BIG RIVER

We returned to Big River after a long absence.  My prediction from last week, that there shouldn't be any mosquitoes was spot on.  It was not only cold enough, but also windy enough, that not one mosquito was seen.  

It was actually so cold that it was hard to hold the masses back for our 8 o'clock start.  A few wanted to get away from the wind and cold.  John was not with us today, so I'm including a couple of his old pictures here, just to make the blog look better.  I couldn't find any others.

                                                                          Big River

                                                         Mendocino's Presbyterian Church

From Eve and Gary:

Lighted Truck Parade Party: Sat, 12/6 @ 4:30pm

           You are invited to light up the night:

Come gather with us for beverages and appetizers at 4:30pm and we can walk downtown to enjoy the lighted truck parade set to begin at 6pm.

It's a night to celebrate! 

Bring your bright self and something to share.

Eve & Gary

They have invited all Fog Dodgers and S.O.B's and I'm sure it will be fun. They live very close to the parade, 211 West Bush Street.

And, one more Holiday Announcement:

Nancy and Tom have invited you to a post-walk Potluck Breakfast on December 14th  Their address is 661 Perkins Way (SouthWest corner of Bush St. and Perkins Way) in Fort Bragg.

Thanks Mark, for bringing a guest today, Lynne.  Also present: Eve, Gary, Fran, Jean, Charlene, Kelly, Bob, Eric, Sky, Pat, Leon, Nancy, and Tom.  Thanks to Deb and Sam for the post-walk Fresh pressed apple juice. (17)

                                                            

                                                     Lake Cleone, Mackerricher State Park

NEXT SUNDAY, DEC. TH @ 8:00 A.M.: GROUP RUN/WALK/BIKE, WARD AVENUE. You can click on the "Our Routes" tab at the top to get directions, if needed.

EVERY TUESDAY AND THURSDAY, GROUP RUN/WALK @ 7:30 A.M.: COASTAL TRAIL - MIDDLE, behind the Fort Bragg Fire Station.

NAVARRO RIDGE ROAD

We met this morning on a very foggy and cold Navarro Ridge Road.  It was 43 degrees but felt much colder.  The mornings are beginning to be a little colder, now that winter is approaching.  The good thing about that though, the mosquitoes at Big River will be doing whatever they do when they're not out blood sucking.  We'll be able to walk and run at Big River again after a 19 week avoidance.  No rain all next week, cold mornings and a 6 foot high tide should make it perfect next Sunday and I hope to see you there.

I'm editing into the blog here an invite from our newest Fog Dodgers, Eve and Gary:

 Lighted Truck Parade Party: Sat, 12/6 @ 4:30pm

           You are invited to light up the night:

Come gather with us for beverages and appetizers at 4:30pm and we can walk downtown to enjoy the lighted truck parade set to begin at 6pm.

It's a night to celebrate! 

Bring your bright self and something to share.

Eve & Gary

They have invited all Fog Dodgers and S.O.B's and I'm sure it will be fun.  If you're interested, please ask Eve, Gary, Nancy or me for their address.  It is very close to the parade.

Thank you, John, for the photos and creations below:

Navarro Fog Dodging

                            

                                                         Navarro Barn

                                                          Wooden Pot

                                                       Navarro Apples

Happy Herd

Woody

Zelda has sent me a couple additional photos. Thanks Zelda!

                                                                      Navarro Ridge

Present today:  Eve, Gary, Fran, Jean, Sky, John, Deb, Sam, Eric, Pat, Leon, Zelda, Nancy and Tom (14).

NEXT SUNDAY, NOV. 30TH @ 8:00 A.M.: GROUP RUN/WALK/BIKE, BIG RIVER 

You can click on the "Our Routes" tab at the top to get directions, if needed.

EVERY TUESDAY AND THURSDAY, GROUP RUN/WALK @ 7:30 A.M.: COASTAL TRAIL - MIDDLE, behind the Fort Bragg Fire Station.

RUSSIAN GULCH

It was a pretty good showing at RUSSIAN GULCH today considering the light drizzle and the damp. The group did split up to some extent with some going down to the beach and taking the scenic route. Our group consisted of Charlene, Nancy, Tom, Deb, Sam, Shari, Fran, Jean, Eve, Gary, Eric, John, Joe, Pat (and Leon driving), Sky, Barbara, and Mark.

Afterwards some went to the Good Life for breakfast while nine of us went to Denny's.

Russian-Gulch

Southern-Trail-Russian-Gulch

ScareCrow

Scary-Crow

Amanita-magic-mushroom

Orange-Peel

Tree-Fungi

Diminishing-Leaves-winter-time

Fern-Growth-on-old-tree

Caspar-Duck

NEXT SUNDAY, November 23 @ 8:00 A.M.: GROUP RUN/WALK/BIKE, NAVARRO RIDGE. You can click on the "Our Routes" tab at the top to get directions, if needed.

EVERY TUESDAY AND THURSDAY, GROUP RUN/WALK @ 7:30 A.M.: COASTAL TRAIL - MIDDLE, behind the Fort Bragg Fire Station.

PT CABRILLO LIGHTHOUSE

A large group of Fogdodgers met in the parking lot of the PT CABRILLO LIGHTHOUSE this morning on a beautiful fall morning. The hike is a bit shorts so most of us got back to the parking lot a bit early. This Sunday's roster: Eric; Barbara; Diana; Jeff; Deb and Sam (back from London!); Kelly; John; Joe; Fran; Jean; Sky; Charlene; Nancy; Tom; Eve; Gary; Doug; Kim; Christine; Dave; Beth; Bob; Shari; Pat; and Leon.

