Bob & Cindy's 2015 Travel Web Site
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Mendocino, Redwoods, and The Lost Coast
After leaving the wine country around the Dry Creek, Alexander, and Anderson Valleys, we drove up to Willits, California and did a day trip over to Mendocino. Although we could have gone over to the coast in the motorhome, we did the easy thing and just took the jeep. It was a 32 mile road with more ups and downs and curves than any road we've done in the mountains of Colorado or Montana. Beautiful country the whole way but an hour and 15 minute one way slog. From our stay in Willits we drove on up the 101 to a little place just outside of Humbolt Redwoods State Park. Facinating driving through the redwoods with no room for error since the redwoods are right by the road (and they don't move over too easily ... best not to hit one (although there was plenty of evidence that others had tested how solid these giant trees really are).
Surprisingly beautiful flowers all over this area. The orange ones are California poppies which are everywhere.
We don't know what these are but they grow wild all around the Mendocino area.
Wild purple iris are all over the place too.
The wonderful coastal town of Mendocino. Kind of a hippie dropout place with a lot of very different people. Diversity, right? We had a great lunch at Trillium (also has 3 rooms for overnight guests ... highly recommend).
A wild turkey looking for some female company at our campground in Willits, CA
Rough waters in the Mendocino area.
Another example of crazy fisherpeople who will do anything to catch a fish.
Yes, the wind along the coast is pretty constant as these trees will attest.
This is the lighthouse at Point Cabrillo, just north of Mendocino. Very dramatic cliffs. Some intersting history and stories of wrecks in this area.
Lots of trails wind through the redwoods but it's difficult to portray the size and majesty of these trees.
Driving in the redwoods, typical road. We are out of season and really enjoying the peace and quiet of the redwoods.
The redwood trees along the California coast are the tallest known tree species in the world. They are not as big in circumference as the sequoias found in the Sierra's but are taller ... generally about 200 to 350 feet tall and up to 2000 years old. They have shallow root systems (no tap root) and interlock with other redwoods to provide stability. But they do fall (one of the biggest ones fell in 1981 and measures about 380 feet). It takes about 400 years for one to completely decompose. No one saw it, but a ranger about a mile away heard it when it hit the ground. They also are extrmemely resistant to fire because of the bark thickness and low resin content as well as resistent to insects because of high tannins and also the bark thickness. Several of the trees had holes all the way through but still live due to how the sap finds a way up through the remaining trunk. Pretty amazing adaptation.
Lost in the woods of California.
The little town of Ferndale, CA where there are many examples of Victorian architecture on businesses and homes. Pretty little place but I'm sure it's covered up with tourists in the summer.
This is looking down The Lost Coast of Northern California. When the highway engineers were looking at building the coastal highway (California Highway 1), they decided to pass this by because it was just to rugged. It also has a very unstable cliff face along the coast. We saw many examples of recent slides even on the short hike.
Tomorrow we are going to drive over to Shelter Cove (on the south side of the Lost Coast) to do a little hiking, beach walking and some looking around on the tide pools. After that, we plan to go on up the coast north of Eureka to a campsite outside the little town of Trinidad. We are truly in "chill mode" now and plan to take more time for reading and stiching in the coming days. Stay tuned.
Cindy in one of the burned out holes of a redwood. One of the many ways they have adapted and why they are a long lived tree.
In the dark redwood forest.