If I could wave a magic wand, I would live in Mendocino. There’s just something about that stretch of coast—the high, wild cliffs, the secret beaches and coves, the cedars trailing their long, elegant branches through the fog, a sunny morning like a surprise visitor turning everything to gold. I love the old clapboard whalers’ houses and the dooryard gardens. And everything you put in the ground there seems to bloom. But given the housing prices, I’ll have to content myself with visits.
It’s actually a pretty good area to visit with dogs, too: unlike other California State Parks, several of the ones around Mendocino allow dogs (on leash) on beaches and on some trails West of Highway 1; lots of cafes allow them on the patio, plenty of inns/hotels, too. The 10-mile beach trail is dog-friendly, there’s an off-leash beach in Noyo harbor in Ft. Bragg, and the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens lets you bring your pooches with you. So, Tali and Rye had a good couple of days getting their ya-yas out after being cooped up at home due to the wildfire smoke.
The beach at Russian Gulch 
As the night wears on, they decide my sleeping pad is more comfy than theirs 
Field repair of ancient Whisperlite stove with replacement nozzle and tool still miraculously intact in stuff sack after 25+ years. 
Campsite blackberries with sticky rice pu-erh tea 
Lunch at Noyo Fish Co. 
Surfer near 10-mile beach 
These amaryllis are everywhere. Someone must have planted them at some point, but they’ve gone feral. 
Only slightly less feral…. 
Heather garden at Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens
The Rookery 
Thank you so much, Lynda, for doing all the travel and work and sending some highlights. I am rejuvenated just looking at the photos and remembering the Pacific Coast beaches we have visited in the past. I will send this to Yvonne Pepin-Wakefield, who was from Mendocino. Tons of love! And hugs for Tali and Rye.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Fantastic pictures! Thank you for posting! We need to go here together some day. (As well as make those fish tacos–delicious!)
LikeLike
I love Mendocino. I backed up….I couldn’t resist leaving a note. Al and I use to go there on all Northern California trips. I even had a kidney stone at Ft. Bragg (that’s where the neighborhood hospital is).
G
LikeLike