Afterwards many went to Tony's for the pancake breakfast.

Potluck holiday party: 

Nancy and Tom have graciously offered their house on December 14 for a potluck holiday party after the walk. Their address is 661 Perkins Way (SouthWest corner of Bush St. and Perkins Way) in Fort Bragg.

Here are John's photos for the week:

Point-Cabrillo-Lite-Station-Nov-2025

Mendocino-Fog-Dodgers-Nov-2025

Full-Super-Moon

Cabrillo-Point-Light-Station-with-Moon 

Spiders-Web

Navarro-Ridge-Sundown--Nov-7

NEXT SUNDAY, November 16 @ 8:00 A.M.: GROUP RUN/WALK/BIKE, RUSSIAN GULCH. You can click on the "Our Routes" tab at the top to get directions, if needed.

EVERY TUESDAY AND THURSDAY, GROUP RUN/WALK @ 7:30 A.M.: COASTAL TRAIL - MIDDLE, behind the Fort Bragg Fire Station.

GLASS BEACH to WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT

Where's Joe?  No Joe today, so I'll give this a try.  I could fill the page with photos from John, I guess, but no John today.  

We walked, well, all except Bob C, he ran, from Glass Beach parking lot, to the south in the fog and overcast, almost to the sewer plant.  By the time we turned around the sun had burned through and most jackets became tied around waists.  Nine of us had breakfast at Denny's afterwards.

Oh, I've found a photo of John's to make this blog look better:

                       Navarro Ridge Road (a little further up the road than we made it last week)

And, a couple of photos of mine taken at Glass Beach.

There is still a good amount of white or colorless glass but sadly, most of the red, blue or green glass is gone. 

Meanwhile, John has contacted me and submits the following photos.

Present today:  Kim, Doug, Gary, Kelly, Barbara, Sky, Eric, Charlene, Diana, Jeff, Bob, Zelda, Nancy and Tom (14).

There is a lot of rain in this week's forecast or else I would choose Big River.  I think we may be past mosquito season.  Instead, I'm choosing Point Cabrillo Lighthouse.  It's paved but won't take you an hour, so you may have to do it once and then double back for a bit.  This is chosen to keep our walk near St. Anthony's Pancake Breakfast.

NEXT SUNDAY, NOV. 9TH @ 8:00 A.M.: GROUP RUN/WALK/BIKE,  POINT CABRILLO LIGHTHOUSE.  There's a parking lot just above the lighthouse and on Point Cabrillo Drive.  We will start from that lot.

EVERY TUESDAY AND THURSDAY, GROUP RUN/WALK @ 7:30 A.M.: COASTAL TRAIL - MIDDLE, behind the Fort Bragg Fire Station.

NAVARRO RIDGE

Just a few hearty souls braved the tempest up on NAVARRO RIDGE. There was very light rain and a bit of wind but overall very pleasant. Hiking were Nancy, Tom, Joe, Beth, Bob, and Gary and Eve.

Of course we all ate the pancake breakfast at the grange. It was lightly attended so the service was pretty quick. 

John sent photos even though he did not join the group. He has been working on Navarro Ridge and did not want to repeat the drive one more time on Sunday!

Navarro-Ridge-Barn-at-Sunrise

Navarro-Ridge-Barn

Another Navarro-Ridge-Barn

Navarro-Ridge-Cloths-Dryer

Navarro-Black-and-White-Bull

Navarro-Ridge-Wheat-Field

Navarro-Ridge-Green-Chicken-Coop

Navarro-Ridge-Red-Barn

NEXT SUNDAY, November 2 @ 8:00 A.M.: GROUP RUN/WALK/BIKE, GLASS BEACH. You can click on the "Our Routes" tab at the top to get directions, if needed.

EVERY TUESDAY AND THURSDAY, GROUP RUN/WALK @ 7:30 A.M.: COASTAL TRAIL - MIDDLE, behind the Fort Bragg Fire Station.

COASTAL TRAIL - MIDDLE

Some of us were headed for the Fort Bragg Senior Center's benefit breakfast and had requested a location closer to the center of Fort Bragg so the walk was scheduled for COASTAL TRAIL - MIDDLE. There was a good turnout this time. Hiking were Beth and Bob with family members, Cory and Melinda, Eric, John, Barbara, Nancy, Tom, Joe, Deb, Sam, Fran, Charlene, Kelly, Jean, Kim, and Doug. This time the group headed to the north toward Glass Beach.

Around ten of us had breakfast at a rather busy Denny's 

John's photos:

Fog-Dodgers-Heading-out-Middle-Bluff-Trail

Southern-View-Pacific

Drag-Boat-coming-in-from-fishing

Soldier-Bay-view

No-Kings-Day-Protest

NEXT SUNDAY, October 26 @ 8:00 A.M.: GROUP RUN/WALK/BIKE, NAVARRO RIDGE so we can go to the pancake breakfast. You can click on the "Our Routes" tab at the top to get directions, if needed.

EVERY TUESDAY AND THURSDAY, GROUP RUN/WALK @ 7:30 A.M.: COASTAL TRAIL - MIDDLE, behind the Fort Bragg Fire Station.