Goat Rock

 Sonoma Coast State Park (where I volunteer in various positions) is a HUGE park, stretching along the coast in the entire county, except for a few small areas that are regional (county) parks.  Much of it is in marine protected areas, and boasts a whole lot of biodiversity.

When I signed up for seabird monitoring, I was looking to stay in Bodega Bay, about a half hour from where I currently live.  About an hour from where I live is the northernmost monitoring location: Goat Rock.  Goat Rock is on a beach located where the Russian River meets up with the Pacific Ocean.  I'd never driven up that far north to look at the coast, although I'd driven past on my way to Fort Ross in years past. 

Today Carlos and I headed up there to take a look. There wasn't much of a look.  The fog was pretty thick, but it was nice to be near the ocean.

Goat rock in the fog.  And no, no one knows for sure why it's called Goat Rock.

The old tractor is also a feature down there.  It's frequently photographed.  I'll have to see if I can dig up its history at some point. 

I'd seen Giant Brown Kelp, but never Bull Kelp before, and never seen bladders the size of softballs. Here Carlos is with a stipe of Bull Kelp on the beach near Goat Rock. 

and a few more random photos on the beach near Goat Rock:

There is a large, sandy beach just north of Goat Rock where the Russian River runs into the Ocean.  We didn't go there today.  Instead, we parked right up on the Goat Rock parking lot.  We could have, given more time and being motivated by better weather, walked down to that beach or parked down there, where there were more people enjoying the shore despite the cool weather and heavy fog.

I'll be heading back in better weather to take a closer look.

On the way up to Goat Rock, we stopped at Shell Beach to take a look at the access to the beach there, which is supposed to be a good tide pooling spot.  When I saw the wooden "steps" steeply going down, uneven and with the dirt eroded away between them, it was a big "nope" for me.  What is a possibility is the Kortom Trail along the bluff, which is pretty flat, and apparently has toilets on the way, reaching north to south along many of the beaches of the Coastal Park.  Another thing to explore at another time.

On the way home, rather than driving the way we came (Hwy1) we headed across the Russian River and took the 116 out through the Redwoods and out past Guerneville and picked up River Road, driving along the Russian River through the big trees and little towns to Hwy 101. It was a really lovely drive, at least until we got out of the Redwoods and down toward Santa Rosa.