The Fog Dodgers invite all residents and visitors of the Mendocino Coast to join us on our weekly group runs and walks. We have runners and walkers of all abilities (and even some bikers) and we have only one "rule" - we start at exactly 8:00 a.m. on Sundays. Exercise at your own pace (1/2 hour out, 1/2 hour back) and experience the fresh Mendocino coastal air.

Fog Dodgers provides a fun, safe way to explore some of our local trails and back roads and to meet new friends. You can find out where we're going to be by reading the bottom of last week's post, then clicking on the "Our Routes" tab above. We average 15-20 persons each Sunday and typically half will go to breakfast together afterwards at a nearby restaurant.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Hare Creek, JSF Road 450


Photos from Lyme, England, thanks to Roger! They are of a footpath and Bluebells.


Happy Easter! Sorry about the light rain this morning. We (The Easter Rabbit and I) actually considered the long range weather forecast and trail conditions with this special morning in mind but sometimes the best laid plans.........





The rain was really just a light drizzle by 8:00 a.m. and we had a bunch of happy runners and walkers ready to go and find some eggs! Present were Tanya, Kira, Mark, Geri, Neil, Charlene, Ron, John, Johnny, Randy, Nancy, Tom, and Brad came later (13). It was lots of fun and brightly colored eggs were "hidden" on, below and above the trail, must have been a hundred of them! The big mystery though, is what happened to THE GOLDEN EGG? Legend had it, that a Special Golden Egg would surely be found on such a search, but no, nobody admitted to finding it. The Easter Rabbit is checking things out as I type this and I sure hope to find out what happened.

NEXT SUNDAY, May 1st @ 8:00 A.M.: A&W LOGGING ROAD (see "Our Routes" above)

EVERY TUESDAY @ 7:00 A.M.: RUSSIAN GULCH STATE PARK, beginning on Point Cabrillo Drive, 1/10 of a mile north of its south end.

EVERY THURSDAY @ 7:00 A.M.: VAN DAMME STATE PARK, beginning at the beach.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

MacKerricher Haul Road

I understand how busy many of us are nowadays and I also understand how many blogs there are to keep up with. There are blogs of friends, travel, food, health and on and on. Lastly, I understand how friendly and easy (for the recipient) weekly e-mail notifications were. So, for those Fog Dodgers, I think I'll try a different format today, maybe every Sunday??? If you're only reading to find out where next Sunday's walk or run will be,

NEXT SUNDAY, Easter Sunday, 4/24/11 @ 8:00 A.M.: The Easter Rabbit comes back, come and try to find an egg! Jackson State Forest Road 450 (out Simpson Lane and see "Our Routes" above). Breakfast will likely be at David's Restaurant. (added 4/23, I think David's may be closed on Easter so it will be up to a vote).

Now, for anyone else still with me here, let me mention today's run/walk/breakfast. We were on the MacKerricher Haul Road and it was so North Coast-like. I read somewhere long ago, that redwood trees can get the equivalent of 70 inches of rain from "fog drip". Their branches are really great at gathering the fog as it blows through and then dripping down much like rain. By saying that this morning was "North Coast-like", it was a perfect example of a great day for fog drip. We had a very foggy and drizzly morning. It was at least "warm" at 54 degrees and calm.

Present this morning: A guest, Gabrielle, she came with Kim, Brian and Adeline, Gay, Mark, Jan, Marc, Cindy, Jim, Nancy B., Rick, Neil, Geri, Toni, Bob, Melissa, John, Johnny, Maddelyn, Scott, Nancy and Tom (23).

Thirteen of us had breakfast at the North Coast Brewing Company. The food for most was excellent but they were clearly not ready for a large group to come in. The waitress did apologize for being understaffed. David's Restaurant is looking better and better.

Roger, though not with us today, sent me the following. He doesn't know how drizzly it was for us.

"Hi Tom,

Just ‘cos I’m in another country, doesn’t mean I can’t keep to my routine! I did my hike today along beautiful English footpaths. There are always hundreds of these public rights of way across the countryside, within a few miles of anywhere in England.

Today was gorgeous, clear blue skies and 70 degrees. I’ve attached some photos I took today. Lyme Regis is the town where I stay when I’m not visiting friends and family. The footpaths and country road hedgerows are full of English bluebells, so there’s some of those as well. And finally, as it is Sunday, I had a great English breakfast of bangers (large sausages), mushrooms, eggs, bacon and baked beans. Had to go without lunch to compensate.

