Jenner, CA
Dec. 06. After leaving the Sea Ranch Lodge several hundreds of dollars lighter in the wallet, we continued south on Highway 1. By the way, it is also called “Shoreline Drive” in some areas. California does that for some reason. For instance, I-5 in the LA region is also named the “Santa Ana Freeway.” I can’t think of a similar example in Oregon or Washington. Our next overnight stop was at Salt Point State Park. At last, some cheap lodging. Six bucks for us to camp and six more for firewood. I slept like a rock that night, even better than on the 5-Star Certa mattress in the Sea Ranch Lodge. I tend to sleep better in my sleeping bag and tent than in most motels, no matter how nice they are. It didn’t start out that way, but has come to be true for me.
Most of the Salt Point campground was closed for the season, but the hiker-biker section was still open, and as in most our previous state park stays, we were the only ones using it. It just happened to be located right behind the modular building the park rangers were using for offices, and right behind a couple cords of dried and stacked firewood. I paid one of the park rangers for kindling and firewood, and then when they had all gone home, we used as much as we wanted. Now that I have come clean about that crime, I feel the need to fork over some more cash to the California State Parks. I think I will the next time we purchase firewood in a State Park. While I am on the subject of fires, let me say that the acquisition of firewood and getting a roaring fire going is always Candy’s first order of business when we camp. She really gets into it, to the point that I have to remind her that it is getting dark and we need to put up the tent. She can spend hours getting the fire lit, then tending to it, pushing it, prodding it, rearranging it, and staring in to it. While I enjoy the fires and the warmth, I could get by without them. Since I am writing about campfires, I would like pass on that we have discovered an almost magical way to get damp firewood burning. First you establish a small bed of burning wood and coals, and then put some of the larger pieces of damp wood around that. Then you toss in an emergency road flare and step back.
We got our usual late morning start out of the Salt Point campground around 11 am then stopped for lunch around 1pm at the historic Ft. Ross State Park. While there, a group of three with English (I thought) accents started admiring our trike. Turns out they are from New Zealand, living and working in the States. We had a nice conversation with them, mostly centered around the trike. After that, we started down the road again, figuring that we might need to bush camp, as the next town, Jenner looked out of reach for the day, and no camping symbols listed on the map, either. Little did we know that one of the most arduous sections of Highway 1 was directly ahead of us. The elevation profile on our map showed a sharp climb up to about 600 feet, then a mostly downhill ride to Jenner. It turned out to be a sharp climb to 600 feet, then back down to 400 feet, then back up to 600 feet, then meandering along around 500 feet for several miles with mostly no shoulders and a straight down plunge into the ocean on the right. I remembered driving this section of Highway 1 years ago in a rented motor home, going to visit the brother-in-law. It was another of those situations where you either keep going, trying to make it to a motel room or campsite before dark, or find a spot to pitch the tent alongside the road. At about 3pm I wanted to stop and pitch camp behind a pile of rocks where there was just enough room for the tent. It was off the road a ways, and there was water nearby in a stream. Only one problem, it was right next to a 500 foot plunge down to the ocean. Candy wouldn’t do it, as she is a little shaky around high places. So that left us with no option but to try to make it to Jenner for the night, which were able to do, but just barely. The sun had set, it was getting cold, and I was as exhausted as I have ever been by the time we had checked in to the only lodging in town. Another pricey affair, a cottage with no tv, no internet, no phone. Candy and I have come to the conclusion that since these places mostly have no nearby competition, they can save money by not offering the standard amenities of a cheap motel, then jack the price up, all in the name of “ambiance” or the concept of “getting away from it all”. I call bullshit. It’s a cover for extracting more money out of tourists.
The weather has been sunny and warm for us since leaving Manchester Beach several days ago. The California Mendocino-Sonoma coast is quite beautiful, even in December. My over-arching impression of the area is that you have to be wealthy to live there, and if you do live there, you put up NO TRESSPASSING signs everywhere.
Ron.
Most of the Salt Point campground was closed for the season, but the hiker-biker section was still open, and as in most our previous state park stays, we were the only ones using it. It just happened to be located right behind the modular building the park rangers were using for offices, and right behind a couple cords of dried and stacked firewood. I paid one of the park rangers for kindling and firewood, and then when they had all gone home, we used as much as we wanted. Now that I have come clean about that crime, I feel the need to fork over some more cash to the California State Parks. I think I will the next time we purchase firewood in a State Park. While I am on the subject of fires, let me say that the acquisition of firewood and getting a roaring fire going is always Candy’s first order of business when we camp. She really gets into it, to the point that I have to remind her that it is getting dark and we need to put up the tent. She can spend hours getting the fire lit, then tending to it, pushing it, prodding it, rearranging it, and staring in to it. While I enjoy the fires and the warmth, I could get by without them. Since I am writing about campfires, I would like pass on that we have discovered an almost magical way to get damp firewood burning. First you establish a small bed of burning wood and coals, and then put some of the larger pieces of damp wood around that. Then you toss in an emergency road flare and step back.
We got our usual late morning start out of the Salt Point campground around 11 am then stopped for lunch around 1pm at the historic Ft. Ross State Park. While there, a group of three with English (I thought) accents started admiring our trike. Turns out they are from New Zealand, living and working in the States. We had a nice conversation with them, mostly centered around the trike. After that, we started down the road again, figuring that we might need to bush camp, as the next town, Jenner looked out of reach for the day, and no camping symbols listed on the map, either. Little did we know that one of the most arduous sections of Highway 1 was directly ahead of us. The elevation profile on our map showed a sharp climb up to about 600 feet, then a mostly downhill ride to Jenner. It turned out to be a sharp climb to 600 feet, then back down to 400 feet, then back up to 600 feet, then meandering along around 500 feet for several miles with mostly no shoulders and a straight down plunge into the ocean on the right. I remembered driving this section of Highway 1 years ago in a rented motor home, going to visit the brother-in-law. It was another of those situations where you either keep going, trying to make it to a motel room or campsite before dark, or find a spot to pitch the tent alongside the road. At about 3pm I wanted to stop and pitch camp behind a pile of rocks where there was just enough room for the tent. It was off the road a ways, and there was water nearby in a stream. Only one problem, it was right next to a 500 foot plunge down to the ocean. Candy wouldn’t do it, as she is a little shaky around high places. So that left us with no option but to try to make it to Jenner for the night, which were able to do, but just barely. The sun had set, it was getting cold, and I was as exhausted as I have ever been by the time we had checked in to the only lodging in town. Another pricey affair, a cottage with no tv, no internet, no phone. Candy and I have come to the conclusion that since these places mostly have no nearby competition, they can save money by not offering the standard amenities of a cheap motel, then jack the price up, all in the name of “ambiance” or the concept of “getting away from it all”. I call bullshit. It’s a cover for extracting more money out of tourists.
The weather has been sunny and warm for us since leaving Manchester Beach several days ago. The California Mendocino-Sonoma coast is quite beautiful, even in December. My over-arching impression of the area is that you have to be wealthy to live there, and if you do live there, you put up NO TRESSPASSING signs everywhere.
Ron.
posted by Candy and Ron | 5:04 PM
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