The Lost Coast and Cape Mendocino (2021)

Along the northern California coast is a noticeable bulge that protrudes out into the ocean. This area is known as the "Lost Coast" because the rugged King Range plunges into the Pacific Ocean rendering it nearly inaccessible. Mountains drop directly into the sea, causing some portions of beach to be submerged at high tide. Punta Gorda, the southern cape, and Cape Mendocino, the northern one, form the two points of the bulge in the coastline.

Exhausted from driving the slow and curvy county road from the Redwood Zone at Weott, through the mountains, we reach the Mattole River Valley at Honeydew, CA. We drive the lighthouse road to Punta Gorda and climbed a spectacular jeep road high above the ocean. Then, we followed the Mattole Road along the beach to Cape Mendocino, the westernmost point in California. Just off the cape is a giant sea stack called Sugarloaf Island, which reaches height of 323 ft above the waves. Along the way, we stopped at a scenic spot, called Devils Gate, along the beach and found some beautiful pebbles of various shapes and colors. There are sea otters and a seal in view at 6:07-6:31. Just offshore was a remarkable rock which looked just like a ship, which is appropriately called Steamboat Rock. I actually thought it was a ship when driving past it because it was so perfectly shaped (7:14-7:21).

A remarkable area I'm glad I visited. I want to go back, but next time to do some backpacking on the lost coast. It would be great to have a drone and film some aerial shots!

Music Attributions:

Song 1: Full of Energy, by code-box, is licensed under a Creative Commons 0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...).
Artist: https://freesound.org/people/code_box/sounds/520192/

Song 2: Evolution, by Benjamin Tissot (also known as Bensound).
Artist: https://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music/track/evolution-epic-nature

Song 3: Ukulele, by Benjamin Tissot (also known as Bensound). Artist: https://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music/track/ukulele

Song 4: Slow Motion, by Benjamin Tissot (also known as Bensound).
Artist: https://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music/track/slow-motion

Song 5: Creative Minds, by Benjamin Tissot (also known as Bensound).
Artist: https://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music/track/creative-minds