At the end of our California stay this year we journeyed north to Shelter Cove, California -- a somewhat secret, magical place that we had never visited, but always wanted to. Shelter Cove is at the southern end of the Lost Coast and the King Range National Conservation Area. One travels north of San Francisco about 228 miles and makes a turn to the west at Garberville. A climb to 4,000 feet over the Coast Range and drop to the Pacific over 26 miles ends at Shelter Cove.
The Cove has a paved air strip and more than 100 summer homes (and a few hardy year-round occupants) scattered up against the forested mountains. The cove was founded and developed by fishermen whose catch was sent to San Francisco in the early years. Today sport fishing is popular out of the cove and boats can be launched without the use of a pier from the "sheltered cove."
The Lost Coast runs north with black sand beaches for nearly 125 miles. Backpackers can hike north or south and it takes about 5 days to complete the hike. A tide chart is a must!!!
Nancy loves her binoculars. Here she is scanning up the coast pictured above.
A resident sea lion colony inhabits rocks just off the cove. Our son, Kevin, who lives in Seattle, says sea lions are the "pigeons of the sea". They can be prolific and noisy, but so much fun to watch.
We stayed in the white house/condo shown below and in the video. It was just steps from the rocky shore. A small grocery store and several bistros and coffee shops kept us supplied and happy during our stay. Sea lion watching, hiking, photography and flying the drone were our main enjoyments.
Although, we could sit on the deck with a cool beverage and just watch the ocean waves for hours and be perfectly content. As I mentioned earlier, Shelter Cove is a magical place to us.
The Mendocino Lighthouse, originally located on the coast south of here fell into dis-repair when it was no longer being used. The folks of Shelter Cove decided to rescue it and it was helicoptered to the Cove and restored by the residents.
