California 2022, 3/3: Sonoma coast
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 22.21 mi
- Elevation gain
- 1,362 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Moderate
- Elevation loss
- 1,873 ft
- Max elevation
- 1,320 ft
- TrailRank
- 32
- Min elevation
- 31 ft
- Trail type
- One Way
- Time
- 2 hours 46 minutes
- Coordinates
- 1587
- Uploaded
- October 8, 2022
- Recorded
- May 2022
near Occidental, California (United States)
Viewed 86 times, downloaded 0 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
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Short climb from the town of Occidental, then descent in the forest to the mouth of the Russian river, before following the coast towards the South
Done with Bob's gravel: much of the descent from Willow Creek Road is on dirt track, the rest of the route is paved
Preamble : Last Californian outing before attacking the monsters of the Pacific (we will also follow the ocean at the end of the course). This is John's playground in Sonoma County (one of America's premier wine growing areas). 🍇🍷 Much of the route will be in Sonoma Coast State Park . The erwaneries begin before I even leave: preparing to leave from the small town of Occidental (founded in 1876), I realize that I forgot my helmet... once is not custom, I will ride (as carefully as possible) with a hat. 🤠
🏁 Short climb in the woods to start, via the Coleman Valley road (which we should have taken on the way back... if everything had gone as planned) before turning towards the Willow Creek road . 2km further, it begins to descend and a pair of switchbacks leads us to a barrier, where the road becomes a track: I will be able to get used to the gravel itself a little (preparation for the Hawaiian volcanic ash?). John is very comfortable in his field, but he often takes breaks to take pictures, which allows me to catch up with him (and to take pictures too!). 📷 I have to dismount a few times, but the track is overall very nice, and the forest is incredibly dense! It is sometimes very dark deep in the woods, despite the sun shining higher, above the canopy...
We end up finding the asphalt, a little before skirting the Russian river, so named because of the presence of the Russian outpost of Fort Ross (about ten km further north), which marked the advance the southernmost part of Russian America between 1812 and 1841. This small territory was then located in Upper California – theoretically belonging to the Spanish Empire, 🥘 then to independent Mexico, 🌮 but it was only to be a "nascent" territorial administration (before the Mexican Cession for the benefit of the USA 🍔 in 1848) – and had been colonized from Alaska, itselfsold 💰 to the USA in 1867.
We pick up California State Route 1 just where it just crossed the Russian river. It's a major (and touristic) road, but the traffic remains largely bearable. Barely 3km further, "shit happens again(!)" ... after the unlucky incident the day before : John dies! We change the chamber (only one spare, unfortunately), we reinflate... and when removing the pump, the valve goes off with it! 😣 We try to get into it together (one holding the valve, the other pumping), but nothing helps! John is starting to wonder if his new fellow Breton cyclist isn't bringing him bad luck... John at a gas station (to see if he manages to find a solution), at which I will join him.
So I still have ~12km to go along the coast solo, and enjoying the beautiful views. The Pacific isn't exactly true to its name: big waves crash violently against the cliffs of the jagged coast. I try not to hang around too much, but I still take advantage of different points of view, before meeting John in the small town of Bodega bay, the location of the plot (and filming) of the film The Birds (1963) d Alfred Hitchcock... but no seagull or turkey attack 🦃 to report as far as I'm concerned!
John finally decided to call his friend Bob (the one to whom he had given the bike that was lent to me) to the rescue: he happens to live 3km away. He had friends passing through the house, and we will also invite us to join them for an aperitif... which will turn into a nice meal: an unexpected conclusion to this day, still full of surprises. And thank you for the delicious gin and tonics, which will have –without a doubt– helped me climb my Hawaiian mountains a few days later: one for each volcano! 🍸🌋🍸🌋
California Adventures with John :
🚩 California 2022, 1/3: Yosemite valley
🚩 California 2022, 2/3: Sonora pass
🚩 California 2022, 3/3: Sonoma coast
Done with Bob's gravel: much of the descent from Willow Creek Road is on dirt track, the rest of the route is paved
Preamble : Last Californian outing before attacking the monsters of the Pacific (we will also follow the ocean at the end of the course). This is John's playground in Sonoma County (one of America's premier wine growing areas). 🍇🍷 Much of the route will be in Sonoma Coast State Park . The erwaneries begin before I even leave: preparing to leave from the small town of Occidental (founded in 1876), I realize that I forgot my helmet... once is not custom, I will ride (as carefully as possible) with a hat. 🤠
🏁 Short climb in the woods to start, via the Coleman Valley road (which we should have taken on the way back... if everything had gone as planned) before turning towards the Willow Creek road . 2km further, it begins to descend and a pair of switchbacks leads us to a barrier, where the road becomes a track: I will be able to get used to the gravel itself a little (preparation for the Hawaiian volcanic ash?). John is very comfortable in his field, but he often takes breaks to take pictures, which allows me to catch up with him (and to take pictures too!). 📷 I have to dismount a few times, but the track is overall very nice, and the forest is incredibly dense! It is sometimes very dark deep in the woods, despite the sun shining higher, above the canopy...
We end up finding the asphalt, a little before skirting the Russian river, so named because of the presence of the Russian outpost of Fort Ross (about ten km further north), which marked the advance the southernmost part of Russian America between 1812 and 1841. This small territory was then located in Upper California – theoretically belonging to the Spanish Empire, 🥘 then to independent Mexico, 🌮 but it was only to be a "nascent" territorial administration (before the Mexican Cession for the benefit of the USA 🍔 in 1848) – and had been colonized from Alaska, itselfsold 💰 to the USA in 1867.
We pick up California State Route 1 just where it just crossed the Russian river. It's a major (and touristic) road, but the traffic remains largely bearable. Barely 3km further, "shit happens again(!)" ... after the unlucky incident the day before : John dies! We change the chamber (only one spare, unfortunately), we reinflate... and when removing the pump, the valve goes off with it! 😣 We try to get into it together (one holding the valve, the other pumping), but nothing helps! John is starting to wonder if his new fellow Breton cyclist isn't bringing him bad luck... John at a gas station (to see if he manages to find a solution), at which I will join him.
So I still have ~12km to go along the coast solo, and enjoying the beautiful views. The Pacific isn't exactly true to its name: big waves crash violently against the cliffs of the jagged coast. I try not to hang around too much, but I still take advantage of different points of view, before meeting John in the small town of Bodega bay, the location of the plot (and filming) of the film The Birds (1963) d Alfred Hitchcock... but no seagull or turkey attack 🦃 to report as far as I'm concerned!
John finally decided to call his friend Bob (the one to whom he had given the bike that was lent to me) to the rescue: he happens to live 3km away. He had friends passing through the house, and we will also invite us to join them for an aperitif... which will turn into a nice meal: an unexpected conclusion to this day, still full of surprises. And thank you for the delicious gin and tonics, which will have –without a doubt– helped me climb my Hawaiian mountains a few days later: one for each volcano! 🍸🌋🍸🌋
California Adventures with John :
🚩 California 2022, 1/3: Yosemite valley
🚩 California 2022, 2/3: Sonora pass
🚩 California 2022, 3/3: Sonoma coast
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