Noyo Headlands North at Glass Beach

I was gone for quite awhile on a nice RV trip to Alaska.  Thankfully, Roger filled in on the blog and, as always, did a great job.  He was relieved though to see me back today, and to be relieved, at least for now, of blogging duties. Funny thing though, I could no longer sign in to blogger as an author, and so Roger is again “saving the day.”  I’m doing this as an email with the pictures that John took for the day, then I’ll send it to Roger, and he’ll create the blog.

While traveling south through Alberta, Canada, on our way back, I was impressed with the wildlife overpasses that they have created to allow animals a safe passage crossing the highway.  I’m attaching a photo of one.  The highways are fenced for miles, guiding the wildlife to the only place they can cross.

Nancy T. and Roger brought Roger’s daughter, Jackie, and son, Tim, along today and Nancy B. and Rick brought their son, Sam.  It’s always nice when Fog Dodgers bring their families, we must be doing something right.  Also present today, Gay, Mark, Fran, Toni, Joe, Jan, Bob, Cheryl N., Neil, John, Pat, Leon, Nancy and Tom (21)

John’s pictures for today depict the foggy weather (over Pudding Creek Trestle) of this morning’s run/walk and a picture tribute for CalFire, who currently is fighting terrible wildfires all over California. It includes photo of smoke from the Mendocino Fires, taken from the 101 yesterday.   Sadly, lives, homes and thousands of acres are being lost.  We are really lucky to be living here on the foggy coast!

It was nice to be on our Noyo Headlands Coastal Trail this morning.  Next week, the City is having the “Official” opening of the trail.  You can look at last week’s post and click on the link that Roger included for all of the information and some wonderful drone flyover videos.  It’s a beautiful trail!

Next week we will be at the Caspar Logging Road, a great place to walk, run, bike, walk your dog, whatever, hope to see everyone there!

NEXT SUNDAY, August 5th. @ 8:00 A.M.: Caspar Logging Road, see our Routes above

Sunday Aug 5th.  Caspar Logging Road.

EVERY TUESDAY at RUSSIAN GULCH & THURSDAY at HEESER DR., - GROUP RUN @ 7:00 A.M.

Navarro Ridge Road

Another north coast summer morning - foggy and a warm 57°.  We returned to Navarro ridge, which can you believe, is the first time since February 2016!  Unfortunately the emu's we used to see grazing in a field along the way were nowhere to be seen.  But new to the walk was a field of sheep including a ram, all being guarded by a yellow labrador.  However the lovely old barns are still there, and the fog added so much beauty to the view - see John's picture below.

Fog Dodgers Navarro Ridge - True to the name

John wrote me "I had a wonderful run with Bob, and Ron, and enjoyed the cool weather and the views of the ridge. Especially since it holds true to our name, “The Fog Dodgers” And, the moist trees, and the water puddles decorating the pavement, tell us how fortunate we are to have any moisture this time of year when over the hill it is in the 90’s."

Looking for company

It's not the most popular of our walks as it's all along a regular paved road, and quite a drive for some folks, but for others, closer to home than some of our more popular walks. There were 13 true "Fog Dodgers" this morning -  Rick & Nancy B., John, Joe, Bob C., Pat & Leon, Roger & Nancy T., Katherine & Dave, Charlene & Ron.  Ten of us went on to enjoy a great breakfast at the Grange, where the blackberry syrup on the pancakes makes the drive and walk worthwhile.  As Nancy always says about the Fog Dodgers "it's a breakfast to undo all the damage done by the previous hour of exercise."

We also came across a sad looking horse, out in the fog and seemingly looking for a mate, or at least someone to talk to.  And as a very pleasant surprise we came across some wild sweet peas and roses that added a wonderful splash of color in the morning fog.

Joe admiring the sweet peas and roses

Tom has promised me he'll be back by next Sunday so he can resume his duty as blog-master.  I have to say Tom, I'm very grateful to you for writing this blog - it's only since I've being doing this for the last 6 weeks that I've appreciated your contribution every week.  I'll also add a reminder that the Coast Trail Celebration is on August 5th and you can get more details click here





NEXT SUNDAY, July 29th. @ 8:00 A.M.: NOYO HEADLANDS PARK - NORTH (GLASS BEACH), see our Routes above

Sunday July 29th.  Noyo Headlands North at Glass Beach
Sunday Aug 5th.  Caspar Logging Road.

EVERY TUESDAY at RUSSIAN GULCH & THURSDAY at HEESER DR., - GROUP RUN @ 7:00 A.M.

