MacKerricher Haul Road

Another beautiful Mendocino Coast morning.  What a summer.  On our frequent visits before we moved to Fort Bragg, the locals would always tell us that the wonderful weather we always seemed to find was "unusual".  Living here has confirmed my suspicions, that this was just a rumor perpetuated by locals to keep too many people from moving here!  Fortunately we chose to ignore them - and glad we did.

Thanks to John for these photos, taken this morning, that show in spite of all this great weather, the wild flowers are doing well.
Back to today.  It was a around 54° when we started and close to 60° when we got back to the car park. Enjoying today's run/walk were John L, Nancy B, Neil, Toni, Ron, Charlene, Bob, Joel, Elaine, Mark, Gay, Rick S, Megan, Pat, Leon Nancy T and Roger.  Seven of us had a very pleasant breakfast at David's.

 One of our pleasant walks used to be A&W/Georgia Pacific Road (see our routes).  Some time ago, a gate was placed across the entrance.  However, many of us still take this road, by using the paths either side of the Fitness Center, on Cypress, just east of the Police station.  I'm curious as to how you feel about doing this as a group walk?  You can email me at fogdodgers.1@thornburns.com with your thoughts.

NEXT SUNDAY, DATE @ 8:00 A.M.: We'll do Ten Mile this week as the blackberries are ripening fast and this is a great place for those that want to pick some.
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.

Caspar Logging Road

 With Tom and Nancy away having a wonderful time in Disneyland (said with tones of envy), I pulled the short straw for writing this weeks blog.  Sorry it's a bit late - just not up to the same standard as Tom.

However, it was once again a beautiful morning here on the coast.  The sky was clear blue and the temperature was 54° when we started and 58° at the finish. Tom, I'm not sure if you felt a seismic event at 8:00 this morning, but I'm afraid everyone was enjoying their conversations so much, it was hard to get everyone moving, so we were at least 30 seconds late starting!  However, it was great to see so many visitors joining us today.  As always, I have to give the disclaimer that I'm terrible with names, so I apologize first, if I missed you.  As far as I can remember, there was, John L. (and again, thanks John for this lovely photo taken in Caspar), Fran, Don, Charlene, Neil, Tom T, Mark, Gay, Joel, Peter, Susan, Kathy, John, Bob, John R. Nancy T and Roger.

Joel suggested that we go to Jug Handle state park.  Sounds like a good idea, but as it's not on our "list" I'm going to defer to next week when maybe we can have a quick discussion.  So, in the meantime, I'll choose MacKerricher Haul road, as we've not done that in a while.

This Week's Description Here
NEXT SUNDAY, DATE @ 8:00 A.M.: MacKerricherHaul 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.

Russian Gulch State Park

It was bright and sunny when we left Fort Bragg this morning but things turned greyer as we went up the Point Cabrillo grade. It was 52 degrees this morning, good for walking and running.

 Thanks, John for this photo of the lighthouse.

Thank you Mark and Gay for bringing daughter,Sara and grandchildren Kyra and Josh. Also present this morning: Charlene, Shari, Peter, Nancy B., Cheryl, Neil, Megan, Bob, John, Nancy and Tom (16).

After the run/walk, 6 Fog Dodgers did a mini work party, clearing the trails, thanks to all.

NEXT SUNDAY, Jan. 22nd @ 8:00 A.M.: Caspar Logging Road (see "Our Routes" above). I'm picking this one because it is "dog friendly", whereas today's was not. Next Sunday, "I'm going to Disneyland!". Actually I'll miss the next 3 Sundays and I hope that our other moderators won't fight over writing the blog, there's 3 of them and 3 Sundays, should work out perfectly!

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.

JSF Rd. 450, Hare Creek

It was again, perfect, this morning. We ran and walked Jackson State Forest Road 450. It was sunny and 51 degrees, the air was calm. Present were: Cheryl, Neil, Tanya, Megan, Fran, Gay, Mark, Tom T., Toni, Larry, Joel, Bob, Nancy T., Roger, Nancy B., Shari, Peter, Nancy and Tom (19). Oh, and Charlene, not there this morning but deserving an honorable mention, since I left her out the past two weeks.

Turkeys by John L.

NEXT SUNDAY, July 15th @ 8:00 A.M.: Russian Gulch State Park. See "Our Routes" above.

We, the Fog Dodgers, under the direction of Nancy and myself, have received permission to do minor trail maintenance at the local State Parks. Next Sunday, we will prune some nettles and blackberries and also clean out some of the clogged drainage ditches along the first couple of miles of the Russian Gulch Fern Canyon Trail. You are welcome to bring along a pair of snips, loppers, shovel or hoe, and do a little work during the walk, or returning immediately after the walk. I think that I will bring my little truck and transport any tools to the trail head. I will try to get a few vehicle passes for those wishing to drive to the trail head.  The work should only take between 1 and 2 hours.

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.

Hare Creek, JSF Road 400

At Hare Creek this morning, it was a "warm" 60 degrees and very, very humid. The air seemed thick enough to add weight to our shoulders. Luckily, we had a visiting runner, Kathleen (I hope that is right), and the conversation kept our (Nancy and mine) minds off of the heavy air. For walking, I'd guess it was about perfect.

 John took a couple of interesting pictures of the morning, one of the bridge and the other on S. Harbor Drive, on the way to the run. Thank you, John.

Though the road, Jackson State Forest Road 400, was as rocky and treacherous as ever, I was pleased to receive several comments saying what a nice road it is. Maybe we'll go back to doing this one more often. Also present this morning: Joel, John, Bob, Laurie, Tom T., Neil, Toni, Larry, Shari, Peter, Nancy and Tom (13).

NEXT SUNDAY, July 8th @ 8:00 A.M.: Hare Creek, the other side this time, Jackson State Forest Road 450, out Simpson Lane. 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.