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, October 17, 2010

Caspar Logging Road

OK, so it was pretty gray, cool (about 50F), and even a little muggy. If I was an epidemiologist, I'd say that combination caused a lot of folks to stay away, but there could be lots of other reasons too. Like that it was still pretty dark not long before that.... Still, it was pretty good weather for running/biking, and the walkers seemed to be having a good time too.

Reid and Heather brought his father, Will. Others in attendance today included Charlene, Fran, Mark, Gay, Pat, Cindy, Jim, Joel and Johnny (12). No breakfast today as a group, as we all headed off in our own directions.

Don't Forget: Daylight Savings Time is still with us until Sunday, November 7 this year.

NEXT SUNDAY, October 24, 2010 @ 8 AM:  A&W Logging Road (See "Our Routes" above)

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

EVERY THURSDAY @ 7 AM:
VAN DAMME STATE PARK, beginning at the beach.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Ron Jahelka Trail, Big River

It occurs to me, too late, that we should have been at 10-Mile today, but how many tens can you have in one day? Happy 10-10-10 everyone.

A little foggy, a bit humid and perhaps a tad early for some, it was still and 57F at the beginning of our morning run/walk. The beautiful red poison oak still reminded me it was really fall.

Sitting there wondering if I'd misread the venue, our park flash mob didn't fail me as everyone came piling in a few minutes before 8. Peter bids you all adieu, as this will be his last visit for this year. Never worry, he plans to be back with us next summer. It was really wonderful to see Tough Guy Rick B. back, even if it was for breakfast.

Also showing today were Jim, Cindy, Nancy B., John, Neil, Rick C., Toni, Gay, Mark, Randy, Fran, Scott, Maddelyn, Brad, Johnny and about a million mosquitoes (1,000,017). They still haven't migrated south for the winter.

Afterward, 8 of us had a great breakfast at the Bayview Cafe.

By the by, Daylight Savings Time doesn't go bye-bye until Sunday, November 7 this year.


NEXT SUNDAY, 10/17/10 @ 8 AM: 
CASPAR LOGGING ROAD (SEE "Our Routes" above)

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

EVERY THURSDAY @ 7 AM:
VAN DAMME STATE PARK, beginning at the beach.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Fern Canyon, Van Damme State Park

This morning, we ran and walked Van Damme State Park's Fern Canyon. It was more like a coastal summer morning than a fall morning. It was 54 degrees with a heavy overcast and calm, very good for walking and running. Two new persons this morning, welcome to Suzi and Geri. Others present: Tanya, Melissa, Randy, Toni, Nancy T., Roger, John, Cindy, Jim, Cheryl N., Neil, Deb, Sam, Bob, Kim, Peter, Nancy and Tom (20).

Ten of us had a very good breakfast at Mendocino's Bayview Cafe. It was a very nice morning, good scenery, exercise, food and people!

NEXT SUNDAY, 10/10/10 @ 8:00 A.M.: Group Run/Walk/Bike, The Ron Jahelka Trail along Big River (see Our Routes above).

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

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

Sunday, September 26, 2010

NAVARRO RIDGE/ WHITESBORO GRANGE

Today we went to the Whitesboro Grange and had a good time running and walking out Navarro Ridge Road. It was a good morning, very summer-like, at 54 degrees with some fog and some sun. Fran brought her neighbor, Pat, again and Randy E. brought his aunt and her husband, Ron. I'm sorry, Randy, I forgot your Aunt's name, again. Hate it when I do that!

Also present this morning were: Cindy, Jim, Gay, Mark, John, Tanya, Brent, Johnny, Nancy and Tom (15).

After our run or walk, 11 of us had the usual and great Whitesboro Grange Pancake Breakfast.

Two good events coming up soon:

Next Saturday, there's the Noyo River Run 5K. The race is just part of a Health and Wellness Festival that includes lots of free health screenings and talks. Check it out by putting the following URL into your web browser: http://www.mcdh.org/wellness2010/  

Then Sunday, October 3 there's "Run the Ranch": This should be a really nice run or walk for anyone interested in getting away from the fog and it benefits a good project. I couldn't upload a cleaner image. The small print at the bottom reads: Pre-registration at Jaxson Keys Winery, 707-462-6666 or The Gardens Project, 707-462-2596 (you can click on the picture and see a larger image).



NEXT SUNDAY, 10/3/10, @ 8:00 A.M.:  Van Damme State Park's Fern Canyon (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 it's south end.

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

Sunday, September 19, 2010

MacKerricher Haul Road

Folks, we aren't called the Fog Dodgers without reason. I'm not sure why there were so few of us this morning but for those of you that missed it, you missed a perfectly good morning. Carlin thought it was "wonderful"! John captured the essence of it in the photo below. I think all of the blog photos are or will be "clickable", that is, if you click on them, you'll get a larger image.



