Out-Standing Rocks in the Ocean: The Sea Stacks of Bandon, Oregon… The Pacific Coast Series 15

June 7, 2024June 6, 2024 / Curt Mekemson / 21 Comments

One thing common about most of our stops along the coast on our tour of the Pacific Coast from Big Sur to Olympic National Park has been sea stacks, rocks and islands that were once part of headlands but are now part of the ocean. The most famous is Face Rock in Bandon, Oregon.

In case you don’t see the face, Peggy provides a clue. Face Rock comes with a Native American story about its origins. A native princess went swimming in the ocean carrying a basket with a cat and kittens. She was grabbed by a ferocious sea monster who tried to force her to look at him so she would be his slave forever. She resisted by looking up at the sky, where she remains today. Her cat and kittens can be seen off to the right.

I like the creation story. Geologists have another. Sea stacks are created by the constant pounding of the waves against rock, at first creating a cave. Over time, usually millions of years, the cave enlarges until it becomes an arch.

Such as this arch, which is still connected to the mainland in Mendocino. (I used this photo a few weeks ago on our Mendocino Headlands Post.) Eventually the arch will fall down and leave behind a new sea stack. We found it interesting that we could see a speck of light in the middle of the arch. Possibly a new sea stack will be created sooner rather than later.

Peggy and I walked through a sea cave on the Bandon coast that will eventually create a new sea stack. This is a photo of Peggy.

She took this photo from the other side of the cave looking out toward the ocean, which brings me to another point. Face Rock was not the only impressive sea stack off of the coast of Bandon. There were bunches.

A closer view. The Fickle Finger of Fate, perhaps. (Those of you who are older may remember Rowan and Martin’s *Fickle Finger of Fate Award* that they gave out on their weekly TV show. For example, the US Congress got one.)

Peggy and I promptly named this Sea Lion after the sea lions we saw posing along the Noyo River in Fort Bragg.

Another impressive sea stack. I’m thinking Man in the Moon at half phase.

We came back to the Face Rock Overlook to check out the sea stacks as the sun set. This is the Cat and the Kittens. In case you can’t see them, neither can I. Several photographers were down on the beach hoping to catch a good sunset.

This was the view looking south from the Face Rock Overview.

The sunset was also good for catching waves splash over rocks.

In line with our ability to see creatures of all sorts in natural settings, Peggy found a pair of eyes staring back at her when she took a final sunset photo. That’s it for today. Next up we will feature our day of exploring tide pools in Bandon.

Sea Stars were everywhere when we checked out the tide pools at Devil’s Kitchen in Bandon, Oregon.

Dinosaurs, ET, Ewoks— and Bigfoot: They All Roamed (Roam?)through the Redwoods… The Pacific Coast Series #14

June 3, 2024June 2, 2024 / Curt Mekemson / 28 Comments

When I see something like this rolled up fern head, I have no problem imagining Jurassic Park, Star Wars, or even ET. Parts of all of these movies were filmed in the National and State Redwood Parks of the far northwest coast of California. ET phoned home, the Ewoks celebrated into the night on Endor, and T-Rex stomped through the rainforest of Fern Canyon in search of two-legged morsels. To top it off, even Bigfoot has been sighted in the Redwoods. Several times.

A carving of Bigfoot Jr. sat outside the Redwood Carving Gift Shop in the small town of Orick.

As the fern head featured above unrolls , it seems even more ancient. In reality, the fern is ancient. It was one of the first plants on earth, dating back to as far as 430 million years ago.

The last phase of unrolling. It looks even more primitive.

The six mile road into Fern Canyon from Highway 101, where Jurassic Park, The Lost World, was filmed, was about a mile from where Peggy and I were camped. We had to go! The first four miles or so of the road had not recovered from winter storms. In addition to being one lane, it was full of Jurassic-size potholes. Had we fallen in one, it would have devoured our pickup faster than T-rex.

Fortunately, the road became wider and flattened out when we reached the ocean. Heavy equipment was eliminating pot holes. Gold Bluffs was on our right…

And the ocean, on our left, was pounding ashore.

Some one had left this neat artwork on the beach. I doubt it was Big Foot.

The road came to an end and we started our hike into Fern Canyon. A small herd of elk was resting in the tall grass just off the trail. Had we realized how difficult it would be for us to see elk up close in the park, we would have spent more time with the herd.

This sign greeted us as we drove into the small Heart of the Redwoods RV Campground where we stayed. Can you blame us for assuming we would be seeing elk— like out our door!

This person’s front yard, about two miles away from our camp, was what we imagined.

We reached the beginning of Fern Canyon and thought, “Is this it?” Actually it wasn’t. We would have had to wade a mile up the canyon and we weren’t wearing the right shoes.

We lost ‘our once in a blue moon’ opportunity to see dinosaurs. (We took this from our campground. I played a bit with the processing.)

We did see lots of ferns, however. And giant clover.

On the way back to Highway 101, a trail sign invited us to see Trillium Falls. We like trilliums and we like waterfalls, so off we went. The falls were small, but still, technically, falls. We felt it was an appropriately Jurassic-like scene.

