ASHLAND, OR TO THE CALIFORNIA COAST OCT 25 - 28, 2010

DOWN THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST

KEVIN, TRACY AND ZAN

WE WOKE UP THIS MORNING IN ASHLAND TO SEVERAL INCHES OF WET SNOW ON THE TREES, CARS AND UNDERBRUSH. A BEAUTIFUL SIGHT AS THE SUNRISE SPARKLED THROUGH THE SURROUNDING FOREST.






ZAN AND BUNGEE KISS GOODBYE, BUT I'M SURE THEY WILL STAY GOOD BUDDIES.

AS I LEAVE OREGON AND ENTER NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, MT SHASTA DOMINATES THE LANDSCAPE MAKING IT HARD TO KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE ROAD.

I GUESS I SHOULD BE EXPECTING THE UNUSUAL IN CALIFORNIA AND SURE ENOUGH ODDBALL THINGS POP UP REGULARLY, SUCH AS THIS ROW OF FULL-SIZED "TOY TRUCKS"...........

REDDING, CA HAS BUILT A NICE PARK ALONG THE SACRAMENTO RIVER THAT HAS A STUNNING NEW ICON, THE SUNDIAL, GLASS-BOTTOMED PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE.

THE TOWER THAT HOLDS THE SUSPENSION CABLES IS AN ACTUAL SUNDIAL THAT CASTS A SHADOW IN THE PARK ON ROCK SCULPTURES FOR THE HOURS.

A THREE HOUR TRIP FROM REDDING TO THE COAST AT EUREKA IS ON A CONSTANTLY CURVING TWO LANE ROAD TRAVERSING THE HIGH COASTAL RANGE MOUNTAINS AND RIVER CANYONS. VERY SLOW, BUT I MADE IT TO THE COAST IN TIME TO ENJOY A HUGE SUPPER OF CHICKEN, HAM AND ALL THE TRIMMINGS AT THE LARGE "SAMOA COOKHOUSE" THAT HAS BEEN SERVING LUMBER CAMP, FAMILY-STYLE MEALS SINCE 1880.

I SAT AT A TABLE WITH FOUR YOUNG PEOPLE, TWO OF WHOM GRADUATED FROM WARREN WILSON COLLEGE IN NORTH CAROLINA, WHERE MY GRANDSON BEN GRADUATED LAST MAY, AND A PLEASANT COUPLE FROM SPOKANE, WA WHO INVITED ME TO VISIT THEM ON MY NEXT TRIP. 

THERE IS AN ADJACENT ROOM AT THE COOKHOUSE CHOCK FULL OF OLD TIME COOKING AND LUMBERING ARTIFACTS.

I HAVE ALWAYS WANTED TO EXPLORE CALIFORNIA'S LOST COAST, SO CALLED BECAUSE THE COASTAL HIGHWAY VEERS INLAND SOUTH OF EUREKA IN THE  AREA OF THE GIANT REDWOODS LEAVING A RUGGED, DESOLATE PART OF THE NORTHERN COASTLINE ALMOST INACCESSIBLE.

  THE NARROW, VERY WINDING AND MOSTLY DESERTED ROUTE GOES WEST FROM NEAR FORTUNA, THROUGH FERNDALE, CAPE MENDICINO, PETROLIA AND HONEYDEW BEFORE CUTTING BACK TO ROUTE 101 THROUGH THE REDWOODS PARK.



LARGE CUTOUT BILLBOARDS CREATED BY THE CALIFORNIA DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE HIGHLIGHT THE LOCAL FARMING.

FERNDALE IS A QUAINT, VERY VICTORIAN  FARMING TOWN ON THE MARSHES OF HUMBOLDT BAY.

TYPICAL FERNDALE MAIN ST BUILDING

LOST COAST ROAD

MEETING THE SEA AT CAPE MENDICINO

BUNGEE HAS THE BEACH ALL TO HIMSELF..........

...........EXCEPT FOR THE ROCK MAZE MADE BY ALIENS

A SIMPLE CHURCH IN PETROLIA, WHERE  OIL WAS FIRST  DISCOVERED IN CA

FOUR HORSES BLOCKED OUR WAY THEN CAME OVER AND STUCK THEIR MUZZLES
IN THE CAR WINDOWS MUCH TO BUNGEE'S CONSTERNATION.

POLO AND FRIEND

THE ONLY OTHER TOURIST CAR I SAW ON THE THREE HOUR TRIP WAS OCCUPIED BY POLO, A NURSERY OWNER FROM SEBASTAPOL, CA AND HIS FRIEND VISITING FROM NEW ZEALAND.  BOTH ARE ORIGINALLY FROM THE CANARY ISLANDS AND WE ENJOYED A PICNIC AND STORIES TOGETHER AT MATTOLE BEACH.

