Program Itinerary

Friday, August 3rd:
1800 : Depart from MCA.

A lot of fun stuff goes in here! :)

Sunday, August 5th:
1800 : Return to MCA.

Program Attractions

Skunk Train
Except for the passengers' high-tech cameras and modern garb, a time traveler from the last century would feel quite at home riding Sierra Railroad's Skunk Train today.

The view from the restored rail cars is pretty much unchanged: towering trees, deer drinking from the Noyo River, an isolated fisherman's cabin peeking from the forest. With occasional whistles as it chugs through tunnels, over bridges and past open meadows, the train follows the coastal "Redwood Route" as it has since 1885.

Built as a logging railroad, the Skunk line began that year as a logical vehicle for moving massive redwood logs to Mendocino Coast sawmills from the rugged back country. Steam passenger service was started in 1904, extended to the town of Willits in 1911, and discontinued in 1925 when the self-powered, yellow "Skunk" rail cars were inaugurated. The little trains were quickly nicknamed for their original gas engines, which prompted folks to say, "You can smell 'em before you can see 'em."

Moving at a leisurely pace (29 miles per hour maximum), the trains pull covered cars as well as open observation cars -- perfect for capturing photographs of the truly exhilarating journey.

Fort Ross
The settlement of Ross, the name derived from the word for Russia (Rossiia) was established by the Russian - American Company, a commercial hunting and trading company chartered by the tsarist government, with shares held by the members of the Tsar’s family, court nobility and high officials. Trade was vital to Russian outposts in Alaska, where long winters exhausted supplies and the settlements could not grow enough food to support themselves. Baranov directed his chief deputy, Ivan Alexandrovich Kuskov, to establish a colony in California as a food source for Alaska and to hunt profitable sea otters. After several reconnaissance missions, Kuskov arrived at Ross in March of 1812 with a party of 25 Russians, many of them craftsmen, and 80 native Alaskans from Kodiak and the Aleutian Islands. After negotiating with the Kashaya Pomo people who inhabited the area, Kuskov began construction of the fort. The carpenters who accompanied Kuskov to Settlement Ross, along with their native Alaskan helpers, had worked on forts in Alaska, and the construction here followed models of the traditional stockade, blockhouses and log buildings found in Siberia and Alaska.

Point Reyes Lighthouse
The Point Reyes Peninsula, which juts into the Pacific Ocean just north of the Golden Gate, has long been treacherous for ships traveling to and from San Francisco. In hopes of reducing the number of shipwrecks, Congress in 1852 appropriated $25,000 to build the Point Reyes Lighthouse.

The Point Reyes Lighthouse cast a rotating beam that could be seen for 24 nautical miles. The light came from four wicks, which burned refined lard oil. The beam was focused by a three-ton lens consisting of more than 1,000 handcut prisms and "bull's eyes." The jewel-like lens mounted in a brass framework was designed in France by August Jean Fresnel and built in Paris by the firm of Barbier and Fenestre. The 24-sided lens stands 7-feet, 11-inches high and 6-feet, 1-inch wide.

Originally operated by the Government Lighthouse Service, the lighthouse was taken over by the US Coast Guard in 1915. In 1966, the Park Service acquired the lighthouse station from the Coast Guard, which continued to operate the beacon and fog horn. In 1973, after the six year old nephew of a guardsman was killed by its rotating lens, the lighthouse was closed to the public. It's beacon, which had been converted from to electricity in 1939, was turned off in 1975 and replaced by automatic equipment. In 1977, the Coast Guard turned the lighthouse over to the Park Service which -- in response to an editorial campaign in The Point Reyes Light -- reopened the historic structure to the public. In the years since then, the Park Service has continue to keep the old lighthouse in operating condition in case its unromantic replacement ever breaks down.

Point Arena Lighthouse
The first Point Arena Lighthouse was constructed in 1870. Its brick and mortar tower featured ornate iron balcony supports and a large Keeper residence with enough space to house several families. In April of 1906, a devastating earthquake struck the tower. Damage from the trembler occurred all along the San Andreas Fault, which runs very close to Point Arena. In the town itself, many buildings were reduced to rubble, and at the Light Station, the Keeper's residence and Lighthouse were damaged so severely that they were rendered condemned, and ultimately torn down.

The United States Lighthouse Service contracted with a San Francisco based company to build a new lighthouse here to withstand any future earthquakes. The company built factory smokestacks, which accounts for the final design for the new Point Arena Lighthouse. The new design featured steel reinforcement rods encased in concrete, and was the first lighthouse to be built in this manner.