Point Arena

Our main reason for visiting was the California Coastal National Monument. Being a recent Presidential proclamation and managed by the BLM I knew that there would be little infrastructure and we might only be hiking. Given the heavy rain during our entire drive on roads through redwood stands reminiscent of the Tail of the Dragon I began to think we might have a hard time occupying ourselves for the time set aside. We found to our pleasure I was wrong.

Point Arena lighthouse was a typical brick and mortar tower built in 1869. At 115 feet it stands the tallest of any lighthouse on the west coast of North America.

In the 1906 earthquake, the lighthouse keeper reported that the tower itself actually moved 16 feet as the earth’s plates shifted. While it didn’t fall, it was so structurally damaged that It had to be rebuilt. Construction estimates were so far beyond the Coast Guard’s planned budget that they sought a quote from an east coast smoke stack builder. As that estimate was well within the budget it was accepted, and from then on the Coast Guard built subsequent lighthouse towers using smoke stack construction methods.

I believe that this is the first lighthouse we have actually been able to go up into the top level where the lens would have been. The 360 degree views from this height are astounding. We were mesmerized. We learned that 1992 Mel Gibson movie Forever Young was filmed at the Point Arena lighthouse and saw the gazebo that I remember from the film.

Because of damage to the original lens during the earthquake a state of the art double eyeball Fresnel lens was imported from France. The double eyeball gave Point Arena its distinctive double dot flash every 15 seconds so mariners knew which lighthouse they were passing, even 24 miles out to sea.

I learned something new that was kind of a “duh” moment for me. Our friend’s favorite bourbon ha

s always been Makers Mark. I just thought it a catchy name. I learned that folks proud of what they built would put the “maker’s mark” on them so that everyone would know who made it. Although the 1869 tower had to be rebuilt, the original staircase was intact and reused. The original “maker’s mark” still proudly announces who built it.

We hiked all over the coastline within the National Monument. The towering cliffs are impressive and the pounding surfs are relentless. We took every chance we had to get near the water. Our weather turned sunny, but the water soaked ground left us dodging near swamps as we tried to hike our way around.

On one of our many hikes we visited Bowling Ball Beach. This stretch of beach is one of the best visible examples of the collision of the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate commonly called the San Andreas Fault. Long stretches of what almost look like highway pavement with lanes demarked are the leading edge of the Pacific Plate openly exposed here at high tide.

What appear to be the bowling balls were formed of yellow sandstone and subjected to super pressure deep in the ocean. As the Pacific Plate pushed up and over the North American Plate and the softer mudstone eroded over time, these harder sandstone boulders were left exposed.

These boulders are completely submerged at higher tides, but we were magically hiking here at almost the lowest tide of the day – our unbelievable luck holds out. While it is not too easy to get here it is well worth the effort.

Our obsession with the water brought us to the Point Arena Chowder House for dinner. Right at the foot of the Point Arena pier we had a ringside seat for some award winning chorizo clam chowder and a spectacular sundown. While we thought it too cloudy to be rewarded for our attempt, we were wrong. At the last minute the sun dipped below the higher clouds and gave us that warm feeling we love and look forward to.

We learned something we totally did not know. We knew that the Spanish were all over California, and that both the French and English had in the Northwest in Oregon and the Canadian provinces. What we didn’t know is that Russia established an outpost only 100 miles north of San Francisco in 1812. Fort Ross was the southernmost Russian settlement in North America.

Fort Ross, derived from the Russian word for the country, Rossiia, was originally established as a fur hunting and trading post. An original band of 25 Russian’s and 80 Alaskan natives sailed down from the Russian settlements in Sitka and began hunting sea otters for pelts An active trading settlement with the local Pomo nation became a thriving community for the next 30 years. Most of the structures in the fort were destroyed in the 1906 earthquake however the original 1836 home of commander Rotchev survived and still stands.

We were fascinated to learn that perhaps the earliest documented marine management may have taken place at Fort Ross. As the settlement hunted sea otter, it became evident that the hunting was rapidly depleting the population of otter. At the same time it was becoming clear that the hostile climate in Alaska prevented establishing enough agricultural activities there to feed the substantial Russian settlement, and the cost of supplying the settlements from Russia was prohibitive as well. So, Fort Ross stopped hunting otter to allow the population to rebound, and began farming to supply the Alaskan settlements.

We learned that the settlement was not as successful as hoped. The soil in the area was not productive to farming however the settlement did raise stock and supplied meat and dairy to the Alaskan settlements. After 30 years the Russian government decided to abandon Fort Ross and ordered the commander to sell what he could. Interestingly he sold everything to John Sutter, the guy who launched the gold rush several years later.

We found an unlikely gem in Point Arena. B Bryan Preserve touts itself as Africa on the Mendocino Coast, and we totally agree.

Dr. Frank and Judy Mello had always been wildlife enthusiasts. In 1998 they founded the Preserve on family land in Mississippi for study and conservation of endangered antelope species, Sable Antelope, Roan Antelope and the Greater Kudu.

In 2004 an opportunity for Judy opened in Frank’s old stomping grounds in Northern California and they purchased this 100 acre ranch. Since then they expanded their hooved stock to include other endangered species. Their Preserve now is home to Plains, Grevy’s and Hartman’s Mountain Zebra. They also have 5 absolutely beautiful Rothschild Giraffe’s. Rothschild’s are so endangered that this tiny preserve has nearly 1% of the entire population of the species on this planet!

We felt like we were back in Botswana. The Preserve’s naturalist was actually our personal guide. She bundled us up into a classic Range Rover that looked like it may actually have come from the Kalahari and we headed out to mingle with all the animals.

This place is really magical. With the exception of the Plains Zebra, each of these magnificent creatures is severely endangered. The Mello’s have arranged to participate in selective breeding programs to help to continue these species. They don’t work with captive zoos but rather work with other preserves that maintain non-captive living environments. It was really special to see these wild creatures roaming the land.

Talk to you soon!