I had recently learned of the large beach on the "Sonoma Lost Coast" just north of Jenner. I also discovered at the last minute that I had a four day weekend around the Fourth of July. Because I had found out so late there wasn't time to plan a trip far from home, so I though of the Lost Beach as an interesting place to go locally. I considered not going camping and just hanging around home, but it seemed a shame to waste a long weekend. I dithered and didn't decide until late on Friday morning. So I wasn't packed up and on the water until late and the afternoon wind had come up.
I left my truck in the parking lot in front of the Jenner Visitors Center. This was closed waiting for some seismic work and I figured nobody would notice a car parked overnight for a few days. I paddled down the last few kilometers of the Russian River hiding from the wind by hugging the shore. The mouth of the river was mid-way down the spit leaving a deep lagoon at the end. I grunted and dragged the kayak up the steep gravel bank. Then I unloaded all my camping gear and made several trips across the spit to the edge of the ocean.
The wind was very strong, perhaps 20 knots, and was a force to contend with while launching. Normally the waves and the water washing back down the beach conspire to turn your boat sideways and prevent you from launching. Now I had the wind working to turn the boat as well. After several tries I managed to get out to sea and turned into the wind. In the process of getting launched the wind blew me a considerable distance south down the beach and it was slow going gaining it back. I worked against the wind and managed to make progress, hiding in the wind shadow behind the larger rocks from time to time. The air behind some of the points was also calm and a good place to rest. When I passed around each point the wind became particularly strong, I had more trouble fighting it and the waves it had fetched up. Around one point I was slowed to a standstill and only made it by turning close to shore and risking banging into the shallow rocks of the point. These rocks broke the backs of the waves and gave me a chance to make it around the point and into calmer water.
I considered turning back and set several deadlines for when I should do this. Then I ignored my deadline and kept going as I got closer to my goal. Finally I landed on the beach at 7:00 PM. It had taken me four hours to paddle only 5 miles against that wind! But my reward was a huge deserted beach for me to camp on by myself on a weekend when every official campground in the state was full!
As I landed on the beach I saw drag marks on the sand leading up to the areas above the high tide. I thought these were signs of other kayakers camping here, perhaps Jerry Albright who I know is fond of this beach. While making many trips to carry all my gear I noticed more drag marks, some running around in random directions. What had these guys been up to? I looked more closely at the drag marks and noticed that each one had a row of prints on either side. I first thought that these were the footprints of the kayak dragger. My next hypothesis was that I was seeing the marks left behind by sea turtles! Some of the trails ended in shallow dents in the sand that could be where the eggs were laid! This would be good news, as I had never heard of sea turtles nesting in our neighborhood. But our climate was too cold for these animals and it did not seem likely. Finally I deiced that I was seeing the drag marks left by harbor seals hauling themselves long distances across the sand to rest, dry out, oxygenate their tissues, and bask in the sun.
I set up camp behind a big log and settled in for a lazy rest of the weekend. My plan was to stay for two nights and spend the whole middle day lazing about, reading books, and exploring the beach. On the first night I just had time to set up my tent and cook dinner before it was too dark to do anything else but go to bed. One of the books I was "reading" was a "Book on MP3", but on a 3 day trip I could afford the luxury of bringing the player along to read aloud to me after dark.
The next day I read from paper books I and finished two books that I had brought along. I went for a long walk up the beach, going as far as Half Way Rock, which is about half way from Jenner to Fort Ross. The beach does not continue this far by a long shot, but it was easy to walk on the cobble above the rocky beach or scramble over the larger boulders.
In the afternoon I had a problem to deal with. I had brought about six liters of water with me which should have been more than enough for two nights. However, most of this water was in one "wine bag" and the spigot had leaked most of it away. I had only about two liters and used half of that up the first evening. The gully that Jerry uses to fill his driftwood-fired hot tub was flowing with lots of water. I always carry iodine tablets with me in case of emergencies but have never tried them out. This wasn't a real emergency since the wind could help me paddle home in a few hours. I had plenty of fuel and could have boiled some water. But it was a chance to find out how bad iodine water really tastes. Most people complain about the taste, although Don Fleming once said that Dave Kennar(two friends of mine) liked the flavor. Don joked about it saying "Dave just puts an iodine tablet twixt gum and cheek, then drinks the local water".
I followed the directions and made myself another liter of yellow but drinkable water. I used this to cook my rice for my dinner an found that diluted in the rice the iodine was actually interesting, like an unusual spice. I started to save the left over starchy iodine water by poring it from the large pot into a smaller one and the water suddenly turned BLUE! I'm guessing that this is some reaction between the iodine, cooked starch, and the aluminum in the pot. But I decided not to drink the blue water and made do with the last liter of water I brought from home.
The wind had come up early on my lazy day on the beach and I was looking forward to having the wind help blow me home. Perverse as usual, the third day dawned clear and calm. I paddled home on a glorious sunny day with calm waves. I went through my favorite caves and arches on my way. When I landed at Jenner Beach I dragged the full kayak across the sand and made only one trip. I got into the kayak and sealed the spray-skirt for a seal launch into the river. The gravel beach at the north end of the spit was so steep that I rode the kayak two meters down the face of the gravel before hitting water and taking off with a splash. A few kilometers up the river I found my car undisturbed by official attention and I was home free.