Jenner by the Sea {Part Two}

Ah yes, Jenner.  With all the hustle and bustle of Christmas I wish I was there right now.

You can read about Day 1 here.  We started day two with a hike on the Fern Canyon Trail at Highland Campground which is part of  Van Damme State Park.  The Fern Canyon Trail leads to the Pygmy Forest.

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I am going to do my best to explain the Pygmy Forest.  The Cyclist is the scientist in our house, so his description would be much better but here goes....The ground of the Pygmy Forest is a hard-pan surface.  So hard, in fact, that very few plants and trees can actually live there.  Additionally, their roots cannot penetrate the hard-pan  so instead of going down, they go out, which results in very small plants and trees.  You can read more about it here.

If you are wondering why I'm not showing you any of our photos its because we biffed it and the camera ran out of battery shortly into the hike.  Also, because we are clearly brilliant, we tried to memorize the trail map (campsite closed, no trail maps available to take).  Later our friend asked us, "why didn't you just take a picture of it with your phone?".  Um.  Well.  Duh.  Being that we were such non phone users that day, I didn't bring my phone on the hike either.  So, you'll just have to trust me when I tell you that it was a very pretty hike.  It starts uphill through a pretty forest with lots of interesting plant markers, then levels out into the Pygmy Forest.

Since we couldn't remember the whole trail map, we headed back down after reaching the Pygmy Forest.  At the bottom we met a ranger who told us we could have kept going across a meadow and down to Salt Point State Park.  If you are looking for a long hike in the area, I would totally do this.  Since we weren't going to go back up to go back down, we got in our car and drove across the road to Salt Point State Park.  This time I remembered my phone/camera-for-the-day.

It was a foggy day.  And an Instagram kind of day, apparently.

We were above the fog line at the Pygmy Forest, then below it at Salt Point.  We decided to forego any set trail and instead walk along the shoreline across the rocks and near any tide pool areas.

Mr. Seal is hiding in the fog layer.  Can you spot him?

Salt Point is filled with really amazing rock formations.

And stacked rocks along the trail edge.  I love these.

We spent a lot of time seeing what we could see under the water.

And of course taking feet pictures.

Then we stopped to stare at the sea.  These little sea plants reminded me of Dr. Seuss...

After our hike, we went back to relax for a bit before heading to dinner at River's End.  Here is a photo of the restaurant from the beach (on Day 1 when it was sunny).

This is what our views would have looked like had it not been foggy.

But to be honest, we didn't care that there wasn't a view.  It was nice just to be together.  Besides, I was of course, enjoying looking at the food.
 

Dinner was fabulous and the trip was more than fabulous.  Thank you Cyclist for a wonderful birthday.  I love you.

River's End - Yelp review

Jenner by the Sea {Part One}

For my old lady birthday in September The Cyclist surprised me with a secret weekend getaway.  I didn't really have any idea where we were going, except that it would be on the coast.  I was told what to pack and also put in charge of packing food.  There is nothing wrong with packing an enormous cooler just to hold "snacks" for two people....for two days...right?

We left on Saturday morning and began driving west.  Eventually we reached Petaluma and later Highway 1, where we began heading north.  Of course we passed an organized ride on the way...

For those of you who have never driven down Highway 1 in or around Northern California, do it if you ever get the chance.  Although the road is pretty sketchy, the views are fantastic.

After a bit more driving we reached our destination, Jenner, CA.

We stayed at the Jenner Inn & Cottages.  The hotel was a quaint, quiet and relaxing place that I was sad to leave.

Upon arrival we broke out some brie and wine (among other tasty items)......

....and enjoyed the beautiful view from our deck where the Russian River meats the Pacific.

The first day was a sunny one, so after our snack and view admiring, we made quick and headed to the beach!

We walked out to the point so The Cyclist could fish and I could snap photos.  Here is a birds eye view of where we walked...do you see us?

The point....

I love the ocean.

It is a beautiful and peaceful place.

This guy likes it too.

The sun began to set....

....and after we watched it go down, we headed to dinner at Cape Fear Cafe, which was tasty and delicious.  So good in fact, that I forgot to bring my camera or phone and did not take any photos.

Day two involved an awesome hike to the Pygmy Forest and all around Salt Point State Park, plus another fabulous meal (photos included this time).  So be sure to check back next week for Jenner By the Sea {Part Two}.

I reviewed all of the places we visited, just click the following links:
Jenner Inn & Cottages - Yelp, TripAdvisor
Cape Fear Cafe - Yelp, Urbanspoon