7月13日（周一）— 7月17日（周五） · Tesla Model Y 长续航 · 睡在车里 · 抓什么吃什么
🏁 Santa Clara 往返 ~555 mi🦪 生蚝🦀 珍宝蟹+石蟹🟣 海胆🐚 挖蛤蜊/赶海🦌 麋鹿+象海豹🐋 岸边看鲸⚡ 3次超充🚿 每晚热水澡
Santa Clara → Point Reyes（麋鹿+象海豹） → Tomales湾 → Dillon Beach（挖蛤蜊） → Bodega Bay（钓螃蟹） → Salt Point（宿·蜂窝石） → Sea Ranch → Point Arena → Mendocino / Van Damme（捡海胆） → Fort Bragg / MacKerricher（珍宝蟹） → 128号公路红杉林 → Santa Clara · 四晚全部订好✅
⚠️ 这一步不能省：Petaluma 到 Fort Bragg 之间整条 Hwy 1 没有任何超充，Salt Point 也没电。今早没充，所以现在必须补
16:55–18:15
🌊 Bodega Bay（放松版，不钓蟹了）：Spud Point 蟹肉三明治（17:00关门，赶得上就吃，赶不上去 Fishetarian）；Bodega Head 散步看鲸——夏天座头鲸就在近岸觅食，带望远镜 顺路买个 hoop net（$25–40，Diekmann's Bay Store）——周四 Noyo 港的珍宝蟹是全程唯一合法能抓的一天，那天需要它
今天不安排钓蟹（没网具）。今早已经徒手抓到蟹了 ✅
19:05
🌙 Salt Point W96 扎营（天还亮着，日落20:35）。晚饭：煮今早自己抓的螃蟹 + 生蚝。然后早睡补觉——昨晚没睡好，今晚把觉补回来
✅ 好消息：你们的营位就在蛤蜊床上。Lawson's 官方营地图写明：600号段（601–609）就是"Seawall海堤区"，是他们唯一的临水营位，直接位于 Tomales 湾岸边——原文："The camp store is nearby and access to the clam beds is just a few steps away"（商店就在旁边，去蛤蜊床只有几步路）。你们订的正是 602 号 Seawall Ocean View。所以：不用开车、不用坐船，出帐篷往水边走就是了。
⚠️ 但必须搞清楚：Lawson's 有两个"蛤蜊场"，你们只能去其中一个。
❌ 大沙洲（the sandbar）——要坐船，你们去不了。Lawson's 官网："traveling by boat to the mudflats in Tomales Bay"——从他们的船坡道开船10–15分钟才能到，蛤蜊埋在约3英尺深。这是最有名的那片床，但没有船就是没有。别在黑暗里试图涉水过去。
✅ 今晚已订：Salt Point SP W96（确认号30849447）。今晚没有淋浴——白天把太阳能淋浴袋放车顶晒着，晚上到营地擦洗，明晚 Van Damme 有正经热水澡。好处：明早一睁眼就是蜂窝石海岸，第3天少开一半路。
🐚 Cassie 在 Lawson's 滩涂🐚 一桶大蛤蜊（别人挖的，我们蹭个合影）🦀 我们自己徒手抓的蟹🦀 好心人分给我们的蟹和蛤蜊🍲 现煮螃蟹🦪 Hog Island 生蚝养殖池🦪 Hog Island 菜单板（自己开生蚝）🌊 Bodega Head 海崖🏕️ Salt Point Woodside · 睡在车里
🐚 大蛤蜊🦪 生蚝🦀 石蟹🌙 Salt Point ✅已订 W96（确认号30849447）🚿 无淋浴——太阳能袋之夜
⚡ 上午 Petaluma 补到~95%，之后到 Salt Point 还剩约60–65%——周三的山路余量就稳了。
【7/14 当天实查 · 周二生蚝】The Marshall Store：周二 11:00–15:00；周二/周三为"Shuck Your Own Raws"自开生蚝日；烤蚝为招牌。19225 Hwy 1, Marshall，(415) 246-9306。Hog Island Marshall：Hog Shack 零售每天9:00–17:00，但 The Boat 生蚝吧只开周四–周一（周二关门），野餐桌需预约。Tomales Bay Oyster Co.：仅周五12–17、周六日9–17，且按县法规为"农场直售"，不可现场野餐——周二去不了。
【7/14 当天实查 · 周三上网】Trinks Cafe（39140 S Hwy 1, Gualala）：免费WiFi，周三8:00–15:00。Sea Ranch Lodge（60 Sea Walk Dr）：免费WiFi，咖啡厅每天7:00起。Coast Community Library（225 Main St, Point Arena）：免费WiFi+公用电脑+安静隔间，周二–周五10:00–18:00。Surf Market（Gualala）每天7:30–20:00。覆盖：CoverageMap/FCC——Gualala 四大运营商平均覆盖约27%，Verizon最好但也只有约46%，全加州排1077位；Visible 是 Verizon MVNO，数据优先级被降级。
Santa Clara → Point Reyes (elk + elephant seals) → Tomales Bay → Dillon Beach (clamming) → Bodega Bay (crabbing) → Salt Point (overnight · tafoni) → Sea Ranch → Point Arena → Mendocino / Van Damme (urchin) → Fort Bragg / MacKerricher (Dungeness) → Hwy 128 redwoods → Santa Clara · all 4 nights booked ✅
Days 1–4 · Hwy 1 north Day 5 · Hwy 128 + 101 home Supercharger Foraging/wildlife Camp (sleep+shower) Scenic
Click markers for details. Line is schematic — use car nav for turns. Map needs internet.
