We tend to think of San Francisco as Northern California, practically discounting anything beyond there. But there’s more, much more to Northern California than you think. The entire state running north/south along the coast is about 900 miles, almost 400 of which are north of San Francisco. No wonder there have been various moves to try to split off the north and south into different states, these areas are worlds apart.
As we took a chunk out of those Northern California miles to hit up the ‘lost coast’, long gone were the palm trees, bikini clad babes and tanned lifeguards. Instead we had rugged coves, rocky outcrops and wild waves. The quaint undeveloped towns of Mendocino, Trinidad and Fort Bragg perched on the cliff tops were quite a contrast from the population-dense cities of SoCal. Not so much blue sky up north either.
Our co-working space for the week in Fort Bragg was called the Little Red House. Very fitting. Teeny tiny, it really was like someone’s house, with the interior opened up into office space. And the outside was red. There was a little sun trap in the front porch/conservatory area, with a comfy sofa and a tiny TV-dinner style table. Guess where I spent most of my working days, languishing in the sun like a cat 🙂
Camping in Fort Bragg for the week was handy for the office, a little bit packed in overlooking the bay but awesome ocean views just steps away. Nicely contrasted with a night in Mackerricher state park, less views but more wiggle room. And ooh, a fire pit.
Deer in the foreground. Not one, not two but three.
No shortage of walks along the coastline, many straight from the campsites.
And not a bad spot to while away the sundowner hour with a beer.
A rather more unusual stretch of coastline was Glass Beach in Fort Bragg. So named because it was previously the site of a dumping area for trash from the early 1900s to the 60s. Over time, the biodegradable stuff biodegraded, the metal was looted, and this was before the widespread use of plastic bags. What was left was primarily glass and pottery, broken down by the relentless ocean waves into small shiny glass pebbles. The forces of nature then washed up the dazzling array of gems to form an enchanting colorful beach.
Unfortunately, years of tourism have subsequently taken their toll, with visitors each taking just a few of the gleaming souvenirs, rationalizing that it wouldn’t make much of a difference. What was left for us to see was a long way from its former glory, but we still thought it was pretty cool as the early morning sunlight lit up the opaque whites, emerald greens and burnt ambers of the trash glass.
The California Redwoods are the tallest living organisms in the world. To see is to believe. These things are ridiculously tall, I mean crazy stupid tall. To give you a sense, they can grow to 115 meters. Which is taller than Big Ben (the clock tower, not the bell). Higher than the Statue of Liberty. Three quarters the height of Blackpool tower. Or the rough equivalent of 26 double decker buses stacked on top of each other. Yes you read that right. And in terms of age, the Redwoods can survive over 2,000 years.
The very oldest and the very tallest are very well kept secrets to avoid vandalism, so I think the ones we saw weren’t quite that tall or that old. Still, it took a while after leaving the area to readjust our tree size expectations – all other trees seem, well, just so small!
Our campground was called Elk Country RV Park. That sounded promising, I was excited at the prospect of maybe spotting the odd elk mooching around the meadows or skulking in the forest.
As we drove into the campsite itself, I did a double take. No need for binoculars here.
We had one last chance to eke out the coastal experience before heading inland for a few weeks. Humboldt Lagoons State Park was just a couple of miles from our campsite. It was bracing, it was windy, it was f***ing freezing. But we were damn well going to embrace it. What better excuse to get those Seabourn jackets out – they got very little wear during our Alaska cruise but here they were coming into their own. Hah, Alaska’s got nothing on Northern California!