Van Damme State Park

Well maybe summer has finally arrived, with the morning fog we've been having in the last week. 

Van Damme State Beach

Although our walk from Van Damme was in the fog, there was no wind and it felt very warm. Photos this week are from John.  As you can see, John still has plenty of plums if you'd like to go and collect some.  There's also a photo of Van Damme taken on our walk and one of Spring Ranch just down the road, also taken Sunday morning. Both show that Mendocino summer overcast.

John's Plums waiting to be made into jam

There were 16 fogdodgers present this morning, 14 of whom went to breakfast at Little River Inn to enjoy a good breakfast, coffee and a glass of champers. Our 16 fog dodgers were: Pat & Leon, Peter & Sharri, Charlene & Ron, Fran, Nancy B. & Rick, a welcome visitor - Keith, Joe & Toni, Roger & Nancy, Bob C. and John.

Spring Ranch

Tom and Nancy are making their way back, and non too soon, I'm so glad Tom can take back the great job he does of writing this blog every week.  Thanks Tom.


NEXT SUNDAY, July 22nd. @ 8:00 A.M.: Navarro Ridge breakfast at the Whitesboro Grange, see our Routes above

Sunday July 22nd Navarro Ridge breakfast at the Whitesboro Grange
Sunday July 29th 10 mile.....

EVERY TUESDAY at RUSSIAN GULCH & THURSDAY at HEESER DR., - GROUP RUN @ 7:00 A.M.

Ward Avenue

Fireworks in Fort Bragg

It's just like living in California, where every day is beautiful, with today being no exception.  We even had clear weather for the firework display last night!  The beer, the salmon, the ice cream and the weather were also perfect for the "World's Largest Salmon Barbecue" right here in Fort Bragg.

The World's largest Salmon Barbecue

Outside the "Hammer" Museum

The Fog Dodgers were out in force, even though it was a holiday weekend.  Today we had Rick, Nancy B., Joe, Neil, Cheryl, Peter, Sharri, Katherine, Dave, John, Jan, Fran, Charlene, Ron, Roger & Nancy T.  John asked to pass on the message that any Fog Dodger that would like some ripe plums should call him or just come by with a bucket.

I finally heard from Tom, though I suspect from the photos he sent that he might be missing his pals back in Fort Bragg - I mean a photo of the world's largest hammer (after visiting a hammer museum) and a drinks menu?  Apparently even after  a flight of the vodkas, Tom still preferes his scotch.  In all fairness, he did send some photos of the spectacular scenery they've been enjoying in Alaska.  We look forward to having you guys back home in a couple of weeks.

The drinks menu

A typical view around every corner

Columbia Glacier, Valdez Alaska

A friend along the way.

This morning - Looking back towards Ward Ave.

NEXT SUNDAY, July 15th. @ 8:00 A.M.: Van Damme, see our Routes above

Sunday July 15th Van Damme
Sunday July 22nd Navarro Ridge breakfast at the Whitesboro Grange
Sunday July 29th 10 mile.....

EVERY TUESDAY at RUSSIAN GULCH & THURSDAY at HEESER DR., - GROUP RUN @ 7:00 A.M.

Caspar Logging Road

Grasses along Caspar Rd.

The temperature this morning was 57, no wind and a beautiful clear blue sky.  It was a very pleasant morning for walking or running. Most of us walked, but we had 4 intrepid runners.  I was happy to see for the first time in quite a while that we had dogs with us. 

Happy July 4th

Well sadly, nothing unusual happened and no-one did anything silly, so it's just a boring blog.  Of course, the people and conversations were far from boring, with many scintillating discussions.

So today we had Ron, Charlene, Peter, Shari, Roger, Nancy T., Pat, Pat’s friend from Sebastopol, John, Josh, Jan, Kathryn, Tom and Joe and our well behaved dogs were Benny and Amelia.

A repaired spiders web

About half of us went to breakfast at David's where Toni joined us.  I thought Joe might have been feeling a bit under the weather as he didn't bring his normal supply of extra ripe fruit, but he did order duck bacon (and there's me thinking bacon came from pigs), which did seem to be a big hit.

Thanks to John for the photos.

NEXT SUNDAY, July 8th. @ 8:00 A.M.: Ward Ave., see our Routes above

Sunday July 8th Ward Ave.
Sunday July 15th Van Damme
Sunday July 22nd Navarro Ridge breakfast at the Whitesboro Grange
Sunday July 29th 10 mile.....

EVERY TUESDAY at RUSSIAN GULCH & THURSDAY at HEESER DR., - GROUP RUN @ 7:00 A.M.