Mendocino III

This day started with a nice long ride in the Big River area. I was super impressed with how much of the forest here was open to the public with a great network of trails and roads. The avid cyclist could spend days and days exploring here.

Early in the ride I found myself in this Pygmy forest. The soil here is very poor owing to iron and sand concreting into a hard pan. The trees and bushes are all stunted - and beautiful.

Most of the ride though was through gorgeous second and third growth forest.

After the ride we went for a stroll at the Spring Ranch Preserve, site of one the oldest ranches on California's north coast.

Barn shots.

 

A mellow stroll through wide open grasslands took us to the coast.

Next we took a pit stop in Fort Bragg before heading up the coast to Point Cabrillo.

These bright flowers were just about the only ones in bloom. They are not native, but quite showy!

At Point Cabrillo we stopped by Frolic Cove. It's named for a famous shipwreck. In 1850 the Frolic struck a reef near the point on the right. The ship's owner attempted to salvage the wreck, in vain, but discovered the redwood forests. He set about building a mill which contributed greatly to the building of San Francisco and the eventual eminence of the lumber industry here.

For some reason abalone pieces were in great abundance here.

For the most part access to the coast is easy. There are not long stretches of private land although a few spots like this exist where luxury mansions dot the bluffs.

The headlands here were not quite as dramatic as most other locales, but there was a fascinating moonscape like shelf below the shallow cliffs.

Freshwater seeps and springs emerge from the bluffs and flow across the shelf providing sustenance to this bright green algae.

The stately Point Cabrillo lighthouse, completed in 1909 is fully restored and functional.

To top off the day we stopped by Russian Gulch State Park. This is Devils Punchbowl, an incredible feature that was once a blowhole, then widened into a huge bowl.

More fine coastline. The folks in the kayaks were fishing.

 Good times.