TRAVELOGUE

HENRY WOODS STATE PARK - My wife took another trip up to the Mendocino area this summer. Once again heading up the desolation of the 5 and then turning towards the coast past San Francisco and eventually getting the beautiful 128. We made a stop in the bucolic town of Booneville for lunch and then made another quick stop at one of my favorite wineries, Navarro. After a little tasting, we soon made our way to our first camp at Henry Woods State Park.

Henry Woods is nice little stand of old Redwoods and was not crowded at all. We hiked around here some and came to the infamous Hermit Hut. Some guy jumped a Russian Ship some years back in San Francisco and made his way to these woods and lived under a tree trunk for 18 years. It is an interesting story. He apparently kept to himself most of the time, but was often seen in Booneville some miles away. By all accounts he was friendly and there are no signs that hunted or fished at all. No one knows how he was able to survive all those years, but he would venture into the campground and take things that were left behind by the campers. He died in a nearby hospital in the 1980s.

VAN DAMME STATE PARK - We only stayed here for 1 night and then moved a few miles to Van Damme State Park on the Mendocino coast. Just a few miles and where we were once warm and dry, we suddenly were wet and cold. The park is intensely beautiful and lush. The fog keeps everything wet most of the time but it wasn’t unpleasant. There is on major, easy to follow trail that follows a beautiful creek up a fern covered canyon. We continued up hill where it comes out in a pygmy forest. The pygmy forest is also accessible by driving around the park to parking area. The pygmy forest itself was not too spectacular, but the hike up to it is very nice.

We stayed here for 4 nights and used it as a base camp, visited some other nearby places. We headed over to Fort Bragg and bought tickets for the Skunk Train ride for a half day trip through the woods. The name comes from the old days when the train’s engine used to smell like a skunk. These days they are using a diesel locomotive so tourists are spared from this. We had some time to kill before the train departed so we walked around Ft. Bragg a little. The train depot is in the middle of the old part of town and it is quaint with many interesting shops.

We then got on the train. It was a nice ride that went half way to Willits and then came back. You can take the all day ride and go all the way to Willits. On the ride you go through second growth forests and you can see the difference between old growth and areas that have been logged. Still it is fun to ride the train and see quite few houses that are still lived in by people whose only lifeline is the train.

RUSSIAN GULCH STATE PARK - The next day we went to Russian Gulch State Park which isn’t far away. It is similar to Van Damme as it has basically the same vegetation and an easy trail through a dense fern canyon. At the end of the canyon is a very beautiful waterfall. You can go up to the top of the waterfall and make a loop for the return.

We also spent a little time walking around the Headlands area near Van Damme. It was very foggy and it gave it a very ethereal feel.

FORT ROSS STATE PARK - We left the Mendocino area and headed south down the coast. The coastal drive is spectacular of course and there plenty of places to stop and look around. We made one such stop at Fort Ross State Park. It is a restored Russian fort that has an interesting history displayed in very nice visitor center. It was interesting to walk around the fort and get a feel for life in the 1800s.

JENNER - We continued driving down the coast and stopped by a very curiously trimmed tree in Manchester, and then a little farther down stopped at nice old cemetery. We continued our drive to small town called Jenner and stayed there. There isn’t a whole in Jenner, but it is beautiful area. The Russian River empties into the ocean here and creates a nice estuary with a lot of wildlife. I have never in my life seen so many pelicans.

From Jenner we took a day trip farther south and again found some nice coves to explore and continued to Bodega Bay. The town was disappointing as there really isn’t much there. On the advice of ranger in Jenner we did find a good place to have some fish and chips though.

RUSSIAN RIVER - The next day we headed inland along side the Russian River which is simply beautiful. We walked around the small town of Guernville and then followed the road to a string of wineries and did some tasting. We returned along the same road and had dinner in the very tiny town of Duncans Mills. There are just a few shops and a couple of restaurants here. We dinner in one and had some incredibly good fried oysters.

The next day we headed back up the Russian River Road and then headed south into the lower part of Sonoma county. We went to numerous wineries throughout the area. At the Martin Ray Winery there was not one other person there, so the friendly steward there named Tom gave us a little tour.

Soon after that we found ourselves at the De Loach Winery and had a good time talking to the people there. I had a long talk with an older gentleman that used to live in the San Fernando Valley where I grew up and we enjoyed talking about home for quite some time. One of the female stewards there recommended a place for dinner in nearby Graton. We took that advice and a wonderful dinner in yet another tiny town. That night we stayed in yet another tiny town (this area is just chocked full of quaint small towns) called Occidental. It is a nice place with interesting shops in the middle of a dense stand of redwoods. From Occidental we made the long trek home.