Wandering in CA

[suntinez]

I really like Haggis' idea of sharing the wonders in your backyard for others to enjoy as they pass through. I get out quite a bit but I'm not great at sharing my trips. Seems like trip reports are somewhat organized, this definitely doesn't characterize my trips! I usually set off with a notion of something I want to see, and then explore on the way.

So this is mostly centered around a long trip over the holidays. Maybe I'll keep adding to it. It'll be slow in coming, I do tend to wander off. 4,800 miles of tripping around California and Baja over 6 weeks should be a start though.

So here's a bit of the Sierras and Yosemite. Then off to NorCal - San Francisco, Mendocino and the Lost Coast. A piece of the central coast for New Year's to meet up with some Expofolk for New Year's, and down through San Diego to Baja California. I spent time with family for Christmas. As things turned out, it was also the last long trip in my trusty little Tiger GT.

 

[suntinez]

California is HUGE

After 30 years of living in CA, it still surprises me how big this state is. You'd think I'd be used to it by now, but not. I live in the San Bernardino National Forest, in the mountains ~100 miles east of LA. Within a couple hours I can be deep in the desert or kicking it by the Pacific Ocean, 3 hours and I can be in Las Vegas or Baja. San Bernardino county is the largest county in the contiguous US, and larger than 9 states.

Being from the east coast, I'm always comparing to state distances. The distance between Washington DC and Boston, MA or Danville, VA to Jacksonville, FL is roughly the same as the distance from San Diego to San Francisco. And there's still another ~400 miles north of San Francisco until you get to OR.

Most people call the area along the coast between LA and San Fran the central coast, even though San Francisco is only about halfway up the state. Which makes San Francisco the actual center, sorta. Geographically at least. Anything above San Francisco is usually called NorCal.

My family is one of the dwindling sort, not the growing sort. New arrivals are infrequent and much welcomed. I was camping with my pals Josh/Heidi near home, in Big Bear last August when the San Francisco clan grew a little bit, and I'd been trying to get up there to meet the newest cousin since then.

(photo by weezerbot)

I almost made it up there in September, but instead spent my birthday on the central CA coast near Big Sur with the AdventureDuo.

(photo by adventureduo)

 

[suntinez]

eastern Sierras and Tioga Pass into Yosemite

But I had a problem. My dog and traveling buddy Pepper had started getting sick every time we went somewhere. Since I can’t imagine traveling without her for long, I was worried that things would have to change. We made some attempts in the fall to get to San Francisco to meet the newest cousin that didn’t work out. One time up route 395 east of the Sierras and over the Tioga Pass to Yosemite.

Tioga Pass is the highest paved road west of the Rockies and it closes early in the season, before most of us are even thinking about winter.

So past colorful Owens Lake:

Changing fall colors near Crowley Lake

Beaver Cove on Crowley Lake, a huge fishing lake and wonderful primitive camping spots. I’ve driven past here many times, but had never stopped because it’s right next to 395. I’ll go back, lots to explore here.

Sierras view, a stop along 395

Tenaya Lake along Tioga Rd in Yosemite NP

Turning off Tioga Rd into the valley is a pretty drive but in no way prepares you for the sight when you turn the corner and get your first valley views. There is nothing that a picture can do to portray this - when you see it the breath is just sucked out of your body. It takes every bit of concentration to keep from driving off the road into the view. Fortunately there is a turnout here

Bridalveil Falls

Glacier Point has some awesome overviews of the valley, this is looking east. Half Dome on the left, Nevada falls on the right. I caught it just a few days before the road closed for winter.

With a full moon lighting the night, I had hoped to catch the moonbows at Upper Yosemite Falls. This is when the light from a full moon is reflected in the spray and makes rainbows in the mist. I scouted it out in the daytime, then set out to find a campground.

Here’s a daytime shot of Upper and Lower Yosemite falls:

And Upper Yosemite Falls from the meadow:

Everything in the park was full – it is Yosemite after all - but we found a CG near Fish Camp just outside the park with an opening.

But … drive an hour+ in the dark down a twisty road? Sure, why not? We set out at oh-dark-thirty for the spot.
Too bad moonbows are a snowmelt phenomena, and there wasn’t enough water this late in the year to make enough mist for the show.

So I guess I’ll have to go back in summer to see this:

(from Yosemite Park website)

Back to the campground in the wee hours of the morning and a late start. Nearby on the southeast side of the park is a stand of enormous trees, the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias. Serene and overwhelming, there’s a few mile walk through the forest.

This is "faithful couple" - two trees that have grown together at the base. Most of these giants have names.

In the Grove, a toppled giant. This is "Fallen Monarch" and they have pictures from the 1850s of troops posing on top of this same tree. Tannic acid in the wood suppresses the growth of bacteria/fungi, so these trees hang around a LONG time after they fall.

Sequoias are hard to kill, this one's heartwood burned completely away inside but it's still alive and producing cones. If you walk in it and look up you can see the sky. Amazing.

