Russian Gulch

This is a photo that I snapped at Russian Gulch State Park near Fort Bragg, and the whole reason why I ended up here is because THINGS WENT TERRIBLY WRONG.

I came to this area to do a backpacking trip at Sinkyone State Park, which is just north of Fort Bragg. I made the 4 hour drive to the area, then drove a few miles down this sketchy one lane dirt road that goes to the trailhead. I get there, park my car and get out. I walk around a bit, notice that I passed the trailhead, so I get back in my car to move it closer, and then lo and behold, my car doesn't start. I am tens of miles from any cell service and have no idea how I am going to get my car or myself out. "Would a tow truck even be able to make it down here?" I ask myself. I try a few more times to get it to start, ask a couple people for help, and cannot get it to start. I had just gotten a satellite communicator about a week prior (what timing), so I pull that out and try to communicate with my wife to see if she can get a ranger or a police officer down there to help me. She gets a hold of the Sinkyone State Park office to get a ranger down, and they were able to get the one tow truck driver in the area that is willing to drive down there to get me out. I had to spend the night there and wait for him to come in the morning, so luckily I had all my backpacking gear.

He came the next day around noon and drove me to a mechanic shop in Fort Bragg. We didn't get there till about 3:00, and I am already thinking, "there is no way my car is getting fixed today," and sure enough the mechanic tells me he can't get the part till the morning. I thought about getting a hotel, or staying at a campground, but everything was so expensive, plus the tow and car repair wasn't cheap, so I decided I would be like a homeless person with all my backpacking gear and find somewhere to sleep in the city. I spent the night on a disc golf course not too far from the ocean (not a bad place to be homeless). The next morning I went exploring around Fort Bragg while my car was being worked on, and then around noon I got the call that my car was done. After two nights in the area, it was time to be done with this trial.

As I was walking back to get my car, I started thinking if I should try to do something in the area on my way back home. I remembered there were a couple waterfalls that I had read about in a book near here that I wanted to go to one day, so what better opportunity than now to see them? So I came to Russian Gulch State Park, and saw the waterfall seen here. One of my favorite waterfall shots I have ever taken was born out of tragedy. And that is the story behind the shot.