We found this one elsewhere in the Park. Trilliums earn their name by having three petals, three sepals, and three leaves.

They are whiter when young and become more pink as they age.

AND A WRAP-UP

Peggy and I finished off our visit with a trip up to the Klamath Beach Road on the northern end of the Park. We had visited the beach on a previous trip to the Redwoods and found it covered with colorful small pieces of redwood that had been carved by the ocean. While the road was theoretical paved, it was equally rough to the road into Fern Canyon. Unfortunately, the access road was closed. The beach had been taken over by seals! We drove up to an overlook.

You’ve seen a number of seals so far from our journey up the coast. I’m sure you will see more. These, like the rest, seemed well fed and not particularly interested in physical exercise! That’s reserved for when they are in the water.

What was different about these seals was their sheer numbers.

California brown pelicans and seagulls backed up the seals.

And Peggy spotted a whale out in the ocean, making its way north to Alaska.

An old cemetery was next to where we were parked. Rhododendrons were budding in it.

And had a unique beauty. With that, I’ll close our posts on the Redwoods. The fabulous sea stacks of Bandon, Oregon, are waiting.

Brandon’s famous Face Rock outlined by the setting sun.

A Walk among the Giants: Redwood National Park… The Pacific Coast Series #12

May 27, 2024May 27, 2024 / Curt Mekemson / 20 Comments

That redwood trees are tall and old is not news. One of the best known of the giants in Redwood National Park (appropriately if unimaginatively named Big Tree) stands at 286 feet tall and is 1500 years old. It is neither the tallest nor the oldest among the redwoods that stretch along the Pacific Coast from Central California to Southern Oregon, however. The tallest reaches a hundred feet higher into the sky, the oldest a thousand years further back in time. Circumference is another way of measuring these behemoths. Big Tree stretches out to over 74 feet. It would take 15 Peggys to reach around it.

To truly get a feeling for the size of the redwoods, one needs to go for a walk among the magnificent trees. Words and photos simply can’t capture the awe one feels. Living in Northern California and Southern Oregon, which we did before moving to Virginia, Peggy and I have been privileged to visit the Redwood National Park several times. When we were planning out our 3-month trip up the Pacific Coast, there was no question that we would visit again.

One of the easiest ways to provide perspective on size is to put a person in the photo. I volunteered.

A well worn trail worked its way up between these two. I was not the first to stand there and pose.

Given the size of the redwoods, one would expect to have roots digging deep into the ground to hold them up. It isn’t the case. But what they lack in depth, they make up in width, as Peggy demonstrates here.

It isn’t unusual to find the base of Redwood trees burned out while the tree continues to stand and live. The spaces created have an unusual name: Goose pens. They were so large that early pioneers could fence them in and use them for animals such as geese.

Peggy and I often joke about getting crooks in our necks because we spend so much time looking up when we walk through the various groves.

I always like the perspective gained from shooting up from the base of a large tree.

One of the most impressive walks one can take in Redwood National Park is the Lady Bird Johnson Grove Trail. Among America’s First Ladies, Lady Bird stood out for her environmental concern and was a strong advocate for saving the redwoods.

This plaque was located in the heart of the grove. Saving the redwoods was a long, difficult process that involved the dedication of numerous people starting in the early 1900s with the formation of the Save the Redwoods League. Before 1850, there were approximately 2 million acres of coastal redwoods. California’s gold rush brought hundreds of thousands of people to California and a huge demand for lumber to build homes and commercial structures. It is a demand that has continued down through the decades. Today, only 5 percent of the old-growth coastal redwood forest remains.

I confess, I am something of a tree hugger myself.

This early photo from the Erickson Collection at Humboldt State College shows old growth redwoods being hauled out of the forest to the Excelsior Lumber Company in Eureka, California where they were to be sawed into lumber.

In addition to saving the redwoods for present and future generations, considerable work is also being done throughout the National Park to repair damage done by the logging activities of the past. Peggy and I hiked down the Ah-Pah Trail off the Newton Drury Scenic Highway which talks about and demonstrates some of the efforts being made. This woodsy trail was once a logging road. That’s it for today. In our next post we will feature some of the strange ‘creatures’ that hang out on the trees and are worthy of a fantasy novel. There’s no preview photo this time. It will be a surprise.

A Sea Lion Lesson on Being Snooty: Views along the Noyo River… The Pacific Coast Series #11

May 24, 2024May 23, 2024 / Curt Mekemson / 21 Comments

The definition of ‘having your nose up in the air’ according to Merriam-Webster is **to behave in a way that shows one thinks one is better than others**. In other words, being snooty. We couldn’t help but think of this sea lion posturing as being an excellent example— right down to the puffed out chest! Or, maybe they were warning us to keep our distance, given that they were more or less lying on top of each other when we approached. The big males seemed to be saying to each other, “I’ve got this.” “No. I’ve got it.” “No. I’ve got it…” Mating season is right around the corner. It’s important to establish who is top dog/sea lion.

