July 23, 2024 - Back to the Coast

 
Mendocino Bay

We went to the Mendocino Coast of California last week and escaped the heat of the Sacramento Valley.  The training over the last week has consisted mainly of jogs and easy hiking.  I still got in a few miles though...

Current running totals since July 1:
Distance: 100 miles (147 Km) (goal: 200 miles)
Ascent:  12,096 ft. (3,687 m)  (goal: 20,000 ft.)

The real reason we went to Mendocino, was to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary.  It is a beautiful coast and a beautiful town.  Fortunately, Vicki also likes to hike and we went on some nice hikes on the coast, and the botanical garden, and up "Russian Gulch".  We also did some other fun stuff like take a "Murder, She Wrote" (a popular TV show from the 80's and 90's filmed in Mendocino) walking tour from a local young historian.  She (the historian tour guide) gave us lots of information on what it was like to grow up in a little town so dependent on tourism.  It was pretty obvious that the town was still struggling to recover from the economic impact of the pandemic.  There was a big music festival happening while we were there too.  We got to listen to some rehearsals and attended a great big band jazz concert Saturday night.

Here's the link to the Russian Gulch and Point Cabrillo Lighthouse hike on July 19.
After returning to the heat of Davis (and a number of nice restaurant meals including desert!), I seem to be jogging quite a bit slower, and lack the motivation to resume serious hiking.  I start hiking the Tour du Mont Blanc in almost 1 month (August 29th) however, so the pressure is building.

One interesting bit about the timing of my TMB is that it will be there at the same time as one of the most famous ultramarathon events in the world, the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc.  There are several races as part of the event, but the main event has ultramarathoners running exactly the same 100+ mile trail I will be hiking.  What will take me 10 days, they will run straight through.  According to Wikipidia: "While the best runners complete the loop in slightly more than 20 hours, most runners take 32 to 46 hours to reach the finish line. Most runners will have to run through two nights to complete the race."  I hope to see some of the runners, but they start in Chamonix at 6:00 PM on August 30th so they will probably run past where I am staying in Les Chapiex while I'm sleeping.  No doubt I will see lots of participants and event hoopla in Chamonix before I start though. 


Pictures from last week:
The Cliff House at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden, July 18, 2024

Dahlias at the Botanical Garden


The Fern Canyon to Falls Loop Trail at Russian Gulch State Park.  Note the Douglas Fir tree growing out of a stump of an old-growth redwood in the background on the left.  The redwood was probably logged more than 100 years ago.

Hiking in the second-growth redwood forest of Russian Gulch State Park.

The Point Cabrillo Lighthouse

On the Pacific Ocean.  There were seals, gulls, loons, oystercatchers, and cormorants on the rocks.



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