MENDOCINO COAST BOTANICAL GARDENS

Meet at 8:20 at pullout for Gualala business directory to carpool and at 8:30 at Anchor Bay (west side of Hwy 1) to carpool to the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens, Fort Bragg. This is a LONG drive for us so be forewarned. Hikers north of Anchor Bay should call the leaders ahead of time if you want to be picked up along the way. There is an admission charge for the Gardens unless you are a MCBG member or a member of a reciprocal garden.  Our leaders are members and member's guests are $10 if they come in with a member so it shouldn't be more than $10 a person. This hike is limited to 14 people. You must email msittner@mcn.org or call Mary Sue to reserve a place (707-884-4824). This garden includes 47 acres of manicured gardens, diverse plant collections, forests, streams, fern canyons and bluffs. We will walk out to the Cliff House and see spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean along the Coastal Bluff Trail and visit the vegetable garden where a lot of produce is grown and donated to the food bank. Dahlias, heritage roses, heathers, begonias, fuchsias, hydrangeas, perennials are at their peak bloom August-October. Dogs are welcome on leash. Those who want to can eat at Rhody's Cafe where you can get fresh made sandwiches and salads, homemade soup and desserts, coffee, drinks, and Cowlick's ice cream. We will order and pay when we arrive and our lunch will be ready to pick up when we are done hiking.  It's also fine to bring your lunch if you prefer.
Leaders: Mary Sue and Bob

Photo Credit: Bob & Laura

FERN CANYON TRAIL – VAN DAMME STATE PARK (New)

Carpool at the pullout for Gualala business directory north of bridge 8:05 am, at 8:15 am in Anchor Bay and 8:40 am at Manchester School parking lot for this longer than usual drive for a hike. This will be a one way hike so a shuttle will need to be arranged. We will start at the parking area for the Pygmy Forest Natural Preserve that is located beyond the airport on Little River Airport Road. Hikers will walk the Pygmy Forest boardwalk trail and then wait for the drivers to come back after they drop off cars at the beach at the entrance to Van Damme, our ending point. We will take the logging road to the Fern Canyon Trail and walk mostly downhill to the entrance to the park. This hike is longer than most, probably more than 5 miles, but is incredibly beautiful, mostly shaded with mixed evergreens, ferns, shrubs and the sound and sometimes sight of Little River in the background. The trail is narrow in spots and there are tree roots so good shoes and hiking sticks will be helpful. We can eat at the beach or the picnic tables in the park at the end. As an extra treat after lunch we will visit the Ford House Museum in Mendocino where there is on exhibit through August the winners of this year's California Coastal Art & Poetry Contest. The Coastal Commission received 2,850 entries for the 2019 contest and awarded ten winners and 39 honorable mentions in the different age groups. An extra benefit besides being struck with the talent and appreciation of the coast by these young people from grade one to grade twelve is reading their statements about their art.
Leaders: Mary Sue Ittner and Bob Rutemoeller
photos contributed by: Mary Sue and Bob

MENDOCINO BOTANICAL GARDENS

Meet at 8:20 at pullout for Gualala business directory to carpool and at 8:30 at Anchor Bay (west side of Hwy 1) to carpool to the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens, Fort Bragg. This is a LONG drive for us so be forewarned. Hikers north of Anchor Bay should call the leaders ahead of time if you want to be picked up along the way. There is an admission charge for the Gardens unless you are a MCBG member or a member of a reciprocal garden ($15 General, $12 Senior, $10 Mendocino County resident).  Our leaders are members and member's guests are $10 if they come in with a member so it shouldn't be more than $10 a person. This garden includes 47 acres of manicured gardens, diverse plant collections, forests, streams, fern canyons and bluffs. We will walk out to the Cliff House and see spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean along the Coastal Bluff Trail and visit the vegetable garden where a lot of produce is grown and donated to the food bank. Dahlias, heritage roses, heathers, begonias, fuchsias, hydrangeas, perennials are at their peak bloom August-October. Dogs are welcome on leash. Those who want to can eat at Rhody's Cafe where you can get fresh made sandwiches and salads, homemade soup and desserts, coffee, drinks, and Cowlick's ice cream. Please let Mary Sue know by phone or email (msittner@mcn.org) one week in advance if you plan to come and eat at Rhody's so they will be able to accommodate us as Rhody's is very busy this summer. We will order and pay when we arrive and our lunch will be ready to pick up when we are done hiking. You can get an idea of the possibilities by looking at the menu on Facebook. It's also fine to bring your lunch if you prefer. https://www.facebook.com/pg/RhodysGardenCafe/menu/?ref=page_internal
Leaders: Bob & Mary Sue
photos contributed by Mary Sue

MENDOCINO HEADLANDS STATE PARK (NEW)

 

Meet at 8:50 at pullout for Gualala business directory and at Anchor Bay (west side of Highway One) at 9 a.m. to carpool. Anyone interested in this hike from Point Arena north let the leaders know so we can arrange other carpool spots. This hike will be one of the few hikes we do that are farther away and will be a walk on the headlands that surround the town of Mendocino. There will be spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean at every turn. The starting point will be the parking area on Heeser Dr. north of town. We will walk west and then south. Lunch will be at the picnic tables near our starting spot (where there are public bathrooms as well) unless we discover a more scenic spot. Afterwards we'll drive to Frankie's for Cowlick's ice cream before heading home.
Leaders: Mary Sue Ittner & Bob Rutemoeller
photos contributed by Mary Sue, April, and Steve

ECOLOGICAL STAIRCASE, JUGHANDLE STATE RESERVE

ALL Photos by Bob Rutemoeller

Carpool at 8:35 at pullout for Gualala business directory north of the bridge and at 8:45 in Anchor Bay. Anyone joining us from  north of the carpool spot should let the leaders know where we can pick you up or you may want to organize your own carpools. We are hoping to be at the reserve for a 10 o'clock starting time but that's just a guess. "The watershed of Jug Handle Creek holds a rare natural phenomenon, an ecological staircase composed of five terraces, each about 100,000 years older and about 100 feet higher than the one below it." The trail we will follow is 5 miles long with elevation changes. Some of the plant communities we will pass through are North Coast bluff scrub, coastal prairie, closed cone pine forest, riparian, non native invaders, grand fir/sitka spruce forest, redwood forest, and finally the pygmy forest, a bog with low nutrient highly acidic soil, underlain by an iron hardpan where trees that normally grow tall are dwarf. We will then turn around and descend and have lunch on the beach at the end. Dogs are not allowed on the trail.

Leaders:  Mary Sue & Bob