I’ve approached our trip up the Pacific Coast much differently that I usually plan our road trips. I made reservations more than a day in advance. In fact I made most of them three months ahead. There were three reasons: One, Peggy and I wanted to stay in places for one to two weeks. Two, Pacific Coast campgrounds fill up quickly, especially as summer approaches. Three, Peggy has never been totally happy with my day ahead—or day of— approach to reservations. (The first time we took a year off to travel in 1999/2000, I only made one.)

My choice in Fort Bragg was a little campground on the Noyo River, slightly off the main tourist route.

The Dolphin Isle RV Campground and Marina is a couple of miles upriver from Fort Bragg’s main marina. The staff was super friendly, the price reasonable, and, most important, we were able to back our small trailer, Seraphina, up to the river.

We had great views from our campsite. Upriver.

Down river. The pilings may have held up a dock at one time.

Now they hold up birds. This heron was standing on top of one, preening as we set up camp. Peggy grabbed her camera and caught it with a feather in its bill. Is the other one a feather in his cap?

We set up our camp chairs behind Serafina so we could watch the wildlife, such as this mallard, float by.

I thought his tail feathers were worthy of a shot.

A Canada goose came by scarfing up sea weed.

Cormorants had a favorite log just above our campsite, where they perched, dried out their wings, and preened.

Several harbor seals swam by as they made their way up and down the Noyo River. This one checked us out. We also saw river otters

The river seemed the perfect place for us to kayak. Peggy was eager to get out. In fact, it was one of the reasons I selected Dolphin Isle for our camp. We pulled our inflatable Innova out of the truck’s bed and inflated it. We had kayaked with it for a quarter of a century in such diverse waters as Alaska, Baja, the Boundary Waters and the Everglades. For the first time ever, it refused to hold air. An internal seam had given out. We decided the time had come to retire Big Green and purchase a new kayak, which is something we have been talking about.

Kayaking on Squaw Lake, Oregon. Photo by Curtis Mekemson. — Peggy, sitting in the front, paddles our two-person, inflatable Innova kayak on Little Squaw Lake, a few miles from our home in Oregon.

Peggy still wanted to explore the Noyo River, however. She discovered that a small, electric boat operated out of the Dolphin Isle Marina and took people on short tours of the marina and river. She signed us up immediately.

Peggy and Captain Dan in his eco-friendly electric boat, the Noyo Star. She found Dan at WWW.NoyoHarborTours.com. Dan still fishes for a living as well as running his tour boat. He told us he had been providing fish to the same Chinese Restaurant in San Francisco for over 20 years.

As part of the trip, Dan took us on a tour of the Fort Bragg Marina that featured larger fishing boats like this trawler that uses a large net to drag the bottom. Several of the larger boats head to Alaska in the summer for fishing.

A crab boat was stacked with the traps that are used to catch crabs. The traps are baited with things crabs like to eat (fish and chicken work, the smellier the better),and dropped off in the water attached to a bouy. Every few hours, the traps are checked for any catch.

A variety of smaller fishing boats were also in the marina. The Zhivago is Dan’s boat. How can you not like someone who names his boat Zhivago!

The Coast Guard also had a couple of boats stationed at the marina, as they do at most of the fishing ports up and down the coast.

The real stars of the tour were the sea lions, snoozing in the sun. They apparently liked each other, given how they are snuggled up together.

We had to look twice at this. Sea lion number one was lying down. Sea lion number two had placed its tail on top of sea lion number one. Sea lion number three rested its head on the tail.

As mentioned above, several sea lions raised their heads and assumed the ‘snooty’ position on our arrival. It appeared that several of them were going though various stages of molting. Either that or Mr. Snooty had on low rider pants.

And the award for the snootiest goes to: This fellow for looking down its nose at us.

“Permission to come aboard, Sir!” Quite the discussion was going on here. The big fellow in the water had jumped off the walkway at our approach. There was a question whether the answer would be “yes.” After all, he had abandoned ship. The other sea lions look on in interest. They may be females who have a stake in the results.

As we left, Captain Dan gave a quick toot on his horn. Three heads popped up in response.

Major pilings held up such things as fish processing buildings, restaurants and even three cabins for rent.

They also provided a squiggly, colorful, reflection shot.

Close to the end of our tour with Captain Dan, the entrance to the Dolphin Isle Marina can be seen center right. This also brings us to the end of this post and our Fort Bragg blogs. Next up…

Some really big trees: The magnificent redwoods.

A Famous Glass Beach and Rugged Headlands: Along Mendocino’s Magical Coast… The Pacific Coast Series #10

May 20, 2024May 19, 2024 / Curt Mekemson / 37 Comments

It was once a dump, now it is one of the world’s most famous glass beaches. Located next to Fort Bragg, it was like a gold mine to those who collected these fragments from past bottles and other types of glass.