THE LAST FIFTEEN MILES OF THE LOST COAST BYWAY PASSES THROUGH THESE MAJESTIC REDWOODS, PART OF THE ROCKEFELLER GROVE.

THE HEIGHT OF A REDWOOD TREE IS HARD TO SHOW IN A PHOTOGRAPH, BUT THAT IS A FULL-SIZED ADULT APPROACHING THE CARS AT THE BASE OF THESE 300 FOOT GIANTS.







BY LATE AFTERNOON WE WERE BACK ON THE COASTAL HIGHWAY AND MADE IT DOWN TO THE TOWN OF MENDICINO WHERE I SPENT THE NIGHT IN AN OLD GYPSY CARAVAN TRAILER UP IN THE WOODS

SUNDOWN ON MENDICINO BEACH

THE FINAL LEG DOWN THE COASTAL HIGHWAY TO SAN FRANCISCO IS DEFINITELY ONE OF MY FAVORITE DRIVES IN THE COUNTRY EVEN THOUGH THE FIRST TIME I DROVE THE PRECARIOUS CLIFF-CLINGING STRETCH WAS IN THE 80's WHEN I VISITED JIM CONROY WHO WAS WORKING IN BODEGA BAY AND I HAD SEVERE PANIC ATTACTS ON THE NARROW ROAD WHICH DROPS OFF 1000 FEET TO THE ROCKY SURF WITH NO GUARDRAILS.

TRUCKS ARE UNNERVING ON COASTAL RTE 1

     THIS AWAITS YOU FAR BELOW IF YOU MAKE ONE WRONG MOVE ON ROUTE 1

    TORTURED TREE IN MANCHESTER, CA

ON TOMALES BAY WITH A VIEW OF POINT REYES ARE A CLUSTER OF OYSTER PLACES

NICK'S IS A FAVORITE OF MINE AND I COULDN'T WAIT TO SAVOR THE ASSORTMENT OF DELICIOUS LOCAL OYSTERS

MY FAVORITES WERE THE SMALL JAPANESE ONES FRESH FROM OFF THIS PIER.     WELL FORTIFIED, I WAS READY FOR THE LAST HOUR THROUGH MARIN COUNTY AND INTO SAN FRANCISCO.
 
THESE STRANGE STUMP CATS IN BOLINAS SHOWED ME THE WAY TO THE STEEP CLIMB OVER MT TAM AND DOWN ACROSS THE BAY TO BERKELEY.

THE ROADSIDE GROVES OF EUCALYPTUS TREES COMMON IN MARIN COUNTY MUST BE THE WORLD'S MESSIEST WITH LOTS OF SHED BARK, SMALL LIMBS AND DEAD LEAVES PILED UP UNDERNEATH THEM, BUT, OH WHAT A MAGNIFICENT SMELL....... CLEANS OUT YOUR NOSE AND THROAT FOR SURE!

OLYMPIC PENINSULA TO ASHLAND, OREGON OCTOBER 19 -24

         OLYMPIC PENINSULA, WASHINGTON

THAT'S NOT SOMEONE DEMANDING MY WALLET, IT'S THE SHADOW OF DAN ROBERTS FROM NEW LONDON, CT WHO I MET ON THE TRAIL.  HE'S TAKING MY PICTURE......

CAPE FLATERRY

Late in the afternoon we reached the farthest northwest that you can go in the lower forty-eight, Cape Flaterry at the tip of the Olympic Peninsula. The entire area around this beautiful rugged point is Makah Tribal land and the Makah's have recently completed a 1/2 mile trail through a dense forest to get to the viewing platform. A small, well designed museum back in Neah Bay gives a good history of these resourceful people who have sprung back from only several hundred survivors of the pillage and disease inflicted by four centuries of white explorers.

The pounding surf crests huge rocks and thunders into sea caves at Cape Flaretty

The scenic road along the south shore of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the wide glacial fjord that separates Washington State from Vancouver Island, BC, is lightly travelled and you glimpse sea birds, Bald Eagles, water views and ocean ships along the way.

Early evening fog caps a bluff along the Straits of Juan de Fuca

Smitty's restaurant is a claustrophobic landmark on the road througn Sequim and Port Angeles heading out to Cape Flaterry 2 hours west. They plan to remove the uncounted bucks hanging like stalactites and give the cash to local charities this winter when they close for a well-needed house cleaning.

