb. For those Tour de France fans, this climb to Leggett will be my own, personal, l'Alpe d'Huez.

So, to make sure I had fresh legs for the climb to Leggett, I stopped at a wonderful campsite in Westport, on a bluff overlooking the Pacific. While the campsite is right off of route 1, it felt surprisingly secluded with the ocean to the west, and evergreen lined hills to the east.

I sat, overlooking the bluff with waves crashing below me, watching a lone seal bask on the rocks as the sun set on the Pacific. In the inky black sky with a bracing ocean breeze, I then witnessed the impressive was the rising of the full moon an hour or so later over the tree-lined hills to the east. Away from the noise of city lights, the sky is amazingly clear, and the moon rose, creating an effect of a muted sunrise, with darker shades of the same colors you see at dawn. It was amazing.