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| It's not only a Doo Rag, it's a mask for when we pass people on the trails. It's required that you have on a mask when you're on the trails. |
Beth and I fell in love with Bodega Bay before we had a reason to fall in love with this area. In other words, before Sarah, Joey and James relocated to the area (they are about forty miles away from Bodega Bay). With them here, and with the addition of Emma Joy to their family, it's even more fun visiting this area. They are the reason we're here now!
We're very grateful to have found an amazing house to rent that sits right on the bay. We wake up to sea lions barking and enjoy our coffee and tea while watching the occasional seal swim in the nearby channel. There are pods of white pelicans and numerous other birds hunting for their morning breakfast in the tidal area. In the afternoons, after the tide comes in, we enjoy watching the wind surfers and kite surfers zip across the bay at high speeds. Not a bad place to isolate while we count down the days until we can visit the family.
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| Isolation with a view! |
Bodega Bay is located in Sonoma County and has a population of under 1,000 people. It covers an area of 12.5 square miles, of which 33% is water. It's western border is the Pacific Ocean. There are numerous wide beaches including Doran Beach which is just a ten to fifteen minute walk from the house. A short drive either way along Highway 1 (Shoreline Highway) will take you not only to other beaches but also to a variety of scenic overlooks with great views.
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| White Pelicans at low tide. Taken from our balcony |
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| View from the same balcony. Looking across the bay (high tide) to Bodega Head |
Bodega Bay
In the 60's there was a plan in place to build a nuclear power plant in Bodega Bay. Protests by local residents combined with them finding a fault line when they starting digging the first reactor hole quickly and thankfully brought the plans to a halt. Something about the words "nuclear reactor" and "fault line" just don't seem to go together! The hole remains and is now filled with water. It is affectionately and appropriately known as "The hole in the head".
There have been numerous movies and TV shows filmed in the area. The most famous movie is Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds", which was released in 1963. It wasn't anything like the psychotic slasher movies of today, it was downright terrifying........at least it was to me! Getting your eyeballs pecked out by a bunch of birds just makes for a really bad day. The house where we are staying has a DVD copy of the movie. We're looking forward to watching if I can ever figure out how to get the TV and the DVD player to talk to one another. A few of the filming locations are very close by and we're looking forward to seeing them, but we want to see the movie first if at all possible. Thank goodness we have a month!
California is opening back up at a much slower and more deliberate pace than the rest of the country. Just this past weekend some of the restrictions were lifted and the beaches, parks and trails have reopened. Short term rentals are still not available and restaurants have restrictions that limit them to outdoor seating and carry out. Maybe their slower, more deliberate pace is the right one, maybe it isn't. I just know it's sad to see so many small, family operated businesses sitting closed at a time of year that is critical to their survival.
The easing of restrictions has opened the many numerous trails in the Bodega Bay area. According to the All Trails App there are over 500 trails in the area. Thankfully during this period of isolation we are able to get out and exercise and have taken advantage of a few of them. While we won't touch them all, we look forward to exploring others over the remaining three weeks. One of the things we really appreciate about the trails in this area is that many of the best trails have very little elevation change. We're getting kinda old and we spend a lot of time walking in Florida. We don't do extreme elevation changes well.
Birdwatch/ Cheney Bridge/Doran Beach-Just a few hundred yards from our house is the Birdwatch Trail Head. The Birdwatch Trail is a flat, one mile looped trail that offers great views of Bodega Bay.
The Birdwatch Trail connects to the Cheney Bridge Trail which is a half mile trail that connects to Doran Beach and Doran Regional Park. Doran Beach is a little over two miles in length that at low tide is several hundred yards wide. The beach sits in a cove facing in a southeasterly direction so it is somewhat protected from the northwesterly winds that pick up in the afternoon. Although the water is way too chilly for us, there are many swimmers frolicking in the small waves along the shoreline. It's easy to make a combination walk on these three trails whatever length you desire.
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| The Cheney Creek Bridge on the Cheney Creek Bridge Trail. This short trail connects the Birdwatch Trail to Doran Beach. |
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| The Cheney Creek Bridge Trail |
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| The south end of Doran Beach at low tide |
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| The wildflowers are plentiful at this time of year (Birdwatch Trail) |
Bodega Head Trail-To access this trail head simply take Westshore Road from Highway 1. Drive until if you drove any further it would look like the final scene from Thelma and Louise. You'll find yourself on a high peak overlooking the rocky shore of the Pacific Ocean. There are numerous trails that can be accessed from here including one that follows right along the rim. The ocean views are fantastic. Also keep an eye open to the grassy fields. There are plenty of deer to be spotted as you enjoy the walk.
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| Sunset from Bodega Head |
Kortum Trail: Shell Beach to Blind Beach-Shell Beach is located about 8 miles north of Bodega Bay on Highway 1. The entrance is very well marked and there is decent parking available, although I'm sure it fills up quickly on weekends. There are stairs down to the beach but it is also where the Kortum Trailhead is located. This out and back trail is approximately 4.5 miles in length (total distance). It is basically a flat trail along the rim overlooking the ocean. Near the turnaround point at Blind Beach there is an elevation change of a few hundred feet. The grade up and down isn't bad at all and the views from the top and other side toward Blind Beach and Goat Rock make the climb well worth it.
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| On the Kortum Trail |
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| Wild Flowers along the hike |
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| The Kortum Trail can be seen on the left side. This was taken from the top of the highest peak along the trail. |
These are great trails, made even better by the fact that daily high temperatures have been in the low/mid 60's with very little humidity. That's a far cry from June in Florida!
One other thing as I wrap up this blog. I cancelled my Netflix account a few months ago because we weren't using it. For some reason I didn't start it back as the pandemic broke out, so we're a little behind. We're only through the third episode of Tiger King. We weren't sure what all the fuss was about, now we know.
