I decided to take advantage of the clearing weather and drive down Vinegar Ridge and out to the Coast. The road begins fairly normally at first as it winds through redwood forests and climbs the grades towards the Sonoma Coast. It rapidly turns patchy as it weaves through the high elevation grasslands of the countryside. The sunlight was dazzling as it danced through the remaining clouds from the storms.

Reaching the top of the ridge brings you into the open grasslands, unbroken for miles by any fences or buildings. Herds of cattle and sheep are accustomed to sharing their pasture with the occasional passing car. Unafraid and mildly curious at first, they soon lose interest and return to their grazing.       

The coast soon comes into view in a dazzling display of blue. 

I climb down through the mist.
At the bottom of the trail
I reach my journeys end.
A sheltered little pond
where the mountains meet the sea.

To me, this little pond is one of the most beautiful places in the world.

What makes this place so beautiful is what you don't see...
a nuclear power plant.

About 45 years ago, this place was almost destroyed when PGE (a huge gas and electric monopoly) tried to build the first nuclear power plant in the US on this spot. PGE managed to acquire the promontory from a local rancher and began construction of the power plant.

Raping the earth, they stripped the land bare and dug an enormous hole 120 feet deep to house the nuclear reactor. Unbelievebly, the power plant was being built on top of the San Andreas earthquake fault. In 1906 an earthquake on this same fault destroyed San Francisco, just 60 miles to the South. Local citizens began an uprising and a huge battle began. PGE vowed they would not be stopped.

Fortunately the project was able to be stopped, and soon the healing could begin. The huge hole was left and soon filled with fresh water from natural springs. Plants and wildlife returned and settled back in. It is now a scene of intense bird activity.

Today fishing boats come and go in the harbor, and seals, sea lions and otters breed and raise their young. Egrets, pelicans, geese and ducks fill the air. The highest concentrations of rare bird sitings in our area are here in Bodega Bay.

Migrating whales can be seen as they swim off shore on their yearly migration south to Mexico.

Incidently, Alfred Hitchcock filmed the movie "The Birds" here during the PGE conflict.