Why this timing is perfect: July 14 is a new moon, so every morning of the trip has a strong minus tide (~−1.5 ft) — lowest around 6:26 AM Tuesday at Tomales Bay[14], sliding ~45 min later each day. That's the golden window for clamming, urchin picking, and tidepooling. Bonus: recreational Dungeness crab is OPEN north of the Sonoma/Mendocino county line through July 30[3] — Fort Bragg is in the open zone (south of the line closed Jun 30), so we crab hard once in Mendocino County.
🐋 Huge & Weird Animals You Can Actually See
Animal
Where on route
July odds
Notes
🦌 Tule elk (bulls ~550 lb)
Day 1 · Tomales Point Reserve, Point Reyes
Near-certain
Rut begins mid-July: bugling, antler-clashing bulls. This subspecies exists only in California[11]
🐘 Northern elephant seals (to 4,500 lb)
Day 1 · Drakes Beach + Chimney Rock overlook
Near-certain
Year-round colony; July = molting juveniles & sub-adults. Keep 25 ft back[11]
🐋 Humpback whales
Day 2 sunset at Bodega Head; Point Arena, Mendocino headlands
Good
Feed near shore Jun–Oct: spouts, tail slaps, occasional breach. Binoculars!
🐳 Blue whales (largest animal ever)
Same headlands, further out
Lucky day
Jul–Sep krill season. A 30-ft vertical spout = blue
🦭 Harbor seals & sea lions
Day 3 Jenner river-mouth sandbar; Day 4 Noyo Harbor, MacKerricher boardwalk
Near-certain
Jenner sandbar often has 100+ seals with pups
🦅 Giant birds
Entire coast
Certain
Brown pelican squadrons (7-ft wingspan), ospreys hitting the water on Tomales Bay, white pelicans, black oystercatchers. Bodega Bay is where Hitchcock filmed The Birds
🦑 Weird tidepool stuff
Every minus tide
Certain
Giant green anemones, gumboot chitons (a 13-inch armored slug!), bat stars, moon snails, maybe an octopus
Not on this trip: Catalina Island bison live 500+ miles south (SoCal, needs a ferry — a separate weekend); California condors are Big Sur/Pinnacles; Roosevelt elk (even bigger) are 3 hours further north in Humboldt — next time.
Day 1 · Mon 7/13 · LIVE: running-late version (18:33 at Point Reyes Station) · ~150 mi · Elk day
Santa Clara → (⚡ Petaluma lunch charge) → Tomales Point elk → Dillon Beach
Late-start lean version: 101 north → Petaluma Supercharger (on the way — charge FIRST!) → Point Reyes Station supplies → dusk elk walk → Dillon Beach. Cut: elephant seals / Cypress Tunnel / lighthouse — recoverable Friday on the way home (see Day 5)
Time
Plan
Distance/notes
13:00
Depart (100% from home); sleep in this morning!