                               

BUNGEE JUMPING AT IT'S BEST! on the BEACH AT KALALOCH

This is the first time I have visited the Olympic Peninsula without the usual rain and I'm going to take advantage of the bright, cool spell to slow down and enjoy the superb scenery. A leisurely trip up the Hoh River into the rain forest brought back memories of 1962 when we camped on a sand bank here under a crude tarp lean-to, greeted by curious deer in the morning.  Not much has changed except the old dirt road is now smoothly paved.

 

 

THE RAIN FOREST IS A VERY MAGICAL PLACE,  SO LUSH AND PEACEFUL. THE OVERALL SCENE IS ABOUT AS PICTURESQUE AS IT GETS AND THE DETAILS ARE REALLY WONDERFUL.

BRILLIANT GREEN MOSS ON CRYSTAL CLEAR WATER

A TINY WREN CLAIMS HIS TERRITORY

RUBY BEACH IN THE SEA MIST FROM THE SURF

OREGON

AT THE END OF A PERFECT DAY WE CROSSED THE WIDE MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER ON THE ROLLER COASTER BRIDGE INTO ASTORIA, OREGON CLOSE TO WHERE LEWIS  and CLARK ENDED THEIR LONG JOURNEY.

THE VICTORY THEATER IN DOWNTOWN ASTORIA HAS BEEN RESTORED TO IT'S ORIGINAL GLORY AND THE MAIN DRAG IS CHOCK FULL OF TOURIST SHOPS AND RESTAURANTS, A POPULAR DAYTRIP FROM PORTLAND.

THE OREGON COAST IS VERY SPECIAL WITH MAXIMUM PUBLIC ACCESS TO THE PACIFIC SHORE AND PLACES LIKE CANNON BEACH ABOVE WHERE THE SEAMOUNTS MAKE PEOPLE APPEAR AS SMALL AS ANTS.

THE SUNSET AT SEASIDE, OR WAS SOFT AND SWEET FOLLOWED BY SOME GREAT HALIBUT AT DOGGER'S RESTAURANT IN TOWN.

ANOTHER SPLENDID DAY AS WE WOUND OUR WAY DOWN THE OREGON COAST STOPPING TO ENJOY THE VIEWS, HIKING THE FORESTS AND EATING OUTRAGEOUS CARMEL PECAN PRALINE ICE CREAM AT THE TILLAMOOK CREAMERY.

BUNGEE CAUTIOUSLY CROSSED THE SWINGING BRIDGE OVER THE RIVER ON A TRAIL TO A SECLUDED BEACH.

HUNDREDS OF SEALIONS CRAM IN FOR THE NIGHT AT A SMALL BEACH NEAR        FLORENCE, OR AND THE CHORUS OF THEIR BARKING RESOUNDS OFF THE CLIFFS. 

  THE ART DECO BRIDGES ALONG THE COASTAL ROUTE IN OREGON ARE AMONG MY
  FAVORITES AND THE HIGH ONE IN NEWPORT IS ONE OF THE BEST.

DRIVING INLAND ALONG THE UMPUQUA RIVER YOU VIEW LARGE HERDS OF ELK  GRAZING  IN THE MEADOWS.

TRACY, ZAN, ME AND BUNGE IN ASHLAND, OR

ARRIVED AT TRACY AND KEVIN'S WONDERFUL HOUSE ISOLATED IN THE WOODS OF MT. ASHLAND JUST OUTSIDE OF TOWN. IT'S BEEN RAINING FOR TWO DAYS, BUT GOOD COMPANY, A SNUG PLACE WITH A WARM WOOD STOVE AND VERY RELAXING.

GOOD TO MEET KEVIN AND ZAN, WHO WILL BE ONE NEXT MONTH, AND CATCH UP WITH TRACY WHO I'VE KNOWN SINCE SHE WAS A GRADE SCHOOLER IN MANCHESTER, MA. SHE HAS STAYED A CLOSE FRIEND WITH MY DAUGHTER, ALISON EVEN THOUGH THEY HAVE LIVED ON SEPARATE COAST FOR A LONG TIME. TRACY HAS BEEN ON LEAVE WITH ZAN AND GOES BACK TO HER JOB AS A FIREFIGHTER IN OAKLAND, CA NEXT MONTH.  WE HAVE A GOOD MUTUAL FRIEND IN SAN MIGUEL DE ALLENDE, MARY BRENEMAN. BUNGEE AND ZAN HAVE BECOME BUDDIES AND WE'LL MISS ALL OF THEM WHEN WE HEAD SOUTH INTO CALIFORNIA TOMORROW MORNING.