Base of that tree, the "Telescope Tree":

I had thoughts of scouting out the Half Dome hike which I’ve always wanted to do, so back into the valley. Driving Rt 41 we headed through the Wawona Tunnel and emerged at Tunnel View. This spot - the view for Ansel Adams' famous winter photo of the valley - has to be one of the most spectacular views on earth. All of Yosemite Valley is spread out before you from El Capitan to Clouds Rest, Half Dome and Bridalveil Falls.

In the valley I was again assaulted by the sights. Yosemite Falls thundering above the meadows. Half Dome so close it seems you can touch it. El Capitan looming over the valley floor. Definitely a place that makes you feel very small.

I wanted to keep going, but wound up cutting this trip short to get Pepper home, she was really sick.

 

[suntinez]

San Francisco

Time goes by and now it's almost Christmas. The family was converging, so we just had to get to San Francisco. All loaded up with the crate and bad-tummy-drugs for Pepper, we left early in case we had to stop on the way. Choosing the most direct route, we set out for San Francisco and hopefully a few other places if Pepper could handle it.

Up I-5 we go, which is mostly a boring, mile-chewing road through the San Joaquin Valley. I stopped many times for my pup who didn't hop around herding cars like usual, and laid next to me crying for hours. Heartbreaking, but at least there were some nice rest stops and a few pretty cabbages on the way :

And finally we get to meet the newest cousin, pretty cute I gotta say!

I'm not much for the pre-xmas shopping frenzy especially in a city, but I did have a vehicle and my aunt from NC wanted to do some shopping. So in the process of getting a little lost trying to find the entrance to a store, we found another cool view of the city:

The Presidio is a huge park in SanFran with big trees, rolling hills and long views.

A view of Alcatrez Island from the Presidio:

Closer to Alcatrez, we spotted this eCamper – perfect for city parking.

Tiger is also able to fit in city parking spots, this is near the Fisherman's Wharf tourista area. If you don't know, the parking officers in San Francisco are Nazis, I've gotten some close looks but never a ticket.

 

[suntinez]

Rt 1 to Santa Cruz

I took off down Rt 1 to Santa Cruz to pick up my cousin who's in school at UCSC. I always volunteer to do this, saves everyone time and fun for me. For me, any day spent driving a beautiful road like Rt 1 for a couple hours is a good day.

Here's Seabright Beach:

And a view of the south end of the harbor, this is near where those humpback whales popped up right next to a surfer and kayaker recently:

This video made national news, pretty crazy:

Killing time waiting for my cousin, didn't make much of a dent in the menu selection – but I'll keep trying! :beer:

Picked up my cuz and started heading north along the ocean again – this is Natural Arches park in Santa Cruz. Tons of birds.

We stopped at Pigeon Point lighthouse to catch the sunset. There's a hostel here with great views. Watching the sun drop into the ocean just never gets old.

I think these plants looked like soggy little palm trees, still don't know that they are:

My cousins live a couple blocks away from Golden Gate Park, which makes dog walking really easy. San Francisco has huge parks that could easily be mistaken for deep forest, except for the sounds of the city around you ...

There's a peekaboo view of the GG Bridge near their house:

And nearby, the real deal:

The “other” bridge – SF Bay Bridge to Oakland

 

[suntinez]

north to Mendocino

Since we arrived early, I wanted to escape the pre-christmas-madness and head north for a bit. I really considered this trip as starting in SF, and had some thoughts of making it to Portland and maybe Seattle to see friends before the holiday. But not knowing how well my dog would do, I'd play it by ear.

We headed north, enveloped in the seemingly perpetual fog of the city.

Just a few miles north, we break into the sunny verdant valleys of wine country. Heading across 128 towards Mendocino, I found the fog again.

But grapes like fog, this is Navarro Winery

Like so many places along the coast in CA, you drive a long ways down winding roads until you come to the ocean again.

And hello old friend …

CA State Highway 1 is one jaw-dropping drive. Hugging the coast over hundreds of miles of cliffs dropping into the ocean, it is not the road to take if you're in a hurry. In the summer of 2009, I drove PCH from SoCal all the way to Canada, so none of this is new to me, but it's always spectacular. Sometimes Rt 1 merges with US 101, but Rt 1 always runs closest to the coast.

 

[suntinez]

Mendocino coast

Contrary to popular belief, there are not many places to camp on the beach in CA. You have to find campgrounds with coastal access nearby.

Around these parts you start getting that I'm-alone-up-here feeling where it's long distances to the next place. I wasn’t sure what camping on the coast would be like at this time of year, and someone had told me that Van Damme SP was closed. It wasn’t closed, but the resident host wasn’t very helpful – he just ran away when I drove up.

There’s a private CG at Caspar State Beach, we didn’t stay there but nice to know it’s available.

View of Caspar Beach across the road:

Walking distance from the town of Mendocino is a parking area and natural coastline. This is Mendocino Headlands State Park. Pep was doing well with the driving, and we went for a long walk. Miles of trails and killer views.

Water working away at the cliffs, eventually water always wins. We watched a big chunk of nearby rock go crashing into the ocean.

After regaining my senses from those views, it was time for lunch and Noyo was nearby.