101 north, past the morning rush
14:20–15:30
⚡ Petaluma Supercharger (zero detour): proper sit-down lunch, charge back to 100%
85 mi / 1h20m; 401 Kenilworth Dr, plenty of food in the shopping center
18:33–18:50
🛒 Point Reyes Station resupply (17 minutes — do not linger): Palace Market (8:00–20:00 daily). This is your last resupply of the day — tonight's dinner, tomorrow's breakfast, and all drinking water get bought here in one shot (no water or food west of Inverness; you reach camp at 22:00 with everything long closed)
Bovine Bakery closed at 16:00. Fill every water bottle first
18:50–19:35
🚙 Drive to Tomales Point. For the last 1.4 mi (northernmost Pierce Point Rd), drop under 25 mph and scan — this is the stretch NPS names for viewing elk from the car, and it's prime time for bobcats out hunting gophers
20 mi / 45 min, narrow and foggy
19:40–21:05
🦌 Tomales Point elk (dusk session): from the trailhead, target Windy Gap (1.0 mi each way). Running late actually put you in the best window of the day — dusk is when elk are most active and the light is best. At 20:35 (sunset) turn around immediately, wherever you are, elk or no elk
Headlamp on your body now (new moon — pitch black after 21:05). Do not go past Windy Gap
21:10
Loop around Tomales Bay to Dillon Beach (dark, winding — go slow)
~28 mi / 55 min
22:05
🌙 Check in at Lawson's Landing site 602 — the office and store will certainly be closed; you're on the late-arrival / self-check-in process. ⚠️ Call (707) 878-2443 RIGHT NOW while you still have signal: how to get in after 22:00, is the gate locked, how to find the site
Pitching in the dark; stage tomorrow's gear by the car door tonight
22:45
Lights out
5:15 alarm stands (now NOAA-verified: low tide 06:26 / −1.48 ft, and it's illegal to be on the sand with tools before 05:29 — so 5:15 is exactly right) — about 6.5 h of sleep tonight
⚠️ Watch: keep 25 m from elk (it isn't the rut today, but cows with calves will still charge if pressed); elephant seal approach is illegal (fines); Pierce Point Rd is narrow and foggy; bring your own clam shovel (the store won't be open at 5:30 AM) — tonight's store visit is just for small extras.
🦌 Dusk Wildlife Playbook (live-checked 7/13)
⚠️ Correction: today is not the rut. This document previously said "dusk is peak rut activity — bugling, sparring." That is wrong. The official NPS page states that bugling and sparring at Tomales Point happen August–October; in mid-July the bulls are still shedding velvet (velvet comes off in June–July). You will not hear bugling tonight, and you almost certainly won't see fighting.[17]
✅ So what you WILL see (arguably better for photos): bulls in bachelor groups — antlers already large and freshly out of velvet, several bulls grazing loosely together; cows in nursery groups with calves born in May–June (now 1–2 months old, running and playing). The herd is calm, relaxed, and not especially shy — easier to watch quietly at close range than during the rut, and far less dangerous.
Step
What to do
Hard info
Don't get out of the car yet
The northernmost 1.4 miles of Pierce Point Rd is the stretch NPS specifically names for viewing elk from the car — drive slow, one of you scans each side of the grassland. Often you'll see elk before you even reach the parking lot[17]
Narrow, winding, frequently foggy; keep it under 25 mph on your own initiative
Parking
Tomales Point trailhead, right by the white historic farm buildings of Pierce Point Ranch
Only 20 dirt spaces, full by 10 AM on weekends — but you arrive 17:00 on a Monday as people are leaving; you're fine
How far to walk
🎯 Target Windy Gap, 1.0 mi each way (2 mi round trip, ~1 h with stops). There's a perennial spring there that elk reliably gather at to drink — the highest-probability spot on the whole trail
The trail runs 4.7 mi one-way to the tip (9.4 mi round trip) — do not attempt the full thing today, you won't get back
If you see nothing
No elk at Windy Gap: push on to the high point (~2.25 mi) for the widest view, and glass the hillsides and the seaward grass slopes with binoculars
19:00 is the hard turn-around (wherever you are), so you're back at the car by 19:45 and rolling at 19:30–19:45
Distance red line
Stay 25 m (75 ft) back. Not being in rut doesn't mean docile: cows with calves will charge if you crowd them. Use binoculars and zoom — don't creep closer for a photo
NPS rule; fines for violations
🐾 Other animals you can see today (ranked by odds)
Animal
Where / how to find it
Odds
🐱 Bobcat
Tonight's sleeper prize. At dusk they hunt gophers in the open grassland on both sides of Pierce Point Rd — drive slowly and scan the grass for a brown shape "the size of a cat, ears up, completely still." Point Reyes is one of the easiest places in California to see a bobcat
Worth trying for
🦌 Black-tailed deer / 🐺 Coyote
Same grassland, same dusk window
Likely
🦅 Raptors
White-tailed kite (hovers in place over the grass, then drops straight down), northern harrier (quarters low, circling just above the grass tops), red-tailed hawk, turkey vulture, raven
Near-certain
🦭 Harbor seals
The stretch of Hwy 1 running north along Tomales Bay — at low tide they haul out on the sandbars inside the bay; also common on the flats right in front of Lawson's tonight
Likely
🐦 Seabirds
Dillon Beach / Lawson's: brown pelicans skimming the swell in formation, cormorants, black oystercatchers
Certain
🌊 Optional McClures Beach tidepools
End of Pierce Point Rd, steep 0.4 mi descent. Only if the elk go well and you're back down before 19:00 — costs ~40 min round trip
Time-dependent
🔌 This afternoon's hard logistics (all checked 7/13):
Water: there is no food and no drinking water anywhere west of Inverness.Fill every bottle at Point Reyes Station — there is not a drop on the trail.
