Bodega Bay and Points (slightly) North

Coming out of Bodega Dunes State Park, which is just north of Bodega Bay, I was making for Jenner which is about 10 miles north of there.  I wanted to see how quickly I could get there, with all the hills.  I planned to have breakfast in Jenner, then go on north.  But just north of Bodega Bay begins Sonoma Coast state beach.  I passed Miwok Beach and I thought that was lovely, but there were a lot of cars lined up, with people getting into wetsuits outside of them.  So I went on.  About a hundred feet farther was Coleman beach, with big rocks breaking up the surf.  Still, there were a couple of cars and really nowhere to put my bike, so I went on.  About a hundred feet beyond Colman Beach, I ran into Arched Rock Beach, and then I had to stop.

From the little turn-off overlooking the beach I could see Coleman beach on one side and Arched Rock beach on the other.  This picture is the north side of Coleman beach.  The rock formation caught my eye, here.  It looks like the head of an elephant lying out there on the beach.







On the other side, a little distance north,  is an arched rock formation I would say is where the name comes from (Arched Rock beach), but it doesn't seem to be on this beach.  It seems to be on the next one to the north.  It is lovely, though.  I sat for a long time, enjoying the view and eating olives.








I went on from there, finally, intending to ride to Jenner and parts north, but I came across Duncan's Landing, and I just had to stop once more.  Duncan's Landing reminded me, forcefully, of why I wanted to ride up the pacific coast in the first place.  It is a spit of land sticking right out into the pacific ocean, about 300 yards long, and it is large enough to have a road around it rather than just a turn-off. 

I spent most of my time on the north side of the landing, where there were picnic tables.  From there, I could see along the coast to where the headland pushes out to sea again.

Large rocks out in front of Duncan's Landing.  I suspect that no one actually landed here.  According to Wikipedia, the spit of land is Duncan's point and the rocky inlet next to it is Duncan's landing.  However, since Wikipedia also says that the large waves make that stretch very dangerous, I doubt that anyone ever landed there. 

Looking at the rocks, I was tempted to climb out on them, but I suppressed it firmly.  It would be dangerous.