Northern California Coast Tour — Part 2

On day two of our Northern California Coast Tour, we headed to Ferndale, which is located more than 300 miles north of our home in Sunnyvale. En route, we passed through Willits which, other than being the gateway to the California redwoods, is not very interesting.

Roughly four hours after starting, we finally made it to Ferndale, a well-preserved Victorian town surrounded by large cow pastures. Although Ferndale was a charming town and we did enjoy a nice lunch at Curley's Bar and Grill, our primary reason for being there was simply to cut through on our way to Cape Mendocino.

Cape Mendocino, located about 18 miles west of Ferndale, is the western-most point in California. It took us nearly an hour to get there because the road is windy and narrow. Cape Mendocino lighthouse used to stand on the bluff above the black sands beach until it was moved to Shelter Cove in 1998.

Near the foot of where the lighthouse used to stand, and just off the coast, is Sugar Loaf Island. Arnon was determined to get to it. Unfortunately, the land that separates the black sands beach and the main road is privately owned, so a little bit of trespassing was necessary.

After about 30 minutes of trudging across what seemed like quick sand, and enduring harsh winds that continuously pelted the sand at us, I had to call it quits. I know Arnon really wanted to get to Sugar Loaf Island, so I told him to go on without me, but he refused.

After returning to Ferndale, we headed north to Crescent City, near the Oregon border. After all the driving we'd done earlier, the two hours to get there were a breeze.

Frankly, I thought Crescent City was a dump, with one saving grace: Battery Point Lighthouse. We had to wait for low tide to cross to the lighthouse, so we spent some time walking on the promenade that extended into the water. The weather was perfect and the lighthouse looked so beautiful at sunset. We also saw Point St. George lighthouse in the distance, which is only accessible by helicopter.

I'll share more tomorrow.