Palace Market (11300 Shoreline Hwy) is open 8:00–20:00 daily — the only reliable resupply for your 16:05 arrival. Bovine Bakery closes at 16:00 Mon–Fri — arriving 16:05 you'll just miss it; to get pastries you'd have to beat 16:00.
No signal: Pierce Point Rd has essentially no cell coverage — download offline maps before you leave Point Reyes Station, and load Lawson's into the car's nav while you still have bars.
Restroom: McClures Beach parking lot (6:00–24:00). There are none on the trail.
No moon tonight: new moon is tomorrow (7/14), so tonight is essentially pitch black. → (1) after dark, your headlamp goes on your body, not in the car; (2) the upside is superb stargazing at Dillon Beach tonight.
Sunset 20:35. Leaving the trailhead at 19:30 → Lawson's at 20:30, which means you catch sunset from Dillon Beach.
🌫️ Fog plan B: July is peak fog season at Point Reyes and Tomales Point is frequently socked in. Fog doesn't stop you seeing elk up close, but it kills the long views. If the trailhead is a white-out: don't force the hike — go back and drive the northernmost 1.4 mi of Pierce Point Rd slowly, scanning. Elk are often within 100 m of the road, and fog actually makes it easier to get close.
⏱️ The trade-off after running 2.5 h late (recomputed live 7/13):Tomales Point is tonight or never — Friday goes home via 128/101 and doesn't pass Point Reyes at all. So there are exactly two choices:
✅ Option A (recommended, and what the table above says): walk to Windy Gap anyway. On trail 19:40, hard turn-around at sunset 20:35, back at the car 21:05, camp 22:05, lights out 22:45, ~6.5 h sleep. Upside: dusk is genuinely when elk are most active and the light is best — running late dropped you into the best window of the day. Cost: pitching in the dark and ~45 min less sleep.
Option B (conservative): don't walk, just drive it. Crawl the northernmost 1.4 mi of Pierce Point Rd scanning the grass (elk are often within 100 m of the road), leave 20:15, camp 21:15, lights out 22:00, full 7 h. Take this if the fog is a total white-out, or if you're genuinely wiped — the 5:30 clam dig tomorrow is the main event of this trip; don't wreck it for elk.
Decide at the trailhead: good visibility → A; white-out → B.
