While in Caspar Beach, CA we drove just a few miles south to a state park called Russian Gulch.  It’s along the coast and there are several trails along the cliffs and to a sinkhole just off the shore where tidal water streams in and out.

We had postponed our visit to this park because of clouds and fog so we were happy the next morning when the skies were clear.  It was a beautiful day!

The loop trail that we took to the sinkhole was just about ½ mile and very flat so that Laddy wouldn’t get winded or have trouble going uphill (heart condition and very weak back legs).  He was fine and really enjoyed the short hike!  He was on a mission for part of the way – forging ahead and not sniffing or looking around at all.  Like he’d smelled a rabbit and was determined to find it!

It was a very nice day – here are a few pictures:

One day while we were staying in Caspar Beach we took a drive up the coast about 30 miles.  We’d already been on that coastline when we came into town, but it was so foggy we couldn’t see anything.

On Wednesday the day was extremely clear, very few high clouds and no marine layer!  So we jumped in the car and drove up to where Hwy 1 turns inland, and then returned along the coastline to see the shore and all the rocks in the water. 

It’s amazing about those rocks!  As I said in a previous blog entry while we were in Oregon, the rocky coastline is a result of the two tectonic plates along the coast ramming into each other, one side gets pushed down and one side gets pushed up.

The coastline is very rocky and in some places there’s a gradual slope down to the cliffs.  We saw several farms and ranches along the shore.  And, some houses perched right on the cliff.  I got a good picture of one of them just above a beach with very large rocks scattered around.

Here are the pictures we took on our coastline drive:

Several weeks ago when we were travelling north towards Washington we drove Hwy 101 from Klamath to Crescent City, CA.  The highway had suffered a major landslide a few months before and it was CLOSED most of the day while workers cleared it.  Overnight and for 2 hours at lunchtime they opened it one lane so there were still delays.  We left very early that morning so we would be past that area before they closed it from 8am-noon.  It was kind of foggy that morning so we didn’t get a real good look at the area.

Now we are heading south through the same area and we learned that it was no longer closed for several hours at a time  So we were able to go through that area a little later in the day and got to see it real well.

It’s a huge, high cliff that slid onto the road!  I can see why it took months to get it cleared enough and secure the cliff enough to allow traffic through it again.  Here are a few pictures:

We’re staying a week in Caspar Beach, CA.  It’s near Mendocino and also Ft. Bragg.  Our RV Park is right on the beach, literally just across the narrow country road.  The beach and the RV park are in a narrow ravine with cliffs right out to the ocean.  The beach area has tons of rocks and also lots of seaweed, so with the cliffs on either side the smell can’t get out. 

One day I had walked over to the beach and when I got back to the road I saw a young deer standing in the road.  When it saw me it moved to the other side in front of the RV park store and I got a picture of it before a car scared it enough to run. The next day I saw him again inside the RV park so it must live around here.  I haven’t seen any grown deer and this one is so young, I wonder if it’s an orphan?!?

Here are pictures of the beach, the front of the RV Park and the deer I saw: