Visit to Mendocino

My husband and I recently took a four-day, socially-distanced trip to Mendocino. We rented a cabin (where the state's COVID-19 guidelines are strictly enforced), ate only in outdoor restaurants that complied with state mandates, and spent most of our time in the great outdoors. We were armed with warm clothes, a collection of face masks and multiple bottles of hand sanitizer.

Highway 128

The Andiron near Mendocino

From the San Francisco Bay Area, we followed the winding path of Highway 128 through oak forest and then majestic redwoods to the coast. We shared the road with only a handful of cars (one of the perks of the pandemic), and then checked into the Andiron Seaside Inn and Cabins (located about four miles from Mendocino). Our cabin (named "Curious") was filled with science-based games and activities, two telescopes, and binoculars. We ate a delicious dinner at the Trillium Cafe (in the garden, under a tent decorated with white lights, warmed by propane heaters, and socially distanced from other diners).

Contactless check in at The Andiron

Trillium Cafe for dinner in the garden

Mendocino is a charming Victorian era town of about 1,000 people (in its logging heydey, it boasted 20,000 inhabitants). The architecture is lovely, as is its situation on the Mendocino headlands, overlooking the ocean. A short walk across the headlands to the cliff-edge yields beautiful views of the rugged coastline. We found excellent menus at Flow Restaurant and Good Life Cafe & Bakery, and enjoyed watching wildlife in the evening, followed by fires in the wood stove, and episodes of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries.

Mendocino on the headlands

Mendocino coast line

View of the ocean

Curious (the cabin)

Russian Gulch State Park is just up the road, north of Mendocino. We snapped pictures of the Russian Gulch bridge glowing in late afternoon sun from the lower parking lot, then again from the Headlands Trail. The winter light intensifies the yellow sediment of the cliffs and illuminates the dense vegetation that covers the headlands. The crashing of the waves and turning of the tide is so therapeutic.

Russian Gulch Bridge

The caves at Russian Gulch State Park

Dramatic skies at Russian Gulch

One day we ate a late lunch in Fort Bragg (a bustling city of about 7,000 people) at Silver's at the Wharf with the sun on our backs, and then headed for the Point Cabrillo Light Station. We saw the charming lighthouse and more of the coastline, with everything bathed in that golden, late afternoon light. The tide surged into the fjords that cut into the coast, and birds and sea lions foraged for food. 

Lunch in Fort Bragg

Fjord at Point Cabrillo

Light station at Point Cabrillo

Rugged coastline (definite need for a lighthouse)

Golden sunset

We spent our last afternoon exploring Mendocino, and visiting the shops (I felt a serious obligation to stimulate the local economy)! Shopping has changed - hand sanitizer at the door, 20-minute stays in the store, limited number of shoppers at any one time. The Mendocino Presbyterian church on Main street was constructed of redwood and dedicated in 1868, and now operates a food pantry and conducts online services. Multiple water towers are scattered throughout the town. Shops are tucked into Victorian buildings that are well maintained and all painted up. We enjoyed a hot toddy and corn dog at Patterson's Pub.

Mendocino Presbyterian Church

One of the water towers in Mendocino

Bead shop along the wooden boardwalk

View from Flow Restaurant waiting for to-go order

Back at the Andiron, watching the deer graze at dusk

We returned home via Highway 128 feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. Even with all the restrictions and precautions, we had a great time exploring the beautiful Northern California coast!

Nature therapy

Presidio Coastal Scrub

A trail beckoned to us from the battery we were exploring in the Presidio; my folks, husband, and I answered the call. The trail followed the bluff, high above the rocky shoreline, giving us more grand views of the Golden Gate Bridge, ocean, and hills to the north. We were buffeted by the wind, blowing unabated across the ocean. I wished we had brought our walking sticks to help ground us!

Coastal scrub and Golden Gate Bridge (did I mention windy?)

In this area, a coastal dune scrub plant community replaced the coastal dune community of Baker Beach. Low lying grasses and bushes grew along the bluffs, holding them in place, along with a few gnarly trees. You can learn more about the coastal dune scrub plant community on the National Park Website: http://www.nps.gov/prsf/naturescience/coastal-dune-scrub-community.htm

Beckoning trail high on the bluffs



Wild coastal vistas, just a few miles from downtown San Francisco

Many of the flowering plants are small and low to the ground, similar in size to the miniature plants we see growing in the harsh conditions of the tundra in Alaska and Canada. Some of the plants that grow in the Presidio area are common natives and non-natives, others are rare or endangered.