🦌 Two bull elk sparring (Tomales Point, dusk)🐺 A coyote on the trail🌄 The Tomales Point trail at golden hour (elk on the slope)🔥 A fiery "burning-cloud" sunset over the ocean🌇 Sunset at Dillon Beach
⚡ Petaluma → 95%🌙 Lawson's ✅ BOOKED site 602 (conf. 1266651)🚿 Coin showers right across the site
Day 2 · Tue 7/14 · ~115 mi (incl. Petaluma top-up) · The big foraging day
Dawn clamming → Marshall oysters → Bodega Bay crabbing → overnight at Salt Point
Lawson's Landing flats (minus tide!) → Marshall (Hog Island) → Bodega Bay / Doran day-use crabbing → after dinner, north to Salt Point SP (32 mi / 50 min)
Time
Plan
Distance/notes
05:15
Up (alarm unchanged). But leave the tools in the car for now — see the "05:29 legal line" below
Civil twilight 05:29, sunrise 05:59
05:29
⚖️ The earliest moment it is legal to set foot on the beach carrying clam tools (half an hour before sunrise). California law: from half an hour after sunset to half an hour before sunrise it is illegal to even POSSESS an instrument capable of digging clams on any beach in the state — not just to dig, but to walk onto the sand holding a shovel[18]
So don't head out early in the dark. Wait at the car at 05:25, move at 05:29
05:30–07:45
🐚 Dig gaper + Washington clams: on the sand before the low, find the "shows" (squirt holes) and dig fast. Live NOAA check (7/13): low tide at Tomales Bay entrance is 06:26 / −1.48 ft — the doc's original estimate was exactly right[18]
Flats are right in front of camp; one of California's most famous clamming spots[7]
08:00
⬅️ Hard deadline to be off the low flats. The tide is back to 0 ft at 08:42 and floods fast after that
The below-−1 ft golden window is 05:13–07:41
11:10 now
☕ Take your time: breakfast, deal with the crab (keep them cool under a damp cloth — never in fresh water), 🚿 shower, pack up. No rush
The whole day is re-cut as a slow version
12:30
🚗 Leave Lawson's, south on Hwy 1 through Tomales → Marshall
22 mi / ~40 min
13:10–14:40
🦪 Today's main event: The Marshall Store (19225 Hwy 1, Marshall). Open Tuesday 11:00–15:00, and Tuesday/Wednesday is precisely their "Shuck Your Own Raws" day — exactly your kind of thing. Barbecued oysters (the local specialty), raw, Rockefeller, eaten slowly on the deck over Tomales Bay[19]
⚠️ They close at 15:00, so arriving 13:10 gives you a full 1 h 50 m. Small place — worth calling (415) 246-9306 on the way
Backup
🦪 Hog Island's Hog Shack (20215 Shoreline Hwy) is open 9:00–17:00 daily, but it's to-go only — their Boat Oyster Bar is closed on Tuesdays (Thu–Mon only). So Hog Island today means buying and leaving, with nowhere to sit and shuck[19]
Tomales Bay Oyster Co. is simply closed today (Fri/Sat/Sun only, and no picnicking allowed)
15:25–16:10
⚡ Petaluma Supercharger, up to ~95% (401 Kenilworth Dr). Coffee, bathroom
⚠️ This one is not optional: there is no Supercharger anywhere on Hwy 1 between Petaluma and Fort Bragg, and Salt Point has no power. You skipped this morning's charge, so it has to happen now
16:55–18:15
🌊 Bodega Bay (relaxed version — no crabbing): Spud Point crab sandwich (closes 17:00; if you miss it, Fishetarian); walk Bodega Head and look for whales — humpbacks feed close to shore all summer, bring the binoculars While you're there, buy a hoop net ($25–40, Diekmann's Bay Store) — Thursday at Noyo is the only day on this whole trip you can legally take Dungeness, and you'll need one
No crabbing today (no gear). You already caught crab by hand this morning ✅
19:05
🌙 Make camp at Salt Point W96 — in daylight (sunset 20:35). Dinner: cook the crab you caught yourself this morning + oysters. Then an early night — you slept badly, so tonight you catch up
32 mi / 50 min. Nearly 3 hours earlier than the original plan, specifically so you can sleep
⚠️ Watch: first 10 clams dug must be kept regardless of size (law); refill your holes; rinse gear; leave when the tide turns — it comes in fast.
📍 The exact clamming spot
✅ Good news: your campsite is on the clam beds. Lawson's official campground map states that the 600-series sites (601–609) ARE the "Seawall" — their only waterfront sites, directly on the Tomales Bay shoreline — and, in their words: "The camp store is nearby and access to the clam beds is just a few steps away."You booked site 602, Seawall Ocean View. So: no driving, no boat. Walk out of the tent toward the water.
⚠️ But understand this: Lawson's has TWO clam grounds, and you can only use one of them.
❌ The big sandbar — boat only. You cannot go there. Lawson's own site: "traveling by boat to the mudflats in Tomales Bay" — it's a 10–15 minute boat ride from their launch ramp, and the clams sit about 3 feet down. This is the famous bed, but without a boat it simply isn't available. Do not try to wade out to it in the dark.
✅ The southern shoreline — this is the one you walk. Lawson's own wording: "or walking our southern shoreline," which works whenever the tide is 0.5 ft or lower to expose the beds. Your low this morning is −1.48 ft — far beyond the requirement. It will be exposed.
