| Field Trip: |
Mendocino |
| Trip Date: |
August 21-24, 2009 |
| Report Author: |
Scott Hinrichs |
| Report Date: |
August 26, 2009 |
Four club members and two associates took the long, winding road to
Mendocino on the expanded weekend of August 21 to 24.
Once again we stayed at the seaside cabin where we lodged during field
trips over the past three years.
Weather conditions this year ranged from fog to sunshine and the
overall temperature was rather cool. Half the group went to the city of
Mendocino on Saturday, while the other car/canoe-pool took a boat to
the Gualala River and put in at a campground just south of town. Once
again we explored another picture-perfect Mendocino river. Last year we
paddled up Big River near Mendocino and were astounded by the beauty of
that spectacular waterway.
The watershed for the Gualala River is smaller than that of Big River
and resulted in more challenges for our crew of three paddlers. There
was much less water, and in order to get up river, we had to portage
three times. The crew nearly mutinied having to walk bare-footed on
the sharp little stones that lined the river bed. They were ill
prepared and forgot their boat shoes. The stretches we were able to
navigate was beautiful clear, emerald-blue water in the channels and
white gravel on the sandbars. During the summer the Gualala River is
cut off from the ocean by a large sand bar, but when the winter rains
cut loose, that obstruction is blasted away by the rushing river
waters. All these northern rivers move great volumes of water when the
rains turn these crystal-clear, blue streams into angry silt-brown
battering rams of massive hydro force. A perfect example of this is
the Russian River that enters the Pacific Ocean at Jenner. The Russian
River has been know to crest at 50 feet during flood season.
We took the canoe up river about a mile before it became too shallow to
navigate. After our cruise/walk back down the river, we loaded the
boat back on the car and returned to the cabin to enjoy a wonderful
dinner of barbecued meat and vegetables. Afterward we sat around the
fire ring and watched the glowing coals and lapping flames before hitting
the sack.
The next morning we had a shared breakfast and the extended-stay group
had another day and a half to tour, while the short-timers stopped to
look at some of the local art galleries before returning to the Bay
Area. At one gallery we viewed four original prints by the God of
Photography, Ansel Adams. The price on one of these original prints was
a spectacular $39,000! Unfortunately we couldn't come up with enough
chump-change by searching our pockets, the car ashtray and the carpet
under the seats. We also saw an original Edward Weston print and some
very nice color work that the gallery owner photographed.
After that we ventured up to the Gualala Arts Center and took a look at
the annual Arts in the Redwoods exhibit. (Part of the town's Art in the
Redwoods celebration.) Although the work paled in comparison to that of the
great masters of the black & white negative, there were many beautiful
works of photography, painting, sculpture and textiles. There was also
some pieces that left us perplexed. In particular, some wood chips in
spray-painted, paper grocery bags that we thought the janitor forgot to
toss in the furnace, but on the floor was an exhibition label. Phew!
Glad we didn't chip in and help clean up!
Several club members talked about entering this show, but somehow
couldn't get it together this year to complete the entry procedure or
produce pieces for the show. Oh, well, there s always next year! I
encourage some of you to consider entering this exhibit. I think we
could make a good showing, and have a great excuse to return to Gualala
and beautiful Mendocino next year! (I'm planning to clean out my
storage space and enter the resulting pile of junk as a statement of
support for the preservation of the Spotted, Furry-backed, Great
Pacific Blue A-Bologna.)
© 2009 S.R. Hinrichs
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