I first learned about people’s passion for collecting sea glass from our daughter-in-law, Cammie. Our son Tony was stationed on Kodiak Island as a helicopter pilot for the Coast Guard and Cammie had taken up producing sea glass jewelry to sell. Peggy and I were invited to join a family outing to collect sea glass on a local beach when we were visiting. It was like going on a treasure hunt. The glass had once hosted a variety of alcoholic drinks in a local bar that overlooked the Pacific Ocean. Then the 1964 Great Alaskan Earthquake struck. It was over six times as powerful as the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The devastation caused by the shockwaves and tsunami was massive— and it included the Kodiak bar, washing it into the ocean. Ever since, the Pacific Ocean has been turning the liquor, wine, and beer bottles into sea glass.

A USGS photo of the waterfront of Kodiak after the 1964 Alaska earthquake.

Cammie turned the sea glass into attractive jewelry that she marketed on Facebook and in local shops.

The combination of rocks, shells and glass reworked by the ocean and wet down by the retreating tide was quite photogenic. Cammie told us that the colored glass was less common and worth more than the clear glass— the more rare, the more valuable.

This rock, with what I think are quartz intrusions, also demanded a photo. It was taken above the tide line and illustrates how important the water was in bringing out the color of the glass rocks and shells.

The story behind the glass beach at Fort Bragg isn’t nearly as dramatic as the beach in Kodiak. The beach was the site of the community’s official dump until 1967. The attitude up until then in Fort Bragg and numerous other coastal towns had been why worry about burying your garbage when the ocean will wash it out to sea. Growing awareness about the potential harm from the practice by the community plus pressure from the California Water Resources Board led to closing the dump in 1967. Degradable garbage degraded, non-degradable garbage such as automobiles and refrigerators was hauled away, and the glass, already on its way to becoming sea glass, was left to become more sea-glassy.

There were more things to see at Glass Beach in addition to the sea glass. For one, there was an army of ground squirrels.

Mainly, they were busy chowing down on the buds of ice plant flowers.

Peggy found one sunbathing on a whale sculpture, however. I think it said something about providing perspective. I think the local hawks had a different perspective. Lunch.

We didn’t see any hawks, but we did see this raven parked on a “no parking” sign.

This island was located off of Glass Beach. it is a part of the 20,000 offshore rocks and islands that make up the California Coastal Monument that stretches out over the 1100 mile California coast and provides valuable protection to birds and mammals.

This harbor seal was nursing its baby on one of the rocks.

This nondescript little building caught our attention. We stopped at an information sign to find out what it was. Turns out it was a dynamite bunker dating back to the early 1900s when the dynamite was used to blast a railroad tunnel. It was located far away from anything, just in case. The info sign also informed us that the men who used the dynamite to blow up things were known as powder monkeys. Apparently the nitroglycerin in the dynamite led the powder monkeys to become a bit deranged— not a desirable quality for someone handling explosives, I’d think.

The town of Mendocino is one of my all-time favorite coastal communities, for a number of reasons. For one, it has an incredible bookstore that comes complete with a bookstore cat. Another is its gorgeous headlands of which this arch is part.

A scenic inlet lays off to the right of the arch.

A female seal was lying on her back in the foreground, apparently enjoying herself while her baby hovered near by.

The inlet on the left featuring the island. And a rock.

And on the right, the mainland. Same rock.

Peggy noted that the rock came with its own sea cave/budding arch.

We followed the trail to the right of the arch where the waves were pounding in.

While we were admiring the wave action, a flock of over 20 or so California brown pelicans flew in from the left.

As we continued northward along the Headlands, we were greeted by more islands.

One island was packed with nesting birds, cormorants and what looked like small penguins!

A closer look, and The *Sibley Guide to Birds* told me they were Murres. Murres lay their eggs directly on the rocks. The fact that they are more rounded on one end and more pointed on the other means they will roll in circles if nudged instead of falling off of the rock! Isn’t nature grand.

A final look at the island the cormorants and murres had chosen for their nests and we were on our way back to Fort Bragg and our campsite along the Noyo River. The Noyo will be our next and final post on the Fort Bragg/Medocino area.

A short tour of the Noyo River by Captain Dan took us down to the Fort Bragg Marina where we found this, and many other sea lions.

Gorgeous Azaleas, Plus: Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens… The Pacific Coast Series #9

May 16, 2024May 16, 2024 / Curt Mekemson / 29 Comments

It was Mother’s Day. We are on the West Coast in the middle of our Pacific Coast exploration and our kids are on the East Coast. It was up to me to spoil Peggy. I started out by cooking her sourdough French toast topped off with butter and maple syrup, accompanied by sausage. Then it was time for the flowers.

So I took Peggy to the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens where there were lots of them. It is south of Fort Bragg about 10 minutes away from where we were camped on the Noyo River. The azaleas were in full bloom. Plus there were lots of other flowers, such as the beauty below. Note: This is the most photos I have ever posted on one blog. I kept the words to a minimum. It goes fast! I promise— unless you want to linger. Grin.

The garden covers 40 acres with numerous paths leading through woodlands, wetlands and along the coast. There was even a desert section.

As I noted, the azaleas were in full bloom. And beautiful. Peggy and I were kept busy with our cameras.

The azaleas came in numerous sizes, colors and even shapes.

