Northern California Coast - September 2017 - Part One

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A Guilty Feeling?

Home projects have been eating up our free time. We have been putting off longer trips, so we are anxious to get away when an opportunity comes. I was at a break between projects with my work. The Lady, well she's retired now, she can take off anytime. The Northern California Coast was calling, surf, salt, the cry of gulls, cool temperatures. It was Monday afternoon.

"Want to take off tomorrow for the rest of the week?" I asked.

"Can we?" The Lady answered back with a question.

"Of course we can, especially you. Let's go to the coast, see the big salt sea. The ranger we talked with at Bodega Dunes last time told us spots are always available midweek. Let's test out your retirement, see if it works, experience mid week on the coast!"

Would we feel guilty not battling the weekend and holiday masses?

We pulled into the campground at Bodega Dunes State Park around four in the afternoon.

"Got a spot for us for a couple of nights?" I asked the uniformed young man in the kiosk.

"You bet!" he replied with a smile. "Check out the two loops that are open and come back and tell me the site you want."

We settled in at a campsite in the upper loop and then walked out to the coast. It was overcast and drizzling. This didn't stop us from pulling off our shoes and feeling sand between our toes.

Both loops were about two thirds filled and the last minute overnighters cruised through and gobbled up sites as dusk settled in.

I'll spare you most of the details about the usual cast of campground characters except for these neighbors. If anyone does a cartoon strip about RVers, the stars would be the couple in the old, long Winnebago next to us. The generator was on all the time for no apparent reason. They did pay attention to the quiet times rules. At precisely 9:01 pm the broken exhaust roar sputtered into blessed silence. The couple never, as  far as we saw, ever left their camp spot. The man, outfitted in a sleeveless ripped white t-shirt, shorts, and flip flops held forth at the entrance to their kingdom. He used their dog, dressed in a red cape, as a way to capture passersby's into conversation. It was a black wiener dog and obviously the owners main enjoyment was feeding this animal. I backed up quickly when I first laid eyes on the poor thing, convinced it was going to blow. It's skin was so tight it had to be on the verge of exploding. The little short legs no longer were on the bottom. They now came out the sides. It would have looked right at home lashed to a skate board.

The high point of the Bodega Dunes Campground is shower rooms separate from the bathrooms. The Lady and I showered together, quick, efficient, and fun. At $35 for a campsite it seems a bit like highway robbery to charge for showers. Another reason for a quick shower and I expect that is a good reason for charging plus cutting down on excessive use by the hordes of weekend non camping visitors.

We walked out to Spud Point as dusk came. A trail cut through the brush leads out to Westside Road.

"What's that?" the Lady stopped and asked, squinting in the dim light at something in the middle of the trail ahead.

"It's a short post to block vehicles from using this route as a shortcut into the campground," I explained, happy that I could impart such knowledge when needed.

"No!" the Lady countered. "I saw it move. It is not a post.

I looked closer. It moved. "Oh, it's a skunk with its black tail in the air."

With that the skunk scurried down the trail away from us and again stopped with its tail straight up in the air, pretending to be a post was my assessment.

"What should we do?" the Lady asked.

"Just continue on our way. The skunk will move ahead. It has no reason to spray us unless we give it one."

"Are you sure about that?"

How do you think this story ended?

Our plans for Wednesday were to leave the camper set up and wander along the coast from Bodega Head to Salmon Creek. These plans were dashed with loud peels of thunder that woke us at dawn. Rain hammered down. We ate breakfast inside and made the decision to head north for the day and maybe get out of the storm.

Highway 1 is in sad shape north of Bodega. Pot holes, rough sinking asphalt is the norm. Several places are still one way with traffic controls around construction repairing slides that carried the road away. But it was a lazy day and fun just to see what was around the next corner. The rain and drizzle let up when we reached the Salt Point State Park area.

A sign for Fisk Mill Cove pulled us off the highway. We'd hike and have lunch on the trail. We did not feel guilty at all finding the parking area empty.

This was the California coast line we had come to see.

Although a sign pointed the direction to Fisk Mill Cove, the trail was almost nonexistent. Little maintenance has been done here. We found one aging intact bridge across one gully and the remains of another. Downed trees blocked what remained of the trail.

One use trail led to a high sandstone bluff above the Pacific.

The storm was still working to the south.

We found Fisk Mill Cove, but no obvious trail way down.

We dropped down a gully and then down climbed a short cliff section and discovered a wonderful rugged cove and exquisite solitude.

The steep beach was beautiful rounded cobble.

 

There were no other people about, but we were not alone.

It was perfect to be almost overwhelmed with all the wondrous stimuli the northern coast can give.

The group of harbor seals were so much fun to observe.

We looked for an easier way back up. Below the layer of sandstone was interesting strata and a contact point where two different layered outcrops met at a 90° angle to one another.

The uphill running layers soon went into a 90° fold. Fascinating rock lives here.

We headed south on Highway 1 back toward camp. We turned into the parking area for Stump Beach.

A short walk down from the parking area brought us to the sheltered cove with calm water, sea caves, and a sandy beach.

We continued south on the Bluff Trail and took in the vistas, surf, rock outcroppings, and one lonely poppy.

Relax and experience what it was like to sit and watch the surf.

Thursday morning dawned clear and beautiful. We said goodbye to the Bodega Dunes Campground, pulled up anchor,  and headed north on Highway 1. We explored more of the northern California coast and then something unexpected happened.

Our adventure continues in the Part Two - Please Click Here