Scenes from the Sonoma Coast

We went "glamping" in Stewarts Point a couple weekends ago. Sonoma County, north of Jenner. Just south of Sea Ranch. The next several pictures are from the Black Point Beach trail.





















Sea Ranch Chapel. I thought it was older than 1985. Architected by James Hubbell, who is pretty well known out west, as architects go.





















Point Arena Lighthouse. We did not take the tour, but the museum looked pretty cool. And, actually, this is Mendocino County.



The cliffs outside the gate are among the sheerest, unprotected drops I can recall seeing in California, outside of Yosemite.









Elk, a cute little spit of a town right on Highway 1, south of Mendocino, and the northern-most point of our this jaunt this weekend.















Naked ladies, enjoying the last of summer.







Odd Fellows Cemetery in Point Arena, heading back to glamp.

The coastal mise-en-scène was not quite as austerely monochromatic as the pictures would indicate. But still.

The view back at glamp:

It was cozy enough.

Point Reyes: Low tide at Sculptured Beach, cloaked in fog

Obvs, I found the cliffs as compelling as the beach. 



Erosive forces and what not have opened huge canyons now colonized with the usual coastal scrub. You can step into them a little bit, but is that a good idea? On that fateful April day in 1906, the whole of Point Reyes moved 17 feet north east in a span of 45 seconds. 





I couldn't help but notice all the Mimulus guttatus, growing not just from glorious patches in the valley floors,





but also directly from the vertical surfaces of canyon walls,



causing me to wonder, exactly how much water is moving through these cliffs? How long ago was 1906?  



I stayed focused on the beach.



A damn shame the Coast Miwok Indians did not have butter back in the day...