And now for other plants. This was in the desert collection. Strangely beautiful.

Its companion. Note the yellow flower on the right…

But what is stranger than a Venus flytrap?

Not sure what this is, but it felt a bit Jurassic. (Peggy and I were at Fern Canyon in the Redwoods on Tuesday where a portion of the original Jurassic Park movie was filmed.)

Also cascading: foxglove. We grew them in Oregon because the deer weren’t supposed to eat them. Every day they would come by, sample a bloom, and spit it out. Stubborn!

A poppy refused to come out because it was overcast and cold.

And at least two pieces of impressive drift wood.

This gate led to a vegetable garden. Other than being artistic, its purpose was to keep the deer out!

Just inside was a burbling brook with this sign posted on it— a polite way to ask visitors not to throw coins in the water. A not so polite sign in the vegetable garden directed visitors to keep their dogs from peeing on the vegetables.

Fun greenhouse (or tool shed) at the vegetable garden.

The Botanical Garden also includes a section of the dramatic Mendocino Coast. We included it in our hike. There were more flowers, of course.

The trail led us right along the edge of the ocean.

Some of the ground was carpeted by tiny yellow flowers so tiny they were indistinct…

We normally take photos of poppies to emphasize the flowers. This time, it was the leaves.

I’ll conclude today with colorful rock that was towering over the others in the small bay. I was pondering what it reminded me of. “It’s Buddha,” Peggy declared. It was the Buddha of the Bay. On Monday, we will explore more of the Mendocino Coast including the headlands outside of the town of Mendocino and Fort Bragg’s famous Glass Beach.

Many years ago, before such activities became unthinkable, not to mention illegal, this section of the beach in Fort Bragg served as a dump. Time has ground the glass to the point where it fits right in with the pebbles and seashells. In a quick perusal, I counted over 30 pieces in this small section.

A Lighthouse, Cypress Tunnel, and the 1906 Earthquake: Pt. Reyes NS… North Coast Series 8

May 13, 2024 / Curt Mekemson / 20 Comments

The Point Reyes Lighthouse protected mariners sailing past dangerous rocks off the coast for 105 years from 1870 until 1985 when the Coast Guard replaced it with an automated light just beneath the lighthouse.

Peggy and I have visited the Point Reyes Lighthouse with its dramatic location perched above the Pacific Ocean several times. The wind was blowing so hard this time, it was hard to open the doors on our truck and almost impossible to put on our windbreakers outside in the wind. None-the-less, we vowed to make the half mile trek out to the observation tower overlooking the lighthouse. It’s just too impressive not to.

The steps down to the lighthouse were closed. Given the wind, we weren’t disappointed. It was more like, “Thank you National Park Service!” Holding our cameras steady was enough of a challenge! The Park actually has a policy: *When wind speeds exceed 40 mph, the stairs leading down to the lighthouse are closed for visitors’ safety.* My guess is that the winds were closer to 60 mph.

There was no lack of great views or opportunities for photos.

Our cameras even brought the lighthouse close.

There are a number of other things to see on a walk out to the lighthouse, such as watching waves crash into rocks. The nesting seabirds that had painted the rocks white were probably cormorants.

There is even the skeletal head of a female blue whale. I posed for perspective. The rock next to my shoulder, BTW, is known as Point Reyes conglomerate and may be over 50 million years old.

Peggy spotted what she thought looked like a head carved out of the conglomerate and couldn’t resist photographing it. This was just above the whale head.

She was also taken with this hole in a rock on the ridge opposite the whale head. An eye with an iris?

And discovered some striking flowers hanging out on the rocky cliffs: rosea ice plant.

And worked their way down the steep cliff.

On our way back to the car we were treated to this view of Point Reyes South Beach. I used to hike on the beach with my basset hound Socrates in the early 70s.

This map near the overlook provides a view of the National Seashore and a dramatic illustration of plate tectonics. “You are here,”marks the location of the lighthouse. Drakes Bay is to the right with Drakes Beach to the left of Drakes Estero, which cuts inland from the bay. Limantour Beach is to the right of the Estero. Traveling north up the coast from the lighthouse, the small lake you can see is Abbots Lagoon. The Pierce Ranch and the elk reserve are to the north of that. That covers my Point Reyes posts so far.

The long inlet to the right is Tomales Bay. If you follow along the bay and keep going south along the valley, you will reach Bolinas Lagoon. This route marks the direct path of the San Andreas Fault. To the east is the North American Continental Plate; to the west is the Pacific Plate. The Pacific Plate is working its way north, scraping along the Continental Plate, slowly— moving at about the rate your fingernail grows. It began its journey as part of the Tehachapi Mountains 310 miles to the south. It doesn’t move at a steady rate, however. It remains still for long periods of time and them leaps forward causing earthquakes, including massive ones like like 1906 earthquake that destroyed San Francisco. It also had a major impact on the Point Reyes area.