We were on the MacKerricher Haul Road this morning. It was 61 degrees (about as warm as it's ever been at one of our 8 a.m. starts) and foggy with a light drizzle. A half hour into our runs or walks, coming back, the light drizzle turned into a light rain. It was a good morning to run or walk. Present were: Carlin, Randy, Brad, Johnny, John, Melissa, Nancy and Tom (8).

Afterwards, six of us enjoyed Cafe 1 for breakfast.

Two good events coming up soon:



This should be a really nice run or walk for anyone interested in getting away from the fog and it benefits a good project. I couldn't upload a cleaner image. The small print at the bottom reads: Pre-registration at Jaxson Keys Winery, 707-462-6666 or The Gardens Project, 707-462-2596 (you can click on the picture and see a larger image).

and, if you would rather do a local Saturday race on that same weekend, October 2nd and 3rd, there's the Noyo River Run 5K. The race is just part of a Health and Wellness Festival that includes lots of free health screenings and talks. Check it out by putting the following URL into your web browser (sorry, I couldn't make it a hyperlink).
http://www.mcdh.org/wellness2010/

NEXT SUNDAY, 9/26/10 @ 8:00 A.M.:  Navarro Ridge 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 it's south end.

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

Sunday, September 12, 2010

CASPAR LOGGING ROAD

Several people said to me this morning, "What a beautiful morning!" And it was! We were on the edge of the fog and John, always looking for an interesting photo, caught this view of the sunrise on Fern Creek Road.



Not your typical sunrise photo. Thank you, John.

It was 45 degrees, clear and calm at our 8:00 a.m. start. We had runners and walkers from all over the state. It was a pleasure to meet for the first time, Carlin, from Palo Alto and she says she will return frequently. Also nice to have Larry T., here visiting his mom, and bringing his children Jessica and Jason along again. Also present: Deb, Joyce, Gay, Mark, Cheryl, Neil, Heather, Reid, Toni, Randy F., Maddelyn, Scott, Bob, John, Johnny, Brad, Randy E., Melissa I., Nancy and Tom (24).

To Deb's embarassment, we gave her a fairly good rendition of Happy Birthday at the conclusion of our run/walk.

Oh, one other interesting footnote. For a long time now, we've been hoping that Brad would get more into the exercise thing, maybe pick up the pace and even try running a bit. Well, he did!! Maybe because of a change in his work days/hours, or whatever, he screwed up and was actually observed running on Saturday instead of Sunday! He also had our location wrong as he was seen running around the Botanical Gardens. Way to go Brad! Hopefully, with the new work days you'll join us often and demonstrate those skills.

About 14 of us had a fun and tasty breakfast at David's Restaurant (voted to have the best bacon on the coast) afterwards.

Run The Ranch 5K


This should be a really nice run or walk for anyone interested in getting away from the fog and it benefits a good project. I couldn't upload a cleaner image. The small print at the bottom reads: Pre-registration at Jaxson Keys Winery, 707-462-6666 or The Gardens Project, 707-462-2596 (you can click on the picture and see a larger image).

The Noyo River Run

If you don't want to drive "over the hill" for an event, there's a 5K Race/Walk benefitting our local hospital on Saturday the 2nd. http://www.mcdh.org/wellness2010/

NEXT SUNDAY, September 19, @ 8:00 A.M.:  MacKerricher Haul Road (see Our Routes tab above)
EVERY TUESDAY @ 7:00 A.M.: RUSSIAN GULCH STATE PARK, beginning on Point Cabrillo Drive, 1/10 of a mile north of it's south end.

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

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Ten Mile River Logging Road

This morning, we ran and walked along Ten Mile River. We were joined by John's son, Jason, and by Fran's neighbor, Pat. Others present were: John, Fran, Melissa, Gay, Mark, Nancy T., Roger, Cheryl N., Neil, Toni, Randy F., Joyce, Brad, Johnny, Joel, Nancy and Tom (19).

It was a Fall-like morning, a 45 at the start (which seemed colder), clear and calm skies which made for perfect running and walking. I think that Campbell Timber or Baxman Gravel, or whoever is in charge of such things, recently did a lot of weed whacking along the roadway and therefore we didn't see many blackberries, at least not within easy reach. For Johnny and Joel, they may have seen some further up the road?? Also, there's something different this year with the weather and the seasons, many blackberry bushes were still in bloom and probably never will ripen.

It was a very nice morning. After the run/walk, 7 of us enjoyed breakfast at David's Restaurant in the Boatyard Center.

NEXT SUNDAY, 9/12/10 @ 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 it's south end.

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