Author Archives: Jeanne Jackson

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At Fort Ross State Historic Park, the buildings of the Russian settlement have been lovingly restored and, in some cases, recreated. Here are photos of one of the workshops, a dining room, the wood-burning stove and a weaving room.

The two trees - one in the middle and the other to the right, are Black Cherry trees planted 200 years ago by the Russians who built Fort Ross. Look at the slope they are now on. The big earthquake of 1906 lifted up the ground here. The trees were originally planted on level ground. Yes, the San Andreas earthquake fault line runs right through here.

The Black Cherry trees are still producing fruit. I was told the fruit was used to flavor liquor. 

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Before I show you some of the interiors of Fort Ross, I wanted to show you that Salmon are running off the Mendocino Coast. Rick and I live in Anchor Bay. When the clouds lifted a little while ago, I saw fishing boats off of Fish Rocks. Yesterday Ken Bailey and Richard Lewis went out in a Zodiak and look what they caught:

A fifteen pound King Salmon and a seventeen pound Ling Cod - gifts from the sea.

Thanks to Ken for allowing me to share his photo with you here and thanks to Wendy Bailey for sending the photo and sighting in.

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Two hundred years ago Russian explorers and fur traders established a fort on the Sonoma Coast of California. Today it is called the Fort Ross State Historic Park and soon they will be celebrating the bicentennial of the founding of the fort. The celebration weekend is July 28th and 29th. Many activities are planned, including reenactments with people in period costumes.

Rick and I visited the park this past Saturday. You can see it was a foggy morning. We arrived right when it opened at 10 am so there were few people. It was quite crowded later in the day.

Below is the beautiful chapel.

Here you will see the posters for the Bicentennial celebration.

And here is a photo of the stockade walls.

This sign shows the Fort as it was in 1828.

And this is the Sally Forth, an opening in the stockade where defenders could "sally forth" - in otherwords,  leave the fort.

Tomorrow I will share some photos of inside the restored buildings.

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As promised, here's the photo of a Blue Whale Craig Tooley took from an airplane last year.

And here's another Blue Whale Craig photographed several years ago.

The world's largest creature, Blue Whales are a rare sighting. They have been seen off the Mendonoma Coast this year, which is early. It signifies the abundance of food for these giants of the sea.

Thanks to Craig for allowing me to share these photos here. You can see more whale photography on Craig's web site: http://ruffimage.com/

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Ken Bailey recently photographed a baby Brown Pelican. They are flying by the Coast in great numbers now. It seems there was a high birth rate this year. Some of the young Pelicans have been seen in unexpected places - most are tired and just need to rest. But some aren't going to survive. Rescue centers have been overwhelmed with young Brown Pelicans and will no longer take them. Here's what a baby Brown Pelican looks like:

They have a white belly, or underparts, and their head is brown. It is very distressing to see one starving as we cherish these birds that were almost made extinct by the pesticide DDT. But the fact is some don't survive and it proves out the motto of the survival of the fittest. Of course if something man-made is affecting them, like fishing line, you should try to help them.

Below is a photo Allen Vinson took of a squadron of Brown Pelicans. May the fish be plentiful and the winds favorable. They have a long journey to points north.

Thanks to Allen and Ken for allowing me to share their photos with you here. To see a photo comparing adult Brown Pelicans to a juvenile, here's the link: http://www.mendonomasightings.com/2011/12/05/three-wonderful-photos-of-juvenile-and-adult-brown-pelicans-by-coastal-photographer-allen-vinson/