Mendocino Coast

[Lighthawk]

We just returned from four relaxing days on the Mendocino coast. We took a chance visiting in July, but had sunny weather every day but one. It was an inaugural trip for my brand new Wilderness kayak, which we purchased the day before we left town. After three weeks of watching Craigslist within a 250 mi radius, we bit the bullet and got a new boat. I got the same color as our other boat, so it's a color coordinated flotilla

We don't know about primitive camping along this popular stretch of coast, so we reserved a space at the Caspar Cove RV Park. The positives were: hot showers (bring quarters), NO GENERATORS due to electrical hookups, WIFI, and access to a beautiful little cove with a nice sandy beach, perfect for kayaking. Negatives were: we were packed in like sardines with RV's which is not our style Our last day we walked back into the back loop for drive-in tenters and saw we should have gotten a site back there. Live and learn.

Caspar Cove

Last year we did this type of trip with a 70# tandem and the 50# kayak on top. Without lifters, it was a struggle to lift. We now have two 50# boats and I've installed 4x40# lifters, so the lift isn't too bad if we both do it. I'd consider replacing the rear lifts with 60# units if going solo or adding much more weight.

Our first morning paddle was sublime. There were negative low tides each day we were there and the ocean was glassy. It was spectacular tide pooling from a boat. Really nice paddling.

This last shot of Susan is my favorite.

We're still novice kayakers and we had a minor mishap while coming back in. We got a little close to the beach while observing a seal who was cruising the surf line. Susan got caught parallel to a small wave and it rolled her. Fortunately it was knee deep water, but the boat filled with water and she got roughed up a bit. I decided to come in and help and caught a wave on my boat (old surfin' habits die hard), did a bottom turn, but then was sideways to the white water and got tumbled myself. We must have provided some comedic relief to the locals on the beach.

As usual, we brought the dog. Sadie is 13 years old now, but loves to come.

When we decided to move to a roomier site, we just threw everything into the FWC on top of Sadie. She's so happy in her bed, she didn't mind at all

Sort of a Where's Waldo here. Can you spot the dog??

In the afternoon we did a hike to the Pt. Cabrillo Lighthouse, where DoRocks just visited I believe. There's a trail that starts right at Caspar Cove that winds thru stands of Sitka Spruce. We could hear several ospreys whistling and calling above us as we circled the canyon of Doyle Creek on the Caspar Uplands Trail.

The trail leaves the forest and suddenly you are in wide open golden grain filled fields. Very expansive for the mind to walk in this environment.

Susan approaching Pt. Cabrillo

Pt. Cabrillo Lighthouse was built after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Demand for timber from the north coast hit an all time high. The fresnel lens was first illuminated in 1909. It rotated by means of a chain wrapped around a drum that required rewinding every two hours to maintain the 10 second interval which was the signature of this beacon.

I have always had an affinity for B&W photography

To be continued . . .

But first a little HDR for MarkBC to close out the post:

 

[MarkBC]

But first a little HDR for MarkBC to close out the post:

Highly dynamic!!

 

[generubin]

Looks great. Anne and I are planning a trip up there after the summer vacation crowds go home.

 

[Lighthawk]

Looks great. Anne and I are planning a trip up there after the summer vacation crowds go home.

Good timing, Gene. We were there last September, post Labor Day and it was less people and better weather.

You might check out this spot for both beach and river access:

Navarro Beach Campground

This beautiful little campground is located at the mouth of the Navarro River on the Pacific ocean. The access road is located on the south side of the Navarro River Bridge. There are only ten primitive campsites and no running water. The campsites are available on a first-come first-serve basis.
Navarro Beach

 

[generubin]

Good timing, Gene. We were there last September, post Labor Day and it was less people and better weather.

You might check out this spot for both beach and river access:

Navarro Beach Campground

This beautiful little campground is located at the mouth of the Navarro River on the Pacific ocean. The access road is located on the south side of the Navarro River Bridge. There are only ten primitive campsites and no running water. The campsites are available on a first-come first-serve basis.
Navarro Beach


We will definitely check it out!

 

[dorocks]

Ahh

Makes me want to go north again. We kayaked around Mission Bay in San Diego last weekend (we squeezed between the crowds). I miss the trees and coastlines. But kayaking anywhere is better than most urban mundane activities.

Keith

 

[UHAULER]

Nice report. I just picked up my first kayak, a wilderness pungo classic 120.

Is Casper a dog friendly place ? Are dogs allowed on the hiking trails ?