Earthquake Trail is next to the Point Reyes NS Visitor’s Center in Bear Valley about a quarter of a mile from where we were camped at Olema. It provides a dramatic illustration of just how powerful the 1906 earthquake was. While the fence shown here is relatively new, it is a replica of the one that was here when the earthquake struck. Peggy and I would have been standing together before the earthquake. Afterwards we would have been close to 20 feet apart (although I doubt we would have been standing). That’s how far Point Reyes moved north. (Photo by Lita Campbell.)

On our drive back to camp from the lighthouse, we drove by the iconic Cypress Tunnel and stopped for a quick look. The road leads to the historic Historic KPH Maritime Radio Receiving Station that was built in 1929 by Marconi to allow communication with ships throughout the Pacific. That’s a wrap for our Point Reyes series. Next, our journey takes us to the beautiful Mendocino Coast of California where we stayed in Fort Bragg on the banks of the Noyo River.

It was Mother’s Day yesterday and I gave Peggy a bouquet to celebrate, a 40 acre bouquet. We took a trip to the nearby Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden and spent two hours strolling down paths filled with azaleas and numerous other gorgeous flowers. Our walk will be the subject of my next post on Thursday. Prepare for beauty!

Historic Ranch, Wildflowers, Elk— and Quail: Pierce Ranch, Pt. Reyes NS… Pacific Coast Series7

May 10, 2024May 9, 2024 / Curt Mekemson / 30 Comments

Peggy and I visited the historic Pierce Ranch during our recent two week stay at Point Reyes National Seashore. We didn’t go to see the quail, but there they were, everywhere. This one, wearing his ‘red cap with white trim, white beard, bushy eye brows, and big belly,’ reminded me of someone. A certain Mr. Claus perhaps? But what about the jaunty feather in his cap? Actually, it is six overlapping feathers.

Anyone visiting Pt. Reyes National Seashore should visit the historic Pierce Ranch. It provides an excellent introduction to the dairy industry that started in the mid-1800s and still exists within the National Seashore boundaries today. Local ranchers worked together with the Sierra Club in the 1960s and 70s to preserve their ranches and avoid the onslaught of real estate speculators and developers who envisioned turning the beautiful area into massive profits for themselves and great homes for the few that could afford them— instead of one of the world’s premier national parks for everyone.

There is more to the ranch than history, however. For one, there is a tule elk reserve in the area. Having been eliminated from the region during the 1800s, they were reintroduced in 1978 and now constitute a sizable herd. A trip out to the ranch doesn’t guarantee you will see these magnificent creatures but the odds are you will. A short— or longer— hike out the Tomales Point Trail will increase your chances even more. Gorgeous scenery, wild flowers galore, birds and other wildlife are three more excellent reasons for a visit.

We actually went out twice on our visit: The first time was with our friends Tom Lovering and Lita Campbell, the second by ourselves. We didn’t need any excuse to go a second time, but the fact we had forgotten to bring our cameras except for an iPhone the first time was certainly a factor. We’ve become spoiled. Our photos are from both trips, however. Even Tom jumped in with his iPhone.

Quail eat a variety of plants and insects but seeds are always high on their list. This California quail is searching for them along the Tomales Point Trail.

The wind added an interesting look to the quail as it came down the trail toward us.

This is the time of the year when quail pair up. The hen, who had been searching for food in the grass, joined her mate. This shot provides a good view of the contrast between the male and female. Both are attractive. Soon they will have a clutch of eggs that can number up to the high 20s. It will be well hidden in the grass. When the babies hatch, it becomes the male’s job to serve as a guard. I’ve often watched one perched in a location that provides a view of the surrounding area. A quick call sends mom and babies into hiding when a threat appears. The chicks get “Freeze!” I once came on a group in the Marble Mountains of Northern California that had ‘froze’ on the trail in a tight little circle. While I was grabbing my camera, Mom realized her mistake and called “Run!” Boy, did they. In every direction.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch (so to speak), a covey of quail had gathered. Except during mating season, this is the preferred lifestyle for quail. When frightened their first reaction is to run. They are fast! The next step is to zoom out. The sound that their wings makes is very distinctive, as is their calls. Once you have heard either, it is easy to remember.

We discovered, when we hiked out the Tomales Point Trail, that we had hit the height of flower season. Three of the most common are shown here: Yellow and pink mustard, hairy gum plant (Grindelia hirsutula), and cow parsnip.

It’s hard to travel anywhere in the US without encountering mustard. It comes in a variety of colors from white to yellow to blue to purple. While I don’t find the individual flowers particularly attractive compared to many others, a field of mustard can brighten up one’s day. Not so a dairy farmer’s, however. The plant is mildly poisonous to cattle. It can also give a bad taste to milk, cream, butter and, I assume, cheese. On the other hand, its tiny seeds produce mustard.

Hairy gum plant hardly seemed the appropriate name for these cheerful yellow daisies.

The real surprise to me, however, were the cow parsnips. The cow parsnip is a fairly common plant, a giant member of the carrot family. I’ve always admired them for their size, but I’ve never thought of them as particularly beautiful, until this trip.

Nor have I ever noticed how they come wrapped up as young plants.

Part of this cow parsnip is in bloom, while other parts are in the budding stage.

