Salt Point State Park

After our wildlife and giant tree extravaganza at Sequoia and Kings Canyon NP we headed back out to the coast to Salt Point in Sonoma county. Another drive over the mountains and up Route 1…you all know what that means … Despite the beauty of the area, despite all the interesting landscapes and seascapes and buildings and houses, my Dramamine consumption increased and I may have threatened never to go on CA Route 1 again. I'd say that rules out moving to any of these charming locations. 🙄 (Not that we're looking!!!)

Salt Point State Park is yet another marine sanctuary along the California coast. Say what you will about California, their taxes, their cost of living index, Rodeo Drive, Hollywood and the "plastic people" (🙄), they actively work to preserve and protect the natural resources within their realm and I for one am grateful. Salt Point was full of fabulous sea life which I was able to fully appreciate once my stomach and head stopped rolling … (that is, the next morning).😂 And tide pooling! I love tide pooling and this was some of the best I'd ever experienced. ❤️

Another favorite of mine happened at this stop too. Finishing a story. We visited Fort Ross, "The Russian Fort" that caused the Spanish such consternation that they sent a party, a very large party, from Mexico "discovering", building missions and claiming land for Spain all the way up to San Francisco. It was very interesting to compare the style of this Russian fort, built entirely of wood, with the Spanish presidios which were built of adobe.

On to pics…

These unique rock formations, found at salt point, are what gave this point it's name.

The combination of tan sandstone and the gray rock made such fascinating formations.

The surf from high tide would leave little pools of water in the pockets. As the water evaporated, it would leave a layer of salt. The indigenous peoples of the area collected this salt as did the early euro-ethnic settlers. Hence, salt point.

Fort Ross

The Russian fort was constructed of wood. The craftsmanship was really impressive and it was fascinating to see the Russian cultural influence. Unfortunately for them, Fort Ross was so far from the rest of their holdings that it turned out to be too costly to try and support it. They had hoped to be able to grow enough wheat to supply bread for their holdings up the north american continental coast, but alas those cute little gophers were particularly troublesome. So no wheat, no bread and a little over twenty years after the fort was established the Russians sold their fort and left.

The chapel

The iconography of the Eastern Orthodox Church , similar, but yet different from what we typically see in western churches.

The "alter'

The commanders house.

It was pretty swanky inside. They even had a piano.

The garrison.

The lower level was storage and supplies. Farm equipment was important for implementing the goal of growing wheat.

Maintaining discipline is always important. Looks like Martin's got himself into some trouble ...

Arms in the ready.

And gunpowder and shot.

The upper level held the doctors office, a meeting room and bedrooms.

Nice views

Another large building contained food storage, workshops and officers quarters.

Many of the rooms had built-in cupboard with distinctive fine working trim and decor.

The gate to the garden

The cemetery

The view just outside the barricade. Not too shabby.

Flora

Wild rose

This was growing in the campground. I don't know what it is, but I thought it was so pretty and such an unusual color.

Back at salt point the surf is pounding.

Some of the marine life. I think the seals have such funny little faces.

And this one is definitely smiling while basking in the sun.

Then there's this guy, with his somewhat worried "Are you lookin' at me?" expression.

Tide pooling

We traveled through zones as we made out way down through the rocks to the water.

The first layer with noticeable marine life was the "crab layer".

We went through a 10'-20' section that was just filled with these crabs. They were so colorful. And most of the time they were hiding in a little crevasse between the rocks.

Beautiful purple sea urchins. Unfortunately, just the shells are left. This was someone's dinner table.

As we move down closer to the water …

Anemones

And look. Even Martin has gotten into the hunt for extraordinary finds.

Here's one, an anemone with a baby crab shell in it.

A sea star. This guy turned out to be very active. Look how much he moves in the next several photos. They were all taken with no more than 15 mins between the first pic and the last.