Nancy is volunteering at the Gardens plant sale this morning so also had to miss the walk. I hope there was a large turnout and breakfast at the North coast was good."

I'll post a couple of the pictures that Roger attached and do more of them in future posts. I think that we were all in the wrong place today.







Photos by Roger T.



I'm having trouble editing these posts. The font and color keep changing and I seem to have no control over it. My apologies for the amateur look.

EVERY TUESDAY @ 7:00 A.M.: RUSSIAN GULCH STATE PARK, beginning on Point Cabrillo Drive, 1/10 of a mile north of its south end.

EVERY THURSDAY @ 7:00 A.M.: VAN DAMME STATE PARK, beginning at the beach.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

CASPAR LOGGING ROAD

This morning was another good one, very Spring-like, clear skies and 38 degrees with no breeze. There was a nice turnout for our run/walk. Thank you Ron and Charlene for bringing a returning guest, Katie, from Chico. Gay and Mark returned from their trip to Turkey, which they said was wonderful. Others present today were: Maddelyn, Scott, Geri, Toni, Bob, John, Nancy T., Roger, Cheryl, Neil, Nancy B., Rick, Orah, Steve, Pat, Fran, Johnny, Nancy and Tom (24).

John was in a hurry today and so he took a photo yesterday of Van Damme State Park. You can always join us at Van Damme on Thursday mornings at 7:00. The trail there still has a few winter obstacles (trees and mud) but it is passable and beautiful.


Afterward, we went to David's where we were joined by Brad. Kira and staff worked hard to keep our coffee cups filled and continue to accommodate our special requests. I loved my vegie burrito, Kira!

I think that next week we may try the North Coast Brewing Company again for breakfast but we can vote on that next Sunday morning. I'd like to "spread the wealth" among our local eateries. Kira (David's) still has an edge on the others because she is a Fog Dodger!

Reminder, in two weeks, the Easter Bunny will precede us on our run or walk. I heard something about a "Special" golden egg??

NEXT SUNDAY, April 17th @ 8:00 A.M.: MACKERRICHER HAUL ROAD, (see "Our Routes" above).

EVERY TUESDAY @ 7:00 A.M.: RUSSIAN GULCH STATE PARK, beginning on Point Cabrillo Drive, 1/10 of a mile north of its south end.

EVERY THURSDAY @ 7:00 A.M.: VAN DAMME STATE PARK, beginning at the beach.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

THE RON JAHELKA TRAIL




It was a great morning! This kind of surprised me. Yesterday and even all through the night, the northwest wind just kept blowing. I thought for sure that this morning at Big River it would seem pretty cold and windy. Instead, it was a good 46 degrees and the winds weren't too bad. The sky was sunny and blue!

Spring is here and things are starting to bloom! John has supplied these photos, thanks John.



Thank you Randy E., for referring Sara, Josh and Jonas, from Willits, and it was a pleasure to meet them. We missed you though, Randy. Also present today were, and let me make my periodic apology now for anyone that I forget, as I sometimes just don't get a good enough look around. Of course sometimes, I'll look you right in the face, talk with you and still forget that you were there: Fran, Elaine, Deb, Sam, Bob, Johnny, Melissa F., Ron, Charlene, Cindy, Jim, Toni, Nancy T., Roger, John, Laurie, Nancy B., Rick, Geri, Kathy, Steve, Nancy and Tom (26).







Breakfast was really good at the Little River Inn. Fifteen of us enjoyed that. As far as I know, everyone really liked their meal and the price was generally only a dollar or so more than some of our other breakfast venues. We may try to schedule that more often. It may require some sort of a "RSVP" response prior to our run/walk and then we could call the restaurant and have them try to save us the side room. We were fortunate to have gotten in there this morning just before all of the inn guests started coming in, (9:15 is okay, 9:30 wouldn't be!).

NEXT SUNDAY, April 10th @ 8:00 A.M.: CASPAR LOGGING ROAD, (see "Our Routes" above)

EVERY TUESDAY @ 7:00 A.M.: RUSSIAN GULCH STATE PARK, beginning on Point Cabrillo Drive, 1/10 of a mile north of its south end.

EVERY THURSDAY @ 7:00 A.M.: VAN DAMME STATE PARK, beginning at the beach.