In full bloom. While quite pretty and presumably edible (if you know what you are doing), I would neither pick this flower for a bouquet nor eat it. Sap from the stems is known to be phototoxic. If you get some on your skin, sunshine can turn it into a severe rash.

While I was focusing on flowers, Peggy was capturing some of the impressive scenery. This is looking out toward Tomales Point. The Pacific Ocean is on this side of the peninsula. Tomales Bay is on the other. The Bodega Bay Headlands can be seen in the distance.

Sea stacks that tower above McClure Beach. I really like the contrast here between the ocean and the grass with the massive rocks providing separation between the two.

Here, Peggy caught the iconic cypress trees at the start of the Tomales Point Trail at Pierce Ranch.

I took this photo because I was enamored with the rooftops. The large building once served as the dairy barn. The other buildings served a variety of purposes ranging from bunkhouses to where the butter was made. More cypress provide a backdrop for the barn.

Tom and Lita were with us on our first trip out to the Pierce Ranch. The skies were threatening rain.

Tom was rather taken with this single cypress tree that was peaking over the dairy barn and set off by stormy skies. I thought his capture of the barn was quite good as well.

I amused myself inside by taking a photo out of one of the windows. Modern art?

This might seem like a strange thing to throw into the middle of a blog on Point Reyes but Tom wouldn’t stop talking about it. I’ve know Tom in a great number of capacities during the 50 years we have been hanging out together, but somehow, I never imagined him as someone who would create a powerful, battery operated blender that you can take anywhere. Thus the name: All Terrain Blender. He designed it with outdoor activities and tailgaters in mind, but it turns out it will make an excellent addition to our RV or any area with confined space from apartments to small houses. (The top and the bottom can be flipped and fitted together for storage!) The product is now in its final stages of development. Market studies suggest that it will be very successful. It’s hard to say how successful, but one thing I know about Tom is that he will use a substantial part of any profits he makes to support good causes. That’s what he has been doing all of his life.

Way off in the distance, you can see a tiny figure. That’s me, searching for elk. When we visited the ranch with Tom and Lita, the elk were hanging out beside the road and our only camera was our iPhone. When we came back with our good cameras, they were off in the far distance. Go figure. Peggy decided to stay in the truck while I went on my search.

I actually found one. Its response was, “What in the heck are you doing here?” And then immediately ran off.

This horse wasn’t likely to run off anywhere. We found him at a ranch on our way back to camp after visiting Pierce Point Ranch. Tom snapped its photo. Have you ever see such a swayback? That’s it for today. Our next post will wrap up our Point Reyes visit with a trip out to the lighthouse, a walk on the Earthquake Trail, and a hike to Tomales Bay.

Message in a ‘Bottle,’ Drakes Beach, Sand Dollars, Tom Lovering, and Limantour: Pt. Reyes NS… The Pacific Coast Series 5

May 3, 2024 / Curt Mekemson / 24 Comments

Have you ever found a message in a bottle or a tin washed up on a seashore? Or dreamed of finding one? We did last week on Drakes Beach at Pt. Reyes National Seashore.

I was walking along Drakes Beach with my friend Tom Lovering when he spotted a tin with a top on it in the sand. Peggy and Tom’s partner Lita were walking behind us. “Open it up, Tom,” we urged. He was already worrying the lid. There was a treasure inside. Someone’s comb with artificial pearl beads and seashells all held in by candle wax. And a letter! It had been brought in on the day’s high tide. Had it come from afar after weeks/months/years of travel. Or had a person thrown it into the ocean that morning with hopes that it would wash out to sea? There wasn’t a clue.

The letter. It was slightly damp and wrinkled but still easy to read. I’ve repeated the words below.

“Please help it all come to fruition. Please help it to translate. I know I am not wrong. Help me sing my heart’s song fearlessly and without doubt. The people I am meant to find, the life I am meant to live, the love I am meant to share— I know it’s all there. I work so hard toward it. I see it like a light in the distance. Help guide me to it. Help me go out and do it. Help me do it right and win this fight. I love you, humbly and without question. I’m depending on you. I know you won’t let it be a sad story, or a tragedy. Now help me to make it all right.”

One can only speculate on the sender, but I imagine a young woman (given the comb) asking for help. She is bright, and possibly troubled, but has faith and hope that her future will turn out right. Thoughts? Tom put the message back in the tin with the lid on it and left it on the beach for some other person to discover. We listened to Jim Croce’s Time in a Bottle when we got back to camp.

These towering cliffs are the same ones that Sir Francis Drake would have seen on his 1579 voyage around the world. They reminded him of England’s Cliffs of Dover. With his ship in serious need of repair, he had pulled into the bay. The belief that this is where he landed for repairs led to the bay being named Drakes Bay and the beach, Drakes Beach.

This is Tom. We go way back. “Fifty years” he reminded me. We met in 1974.

He had a bit more hair when this was taken in the late 70s.