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After a day of exploring the wild side of the Presidio, we headed back to the East Bay for dinner at one of our local neighborhood Chinese restaurants and good conversation. I recommend visiting the Presidio for a day of recreation with family or friends, or studying plant communities that could influence unique garden designs.
 

Presidio Batteries

North of Baker Beach is a whole string of batteries, built into the bluffs overlooking the ocean outside the Golden Gate. They are part of a fortification system constructed over many years. After our picnic at Baker Beach, we drove north a mile or so to park, and then explored.

We enjoyed more beautiful views of Golden Gate Bridge from this different vantage point, and sweeping views of water, hills, and sky. The ocean was choppy, but fleets of sail boats took advantage of the brisk wind. Here the plant community changes from dunes to coastal scrub.



Fortified bunker and the Golden Gate Bridge

The batteries are fascinating in their own right. They are solid and substantial. With my love of wild, desolate places, this would have been a prime assignment. The views of the ocean on one side and the Bay on the other, the Marin Headlands to the north, the rocky and forested coast to the south. But I imagine for most, it would have seemed like the end of the world, and more akin to banishment! You can learn more about the fortification system on the National Park Website: http://www.nps.gov/prsf/historyculture/batteries-east-and-west.htm

Geometric lines of one of the batteries 

Iron door with graffiti

Some of the plants in this area look like weeds. However, after visiting the Wanted Weeds exhibit at this year’s San Francisco Garden Show, I have a new appreciation for weedy plants. As my aunt and I learned, they can “be virtuous host plants, nectar sources, and medicinal”. Maybe it takes a tough little plant to stand guard at the batteries.

Weeds at the edge of the bunker, and pines on the hills

 

East Bay Regional Park District

Here in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area, we have access to thousands of acres of undeveloped land, which is under the stewardship of the East Bay Regional Park District. The Park District provides oversight for multiple parks throughout Alameda and Contra Costa counties. The parks preserve open land and watersheds in a growing urban area, for our enjoyment now, and for future generations.

Most of the plant communities associated with regional microclimates are represented in their holdings, including oak woodland, chaparral, coastal scrub, grassland, redwood forest, mixed evergreen forest, coastal dune, coastal strand, riparian, and so forth. This commitment to preserving some pristine land is a treasure for anyone interested in native plants, hiking, or getting back to nature.

East Bay Regional Park District provides stewardship
for many parks and open spaces

I have enjoyed hikes and events with family and friends in Briones, Temescal, Tilden, Leona Canyon, Redwood, Huckleberry, Roberts, Sibley, and Crown Beach, to name a few. I’ve also helped remove invasive plant species in several parks. To learn more about the East Bay Regional Park District: http://www.ebparks.org; about individual parks: http://www.ebparks.org/parks; and for plant checklists: https://www.ebparks.org/natural-resources/biodiversity/plants-checklist  (select by district, or specific park).

Native Plants of Leona Canyon

I know more about Mediterranean and desert plants than I know about the local plants in the San Francisco East Bay. I plan to change that, and hope the change works its way into my shady, woodland, Oakland Hills garden.

A great local resource is the East Bay Regional Park’s network of parks and open space preserves. These parks enable you to see plants in their natural regional environments, such as oak woodland, chaparral, coastal scrub, grassland, and redwood and mixed evergreen forests. I learned to identify a few of the local plants at the Leona Canyon Preserve in the Oakland Hills.

Lupine	Sticky Monkey Flower
California Blackberry	Coastal Sage Brush

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Preserves located close to population centers frequently include non-native plants introduced intentionally, or naturally from their proximity to personal gardens. This makes it tricky for the newbie to distinguish between native and non-native plants. The East Bay Regional Park District runs an ongoing volunteer program to remove invasive, non-native species from the parks and preserves.

Invasive French Broom provides beautiful
color, but forces out native plants.

The Teacher’s Trail Guide publication for Leona Canyon includes a great write-up of native plants: https://www.ebparks.org/parks/leona-canyon. The park-specific write-up for Leona Canyon also provides information about its native species. For more plant lists see the Wild Plant Checklists.

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