 

[Lighthawk]

Caspar Beach has a dogs on leash rule. We saw the same at Glass Beach in Ft. Bragg and also at Van Damme St. Park (also a nice spot to stay, but you may have generator types there).
We saw many folks walking their dogs.

 

[Lighthawk]

Thought I should wrap up this TR.

Our third day was a wet, misty sort of day. The kind of day that makes you happy you have a pop up where you can retreat for a mid-day siesta I was nursing some tendinitis in my elbow, so was glad to have a non-paddling day.

We did several walks, spotting abundant bird life in the open fields of grain above the sea cliffs. I had a good opportunity to photograph a California Quail at the barn/beach access just north of Little River.

There were also a number of sparrows in the fields.

But the real excitement was a group of three white-tailed kites that were actively hunting.

At first I thought maybe they were osprey, due to the predominant white color and the three-foot plus wingspan. But they didn't look right and had very pointy falcon-like wings. A puzzle. I considered peregrine falcon, but they have a dark hood on their head and these guys didn't have that either. The main tip off was the hovering behavior that kites are known for. It took a guidebook to ID these guys, a first for me.

One of them swooped down and came up with some prey, an unfortunate young bird of some sort. They other kites began chasing, in an aerial ballet that was fascinating to watch. We felt bad for the young bird that was promptly killed and eaten, but that's the nature of the wild.

The tide pools were amazing. We were careful not to turn our back to the ocean.

It was a negative low tide again. We were just lucky, but I would try to find tides like this for the next trip.

We retreated from the wet for a while and did the coffee shop scene in Ft. Bragg. The downtown has a nice feel to it around Franklin Street, and there's also quite a few homeless folk seen walking along the main drag through town. (Just learned that a friend just had her bike stolen at McKerricker SP, just north of Ft. Bragg)

We met some nice ladies at the shop who were into beach glass. We decided to head down to Glass Beach and poke around. On the north end of Ft. Bragg, this was apparently the dump site for decades and now has a high percentage of beach glass. Can you imagine the thinking behind dumping trash directly into the ocean? Guess we're only marginally better today.

We saw a group of harbor seals on the rocks at Glass Beach.

Our last stop for the day was a visit to Noyo Harbor. Susan thinks it's kind of stinky. She's right, there's rotting, sinking boats, and rust everywhere. I like the authenticity of the place. And when the fishing boats come in it's where you can buy the daily catch. The salmon industry has taken a real beating, as the species has suffered from ecological destruction of their critical habitat and overfishing. The current commercial season is letting the boats fish four days on and four days off right now. I picked up a fillet of fresh, wild chinook to BBQ in celebration of my 53rd turn around the sun. It was magnificent and provided leftovers for a salmon omlette the next day.

The next day was an easy one. We walked Big River out to the sand bar. Looks like there's more big driftwood after last winter. Our plan was to take Comptche Rd. to Orr Springs on our way back to Ukiah and Hwy 20. We did this single lane paved wagon road last year and enjoyed the ride through the Mendo National Forest. An hour from the coast we stopped at Orr Hot Springs. We had made phone reservations for day use, but there where very few people there mid-week. We admired the gardens and enjoyed the hot water alternating with shocking cold showers. It was completely rejuvenating. Afterwards we took lunch among the redwoods at Montgomery Redwood Reserve.

I nodded off while Susan drove along Clear Lake and across the central valley, then took the wheel to bring us home. It's always great to come back and see how much progress our garden has made. Lot's of lettuce, peas, basil and squash to pick and tomatoes, peppers, beans on the way.

Last shot from Glass Beach:

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Great pictures and a nice trip report.We have enjoyed the Ft. Brag area for more years than I like to thing,but haven't been there for a few years.I first stayed at the Navarro River beach camp back in 70. I just pulled off onto a hard area, I was in my Shelby GT 350 at the time, and spent the night.What a great night,hope to get back that way may be this fall after Alaska. There are lots of places to stop even north of Ft. Brag.Some nice beaches and lots of drift wood.

Frank

 

[Marc]

Nice report and pics Lighthawk. That area was my old stomping grounds about seven years ago when I was working for State parks. Lots of history up there, great abolone diving and one of my favorite areas. Weather changes quick up there, but all you have to do is go a couple of miles inland and it heats up real fast. In the off season I would recommend "Van Damme" State Beach campground between Little River and Navaro. For campgrounds it is one of my favorites and has a good beach for launching Yaks. I ran the Kiosk there many summers.

marc