Thursday, July 28, 2011

The Lost Coast

Sounds of the Sea RV Park, Trinidad, CA:  Drove back south on the 101 to the little Victorian town of Ferndale.  This little town is so cute with lovingly maintained or restored Victorians.  This cute little place that time forgot is on the way to the Lost Coast—so named because this is the only section of the California coast without a road along its coast.  Mainly because the King Range rises steeply right out of the sea.  I saw a PBS program on this Lost Coast which has been designated a natural area and will allow no roads or buildings in perpetuity.  I think there’s one road in there that goes to a lighthouse.  The only way to get in there is to hike or backpack in.  We got just a glimpse of the headlands.  On the way back we stopped in old town Eureka which was founded in 1850 and boasts the largest number of historic Victorian buildings in the world.  The coast in Eureka isn’t that great.  There’s a wide, crescent bay with two spits of land—one juts out from the south, and one juts out from the north—that almost makes the bay a lake, except for a small opening.  Just north of Eureka where we are the coast gets more scenic and rugged.  We had lunch in Ferndale at a little Mexican restaurant.  Browsed some of the shops.  Then stopped in Eureka and walked around their historic district.  Both of these towns have a flourishing live theater community.  There are a lot of old hippies up here also.  Their clocks stopped back in the 60s somewhere.  A beautiful, sunny day today.  Temps reached as high as 70.


Beautiful Victorian home in Ferndale--palm tree is a nice touch.

A ranch home outside Ferndale.

The Lost Coast headlands.

Another ranch home outside Ferndale.

A tree grows through it.

The little main street in Ferndale.

Old Town Eureka