Point
Coordinates (lat, lng)
Notes
🌙 Site 602 / the Seawall (your start)
38.2254, −122.9568
Lawson's bay-side campground (OSM camp_site node, verified). Note: the doc previously said −122.9645, which is wrong — that's ~875 m too far west, out in the dunes. Fixed everywhere
🐚 The dig zone (your target)
≈ 38.2248, −122.9540
The flats exposed due east / southeast of camp, roughly 150–400 m out from your site. (Checked against the live map you sent: the water is directly EAST of 602.) The real method is to follow the retreating waterline; see the walking notes below
🚫 The big sandbar (boat required)
≈ 38.2205, −122.9505
Out in the bay, 10–15 min by boat. Irrelevant to you today — it's marked so you know NOT to head that way
📮 Lawson's gate address (for car nav)
137 Marine View Dr, Dillon Beach
The entrance is up in town (≈38.2454, −122.9660); you drive down to the bay from there
🧭 How to walk it in the dark (leaving 05:29):
Step 1: from site 602, face the water — that's due EAST. (Confirmed on Lawson's official map: the 600s are a single column running north–south along the eastern shore, and 602 sits near the south end of it, right beside the STORE and the boat-launch icon. The water is a few steps east of your car.) Don't drive, don't look for a trailhead. Step down onto the sand and head east.
Step 2: follow the waterline out (east / southeast). The tide is dropping away to the southeast into the bay, so you walk out behind it — you're chasing the water until low tide at 06:26. Where the water finally stops is the outer edge of the flats, and the biggest, densest clams are in that outermost, lowest band.
Step 3: look down and hunt for "shows."This is the real skill — you're not looking for clams, you're looking for their sign.
⚠️ Turn back at 08:00. The water returns across those flats faster than you'd expect (0 ft again by 08:42). Always know your line back to shore, and don't gamble against a flooding tide for two more clams.
👀 What you're actually looking for (the important part):
The goal isn't to see a clam — it's to see its hole. On the exposed wet sand, look for a round hole about the size of a quarter, sometimes a shallow dimple, sometimes keyhole-shaped. That's where the gaper's siphon (its "neck") pulled back down.
Sometimes you'll see the neck itself — a stubby grey-brown fleshy tube sticking out of the sand. As you approach it will retract, and it may squirt a jet of water 1–4 feet into the air. A squirt means there's one right underneath.
They are deep: 2–3 feet. This is not casual scratching around. You'll dig down about 1.5 feet before you can even start reaching in.
The key technique: dig BESIDE the hole, not straight down onto it — coming down on top of it will sever the siphon. Use the clam tube (PVC pipe) pressed down over the spot to stop the walls collapsing, then dig out the sand inside the tube.
The sand keeps slumping back in. That's the exhausting part. Work as a pair: one digs, one holds back sand and bails water.
⚖️ The first 10 you dig, you keep — any size, broken or not. So think before the shovel goes in.
Separate buckets for the two of you.
🦀 Gear problem: you only have a dip net (抄网) — no crab trap, no snare. (Updated 7/14)
A dip net alone will almost certainly catch you nothing. Dip nets are legal gear in California, but they only work as "spot the crab, then scoop it" — the crab has to be in shallow water where you can see it. The rock crab out along the deep side of the jetty are simply out of reach.
✅ The fix: buy a hoop net in Bodega Bay, about $25–40. This is the workhorse tool here: tie on a line, drop in bait, lower it straight off the pier or jetty, pull it up every 15 minutes or so. No rod required — a snare is the thing that needs a casting rod, and you don't have one, so don't buy a snare.
Where to buy:Diekmann's Bay Store (the grocery/tackle store on the main drag in Bodega Bay — licenses, bait, tackle) or Bodega Bay Sportfishing Center (1500 Bay Flat Rd, out by the marina). Stop in on the way, before you hit Doran at 13:45.
⚠️ More importantly: Thursday's Dungeness at Noyo Harbor — the one day you can legally take Dungeness — needs a hoop net too. So this $30 isn't really for today; it's for Thursday, and today is just the shakedown run.
Hoop nets do NOT need a crab trap validation — that only applies to traps. Buy it and use it.
And if you don't get one, it's fine: Dungeness is closed today anyway, so rock crab was always a bonus, not the main line. Fallback: the Spud Point crab sandwich (open till 17:00, it's the famous one). Today's real event is the clams this morning, and that needs no crab gear at all.
