Anchor Bay Part I: Wandering

Last fall, Murphy and I made a quick 6ish-hour blast to the coast to visit Matt and TJaye's getaway in Anchor Bay, also coinciding with a visit from the Vagabonds, Riley and Erin. Anchor Bay is one of those can't-get-there-from-here types of places, at least if you're coming from Reno. Brave the Bay Area's traffic and be rewarded with a more direct route, or go way north, avoid the throngs, and toss thyselves about on some twisties. We chose the latter.

Matt and TJaye have use of a family cabin on the uphill side of Highway 1 ("The 1," if you're from California, or "from" California...), and it features flat places for 5 people to sleep, running water, and electricity. In other words, it's totally livable, somewhat decreasing its Cabin Score, but it makes more sense to use it as a jumping-off point for further fun/relaxation/hijinks/etc.

Our first obvious stop is right down the hill to the neighborhood beach. It's a steep descent (and climb back out), but some form of suffering should be required to receive fun in return, right?


5-minute walk down the hill to here...


...plus navigating the sketchiest staircase this side of the Mississippi


Fertile rock face

I'm itching to get out for a run, so that's my next mission. I continue up the super steep road their abode is on, past quite a few shacks, but more noticeably, past a preponderance of No Trespassing, Keep Out, and Private Property signs. You see, this is Mendocino County, weed stronghold extraordinaire, and these growers take their property lines seriously. Never mind the overwhelming wafting aroma of fresh bud. For once, I'm glad to be running on the paved roads; I'm a little nervous about what would happen if I rounded a corner too quickly out in the woods... Anyhow, I get to watch the sun set from way up high above the ocean, and then I descend the steep roads quickly to make it back in time for dinner.

The evening is spent eating, drinking wine, and laughing.


His Highness stirs

Riley and Erin have slept in the van, and Murphy and I have taken advantage of a flat spot on which to chuck a tent. Thus, we're all up fairly early, although all that really counts is that I am up before Riley with enough time to grab my camera.

More awesome food happens, and then we make a mission to an unnamed beach to the north that's totally easy to find: drive along the twisty section of Hwy 1, then make a frantic U-turn on this side of a blind rise, pull off the road, and walk through an opening in the trees to find the trail.


Fast friends

We spend a couple hours on this blustery beach. You could call it wasting time, but I seem to recall everyone being pretty well occupied with something or other, so I guess it's not really a waste.

Unfortunately, once we're back to cellular reception, we discover that the weather forecast over the pass has deteriorated rapidly, and we're looking at either leaving immediately, or staying our planned next night and probably one or two after it, also. It burns badly to do so, but we opt for the pronto approach and blast away from the ocean. Always a bummer to miss out on time with friends, but we weren't equipped with 4WD or chains, and missing 2ish days of work wasn't good for either of us, so we did what we had to do.

I've got a couple more sets of photos to share from Anchor Bay that are slightly less scattered than these, so stay tuned for the rest.

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