He had even more in 1974 when I had walked into Alpine West, a popular outdoor gear store in Sacramento at the time. I was seeking a sponsor for the Sierra Trek, a hundred mile backpack trek across the Sierra Nevada Mountains that I had dreamed up to raise funds for the Sacramento Lung Association and future Breathe California. A hippie-looking 20-something was standing behind the counter. I walked over and asked him if I could speak to the owner or manager. “I am the owner,” Tom had told me rather stiffly. Oops! I introduced myself as the Executive Director of the Lung Association and explained what I wanted to do. “You’re crazy,” he had told me. “People may survive it but they will hate you and the Lung Association afterwards.” It wasn’t exactly what I was hoping to hear from one of Sacramento’s leading outdoor experts. But then he offered to sponsor the event… I left a little confused. If they hated the Lung Association, wouldn’t they hate Alpine West as well? We’ve been having adventures together ever since 1974. He’s been though several successful careers over the years. I’ll introduce his latest in my next post: creating a powerful, battery-operated blender. He couldn’t stop talking about it. But for now, back to Drakes Beach and another popular beach on Drakes Bay: Limantour.

We have been to Drake’s Beach many times over the years. The last time the beach was filled with elephant seals. Not so this time. But that meant we could actually go for a walk on the beach.

Several harder rocks had been more resistant to the ocean’s relentless waves. This one was heading out to sea.

And small depressions that caught seawater at low tide making mini-tide pools.

Two of the rocks provided a window to the ocean. Chimney Rock can be seen in the distance.

Peggy gathered seashells while I explored. Tom snapped our photo.

We stopped to admire a Velella (By the Sea Sailor), a type of jellyfish, that had just sailed in on high tide and was in much better shape than the ones we had seen at Point Lobos.

Limantour Beach and Spit is just south of Drakes Beach and also on Drakes Bay. Peggy and I explored it after Tom and Lita returned to Sacramento. Whimbrels, dunlins and brown pelicans amused us. This is a whimbrel.

Several of them were working the beach together.

A small bubble suggests that dinner might be lurking down in the sand.

Whimbrels use their curved beaks to probe for small crabs and other sea life buried in the sand.

A little ocean water did not get in the way of finding a tasty tidbit.

A flock of dunlins and a sanderling join the whimbrels in their search for food.

Apparently, their search was successful.

Meanwhile, brown pelicans were skimming the waves further out at sea in search of fish. Amazing birds! Check the wing span.

A shot across Drakes Bay showed the cliffs above Drakes Beach.

Peggy took this shot across Drakes Bay to the Chimney Rock and the Pt. Reyes Headlands at the northern end of the Bay. The Point Reyes Lighthouse is on the opposite side of the Headlands. We will feature it in a later post.

Peggy posed for me as I took a photo south to catch the rest of the Bay. This is one long beach!

She continued her search for perfect sand dollars.

And goofed around! That’s it for the day!

Our next post will feature the historic Pierce Point Ranch and Abbots Lagoon. Tom, Peggy and Lita stand in front of three of the outbuildings.

The Peripatetic Pinnacles National Park: It Wanders… Pacific Coast Series 4

April 29, 2024May 2, 2024 / Curt Mekemson / 26 Comments

Pinnacles National Park is located inland from California’s Central Coast. Peggy and I followed a narrow, curvy, one lane road east of the small town of Soledad to get there, holding our breath each time we met another vehicle— especially if it was as large as our truck. While the location was a slight detour from our coastal focus, we are totally incapable of skipping a National Park.

Pinnacles National Park has a twin near the city of Santa Clarita some 200 miles to the south, the Neenach Volcanic Formation. Born of fiery rhyolite lava flows some 23 million years ago, they were ripped apart in their youth by the notorious San Andreas Fault. Pinnacles has been making its way north ever since: Inch by inch and earthquake by earthquake.

Noted for its personality-plus pinnacles, talus tunnels, and wild flowers, the region was declared a National Monument by Teddy Roosevelt in 1906. Legislation by Congressman Sam Far from the Monterey/Carmel area in 2012 led to its being established as a national park. (Sam, like me, was an early Peace Corps Volunteer. For a brief time, we worked together in the Western United States as Peace Corps Recruiters.)

The Pinnacles are something of a poster-child for Plate Tectonics. While the existence of the plates and their impact on geology and geography is a well-known and accepted theory today, the history of the concept is relatively recent. I remember sitting in a geology class I took at UC Berkeley in 1964 when the professor came in almost glowing. “I have something to share,” he declared, “please understand that it is still a theory. I’m late because I was just in a meeting where substantial evidence was given that the surface of the world is made up of giant plates that separate, crash into each other, move along each other’s edges.”

The close relationship between the rocks and minerals of Pinnacles and the Neenach Volcanic Formation helped to show that the Pacific Plate and North America Plate have been moving past each other via the San Andreas Fault for 20 some million years. Pt. Reyes National Seashore north of San Francisco, where we are now, also sits on the San Andreas Fault and is another example of the movement. In fact, our campground is sitting on top of the fault. Our fervent hope is that it stays in place, at least for another week!

Wandering through Time and Place

Exploring the world with Curtis and Peggy Mekemson

Outdoor Adventures