Day 21 & 22

I acknowledge that I am traveling across the ancestral lands of the Native tribes that lived and still live in the north coastal region of California including the Sinkyone, Coast Yuki, Pomo, Kashaya, and Miwok. 

Riding into The City this Friday morning, there were so many lyrics from so many psychedelic era songs—and other eras, too—going through my head. Chris Isaak’s San Francisco Days seems to have risen to the top of the heap. I made it! I spent last night in a mixed redwood-Eucalyptus forest in the hills between Point Reyes and San Rafael at a hiker/biker campground located in Samuel P. Taylor State Park. The 33-mile ride to Andrew and Lauren’s house was nothing short of awe-inspiring. First, I never heard of the small suburban towns I rode through: Lagunitas, San Geronimo, Woodacre, Fairfax, San Anselmo, Ross, and Corte Madera. Andrew let me know that Ross is one of the more expensive places in California to live. With the smell of Jasmine in the air and the forested hillsides, it was a very pleasant transition to re-entering a major urban area.

Returning to last Wednesday, I awoke in Van Damme State Park, just south of Mendocino. Like much of the trip, I was the only camper in the hiker/biker area. I anticipated the trip to Bodega Bay that day because a friend was going to meet me there and had booked rooms in a hotel. Additionally, there were places I wanted to investigate on the way.

The first stop was the Sea Ranch Chapel. I had seen pictures of the building and was curious about its design. It was intended to be a reflection of the place where it was built: conceptually wind-swept with redwood featured prominently throughout. More abstract are the stained glass windows, funneling light into the small interior and replicating the tranquil nature of places for prayer and meditation. I spent some time praying for a safe day!

Sea Ranch is a housing development that started as a 1960’s iteration of Ecotopia. It stretches along either side of Highway 1 for about 10 miles without much surrounding commercial activity (i.e. gas station, markets, shops, etc.) that places like Sun River and Suncadia include in their developments. All the homes face the ocean and are scattered along the hillsides among pockets of Bishop pines. Years ago I heard about Sea Ranch, but it seems to have drifted from its original vision and for all intents and purposes has turned into a very large exclusive neighborhood. I don’t know what I expected, and am glad I was able to gain some perspective of what it turned out to be. 

Sixty years ago, I attended Camp Cazadero with a childhood friend and we visited Fort Ross, located on Highway 1. Returning to the Fort on this trip, I was curious whether the history of the Russian presence and the Ross Colony had been updated. It was surprising to read the museum commentary still leaning on a mostly Western-centered historical viewpoint. In this version, Russians brought Aleuts from Alaska to the Fort to hunt seals and help establish the outpost. The Aleuts made significant contributions and the local indigenous Pomo people also gained skills and were integral to the Fort’s success.

Unfortunately, the Aleut and Pomo laborers did not work voluntarily and the women succumbed to the demands of Russian men by giving birth to their children. Similar to other traumatic indigenous histories in the U.S., the truth has slowly emerged with healing ceremonies conducted in many locales where violence has occurred. In the last decade Fort Ross has been the site of a similar ceremony for Alaska Aleuts. Alaska Native Day is a bi-annual event at Fort Ross, or Metini, the traditional homelands of the Kashaya Pomo. This event celebrates the rich history and present culture of Alaska Native Peoples that were forcefully relocated from their homelands to Fort Ross from 1812-1841. 

(To learn more about a particular effort by a Ferndale entrepreneur who shared boatbuilding skills for this event, read this article: https://lostcoastoutpost.com/2023/mar/9/building-nigilax-how-humboldt-nonprofit-helping-re/.)

I reached Bodega Bay after an incredibly beautiful ride where I met up with long-time friend, Doug Odom. I last saw Doug at my Dad’s memorial in March 2023, and so we prearranged a time to meet and catch up. We had a great dinner and I got to spend the night in a real hotel bed! Despite experiencing significant health obstacles, Doug has been an inspiration by continuing to travel the world and learning as much as he can about the local cultures he visits. His desktop globe is becoming quite a pincushion!

Last Thursday morning I got a brief taste of the NW wind while riding along Keys Creek just where it empties into Tomales Bay, a part of Point Reyes National Seashore and also the first place in California where the San Andreas Fault makes its grand appearance. I was literally pushed to a complete stop, and then when I got going again, almost pushed off the road completely and into the creek. Afterward, I disappointedly rode past three oyster and shellfish restaurants in Marshall because it’s very hard to ride a bicycle with a half-dozen oysters in your stomach. With wind and shellfish conspiring to slow me down, and just as I was headed into Point Reyes, I was overtaken by another senior citizen bicyclist out for a long ride from his home in San Rafael. Billy was extremely generous with his time and shared information about the best routes and rode with me to my evening campsite at Samuel Taylor State Park. We rode together for about 11 miles total, including a sustenance stop at the Bovine Cafe in Point Reyes. Bicyclists make up an amazing community. 

Next: Visiting The City (and Kathy, Andrew, and Lauren)