Kayaking/Camping - Mendocino
August 24th/25th/26th, 2007
Kari, Ben, myself and a handful of Kari's friends loaded down the
vehicles and headed to Russian Gulch campground near Mendocino for a weekend
of r&r, kayaking, good food, adult beverages, and good company. We
were all still in a state of shock over Craig's death, but misery loves company so
being together was even more special.
The first day Kari, Ben and I launched the kayaks up the Albion River for
a nice paddle. Nothing like communing with nature to clear the mind.
We were accompanied by a few seals part of the way. The river
meandered through tall redwoods with various bird species being spotted and
only one other group of kayakers. Otherwise we had the river all to
ourselves.
One of Kari's friends, Bradley, went free diving for abalone that
afternoon
and ended up catching his limit of 3. He repelled down a cliff holding
on to a rope, free dove down about 20ft in the water, and popped some
beautiful reds off the rocks and shared the delicacy with everyone.
Bradley also turned out to be a top notch chef and sautéed the abalone in
just the right amount of flour, butter and lemon. Wolfgang ain't got nothing
on Bradley!
The next day was hiking along the bluffs of Highway 1 and the Pacific
Ocean. I had forgotten how beautiful the coastline was. We
wandered down onto the rocks and poked around the tide pools. Our
adventure was followed by a nice lunch in Mendocino and then we battled with
the forces of evil on the ride home - traffic! No good deed goes
unpunished, as the saying goes.
Click on the thumbnail for larger picture
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Ben and Kari's tent - hmmm, a bunch of pillowcases ;-) ... there is a funny story behind that
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My truck accompanied by kayak in the group site at Russian Gulch
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One of our group sites at Russin Gulch
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Ben and kayaks at Albion River launch
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Kari, having, ahhh, difficulty dressing, perhaps
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Hey, does this spray skirt make my butt look big
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Ben and Kari on the Albion River
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Kari on the Albion River
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Oooh, look, a bear...just kidding
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River barge, or something of that nature
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Ben showing off that beautiful wooden boat of his
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Albion River paddle
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Kari on the river
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Albion River paddle
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Albion River paddle
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Albion River paddle....funny like places on the river
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Lunch take out on the river...no bear sighting
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Kari at our lunch take out on the river
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Some of our seal friends on the banks
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Apparently the gear truck is indigenous to Russian Gulch
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Bradley, Christia, Danielle and Ben burning something at the fire
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Danielle, Kari, Christia, Ben...more burning at the campfire
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More pillow talk....
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Mendo coastline
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Mendo coastline
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Ben, Kari and Ben's dog Sam at Mendo coastline
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Caves at Mendo coastline
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Mendo coastline
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Mendo coastline
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Tidepoolin' at Mendo...cool critters in the water
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Tidepoolin' at Mendo
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Tidepoolin' at Mendo
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Mendo coastline
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Tidepoolin' at Mendo - sea anemones
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Tidepoolin' at Mendo - sea anemones
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Tidepoolin' at Mendo - sea anemones
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Mendo coastline
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Mendo coastline
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Ben and Kari again with Sammy
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Sea kayakers heading to play in the rock gardens
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Mendo coastline inlet
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Mendo coastline inlet
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