Had the crab … yum.

 

[suntinez]

Russian Gulch

Pretty soon we discovered Russian Gulch SP. Camping is available here, but was closed when we went. Sadly, another gem fallen victim to the CA fiscal nightmare, the park is scheduled for closure July 1 2012. We are on the verge of losing access to some truly beautiful spots.

For some views of these places posted by a photog trying to make a difference, go to ClosingCaliforniaParks.com . Better yet, get out and see them before you can’t. There’s a nice guide to the Mendocino area here

At Russian Gulch, Devil's Punchbowl is a display of bubbling brothy ocean water funneled through a blowhole just a hundred feet away from the sea cliff with water access to the Pacific Ocean. The blow hole is west of the picnic area, before you drive down to the campground. We spent a while hiking to the waterfall in the park, and poking around the tidepools at low tide.

A long day of fun so we headed back to our campground for the night:

Back to Russian Gulch SP in the morning, here is the bridge.

Rt 1 goes over the top of it.

The road down goes right next to the bridge:

We stopped for lunch here at the headlands:

With this as our view:

And pondered the next destination.

 

[Crunch]

Thanks for posting your CA adventures. My boys are getting old enough to start spending some time on the road and I've been looking for some close to home destinations.

 

[Haggis]

Cool! It's nice to see another "wandering" thread here on the Portal. Nicely done Suntinez.

 

[john101477]

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh310/suntinez/holidays 2011-2012/5e-Noyopier-1.jpg

a couple of awesome restaurants right there. Almost to bad I didn't read this earlier, you are about 2 hours from a little piece of nor cal coastal paradise. most of that is off the beaten path to...

 

[suntinez]

Rt 1 north to Ave of the Giants

Thanks y'all - I get plenty of ideas from other people's reports, so happy to share.

I had thoughts of driving all the way to Seattle by way of Portland, or maybe back to my favorite little town of Requa, CA overlooking the Klamath River near Crescent City. I didn’t really have enough time for all that since I had to be back in the city for Christmas. So I decided to spend my time south of Eureka at slower pace, around the Lost Coast and redwoods - plenty to see around these parts.

Just a few miles north of Fort Bragg is Mackerricher SP which has 4 campgrounds. We stopped briefly to check out the tidal pools and Pudding Creek trestle bridge.

Some roads are just better than others. Here is Rt 1 again winding along the coast. A few stops for road construction meant a long drive, but a beautiful one. Anytime you drive the coast you should plan on delays, Rt 1 often literally drops into the ocean.

Passing by the south entrance to USAL Road, a legendary old logging road. USAL Rd traverses the rugged and mostly isolated Lost Coast of northern Mendocino and southern Humboldt counties. I know we have to heed the signs but I really want to do this road one day! Definitely not a winter road, and no way would I attempt it without 4WD. No promises about the RV part though

Looks like we couldn’t go anyhow, the gate is locked. My guess is that this is seasonal.

Past Rockport, Rt 1 heads inland and rejoins Rt 101 in the town of Leggett. Stopped in at Confusion Hill and chatted with the owner for a bit. It’s a funky little roadside attraction and while it’s probably fun, I’d spent most of the day driving and wasn’t feeling the love for the chipalope or death defying feats of gravity.

Right nearby is Standish Hickey SRA, and a couple of campgrounds. Here come the big trees Or not … also closed for camping and this park too is scheduled for closure July 1 2012. Grrrr!

The one private campground near here was full, and the state park closed – WTH? So north we go towards Avenue of the Giants, making a loop through Benbow.

During the summer, Benbow Lake is barely a gentle curve in the south fork of the Eel river. During the winter, this section of the river becomes a small lake.

Benbow was all closed, even the RV resort – Christmas I guess. It’s days like this that remind me to start looking earlier for campsites.

On towards Garberville, and tada! Big trees

Found a completely deserted campground, and navigated the maze of closed campsites to the one open section near dark.

This is Weott campground in Humboldt Redwoods SP along Avenue of the Giants. This 31 mile stretch of road parallels 101 through the largest remaining section of virgin redwood trees in the belt. The silence in these groves of trees is overwhelming, it has some of the largest redwoods on earth. Avenue of the Giants is well worth a trip of its own, but I’ve been here before and wanted to see some new stuff.

 

[shortbus4x4]

Nice report. I grew up in Humboldt County, spent many fun summer days on the Eel River in the Redwoods.

 

[FinsUp]

I miss California.

 

[mkitchen]

Thanks for the walk down memoy lane

Mo, my daughter Ellen, and I rode bicycles down along the coast a few years ago and I must admit it was either my best bike tour our at least in the top three. It really is pretty country and the California part is more scenic than that Oregon part. Lots of ups and downs but worth every climb. I was just setting up some campsite reservations for another trip up to the redwoods when I ran across your thread. Your great pictures and descriptions make me that much more anxious to get going. This time we will be using a car and teardrop trailer but we plan on making lots of stops for hikes and just enjoying the views.

Just one of the shots of our trip. Not trying to steal the thread.