Sonoma

Continuing documentation of the US trip...

Say someone says to you: "let's go to Big Sur!" I think that in most cases, "okay" is the appropriate response to such a suggestion. Julie said that to me, and I demurred. Silly, I know. But I wanted to see a part of California I hadn't yet seen, despite the fact that I actually have not spent enough time in Big Sur. So we settled on Sonoma and Sonoma Coast State Beach (from Bodega Bay north, it stretches over several miles, weaving in and around various small, mostly ridiculously charming beach towns). Mike then joined us for two nights of camping, and it turns out that this is a spectacular piece of coastline, making me feel less foolish for not going to Big Sur.

Two especially great spots were Bodega Head and the hike from Wright's Beach to Goat Rock. We didn't book far enough ahead to get a car-camping spot at Wright's Beach, but as you can see on that link, they are literally right on the beach. That rivals the Wanaka car-campground for excellence. In any event, the hike is great. Even if you only have a day to run up the Sonoma Coast from SF, it's a very good option. As you can see from the elevated pic featured here, it's entirely flat, except for the one hill from which this picture is taken. And it's a gorgeous stretch of cliffs and beaches (about 5 miles long for this part of the hike). And some nice wildflowers, too.

The first two pictures are from Bodega Head. The elevated one is, again, from the hike, as are the other two. I'll have a second post on this hike shortly.

Don't forget to click for bigger pictures.