Tag Archives: Fort Ross State Historic Park

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The Coyote was on the west side of Highway One near Fort Ross State Historic Park. Deborah Heatherstone was there with her camera.

Can you see the Coyote in the photo below? The tall grasses make good camouflage for this Coyote. In the background you can see a few of the restored buildings from the Russian settlement at Fort Ross.

Thanks to Deborah for allowing me to share her photos with you here. To learn more at Fort Ross State Historic Park, here are several links: http://www.mendonomasightings.com/2012/07/16/fort-ross-the-southern-most-russian-settlement-in-the-united-states/   and  http://www.mendonomasightings.com/2012/07/18/interiors-of-fort-ross-and-the-last-two-fruit-trees-planted-200-years-ago-by-russian-settlers/

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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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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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Windermere Point is found on the west side of Highway One in Sonoma County just south of Fort Ross Store. For some reason, Rick and I had never pulled in to this beautiful part of Fort Ross State Historic Park. There are lovely views from the bluffs, plus a view of Timber Cove Lodge and the famous Benny Bufano Peace statue.

Below is a view of the cove to the south.

And this is looking west.

 In the distance is the Benny Bufano Peace statue, the lodge and the cove to the north.

 This is the entrance sign - so low-key that we never paid much attention to it.

And here's Rick's car parked in the parking area - a 1980 Mercedes-Benz, 280SE. It's a great car for the Coast Highway's curves.

I will show you Fort Ross soon. It is fascinating - Russian explorers founded it 200 years ago. There are lots of celebrations going on to commemorate this anniversary. You can learn more at this link: http://www.fortross.org/bicentennial-2012/