🌊 Tuesday's tide (live NOAA check 7/13 · Tomales Bay entrance, station 9415469)
Time
Height
What it means
04:14
drops through 0 ft
Flats start uncovering — but it's illegal to be out there with tools yet
05:29
—
⚖️ Earliest legal moment on the sand (half an hour before sunrise). This is your real starting gun
05:59
—
Sunrise
06:26
−1.48 ft (low tide)
🎯 The moment. The doc's original estimate of "06:26 / −1.5 ft" was exactly right
05:13–07:41
below −1.0 ft
The gaper golden window (they live deepest — only a big minus tide reaches them)
08:42
back through 0 ft
Floods fast after this → be off the low flats by 08:00
✅ Good news: the biotoxin warning has been LIFTED. CDPH had a PSP (paralytic shellfish poisoning) advisory over Marin and Sonoma counties in Mar–Apr 2026 covering sport-harvested bivalves including clams. Marin was lifted 5/21/2026 and Sonoma 6/11/2026 (per CDFW's official health-advisories page, checked 7/13) — the clams you dig tomorrow are safe to eat. Only Del Norte County remains under advisory. ⚠️ Caveat: Sonoma County's own webpage still displays the old 4/9 advisory as active — it's stale. So still make the call before eating: biotoxin line (800) 553-4133[18].
🚫 Three things you may NOT take tomorrow (all ticketable):
❌ Dungeness crab: CLOSED at Bodega Bay today. California law: the recreational Dungeness season south of the Sonoma/Mendocino county line ended 6/30/2026; only Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte run through 7/30. Bodega Bay is in Sonoma County = closed. Anything you catch goes straight back in. (Good news: Thursday's Noyo Harbor is in Mendocino County, where Dungeness IS open — that's your Dungeness day: limit 10, 5¾" minimum)[18]
❌ Littleneck / cockle / chione clams: closed season in Marin County. These may only be taken 9/1–3/31 in Marin — in July they are entirely off limits. Lawson's is at Dillon Beach = Marin County. If you dig one, rebury it where you found it[18]
❌ Wild mussels: statewide quarantine 5/1–10/31. This is the routine annual quarantine and is separate from the PSP advisory above — it is still in force right now. Don't touch them[15]
✅ What you CAN take, and the limits:
🐚 Gaper clams: 10 per person, no minimum size. But the first 10 you dig must all be kept — whatever the size, even if you broke the shell, they count against your limit. So you cannot dig one, decide it's too small, and toss it back. That's illegal.
🐚 Washington clams: another 10 per person (a separate limit from gapers, not 10 combined)
🦀 Rock crab (Bodega): 35 per person, 4" minimum (measured across the widest part of the shell). Open year-round
🦪 Hog Island oysters: eat freely. They're commercially farmed — none of the sport-harvest advisories apply to certified dealers
⚖️ Keep your two catches in separate containers! The regs explicitly require each person to have their own container — pooling them in one bucket is itself a violation
📏 Clams must stay whole and measurable until they're cooked (don't shuck them on the beach)
✅ Licenses: both of you have one now. (Updated 7/14) Clamming and taking crab from shore with a net/snare are both covered. Save the license to your phone's photos or carry a printout — wardens patrol the flats regularly, especially on a big minus-tide morning.
✅ Tonight is booked: Salt Point SP site W96 (conf. #30849447). No showers there — sun the solar shower bag on the roof all day and rinse at camp; a real hot shower comes tomorrow at Van Damme. Upside: you wake up ON the tafoni coast and Day 3's driving is cut nearly in half.
🐚 Cassie on the Lawson's clam flats🐚 A bucket of big clams (someone else's — we just posed with them)🦀 Crab we caught ourselves by hand🦀 Crab & clams a kind stranger shared with us🍲 Cooking the crab🦪 Hog Island oyster tanks🦪 Hog Island menu board (shuck-your-own)🌊 Bodega Head cliffs🏕️ Salt Point Woodside · sleeping in the car
🐚 Gaper clams🦪 Oysters🦀 Rock crab🌙 Salt Point ✅ BOOKED W96 (conf. 30849447)🚿 No showers — solar-bag night
⚡ Morning Petaluma top-up to ~95%; arrive Salt Point at ~60–65% — Wednesday's hilly leg is now comfortable.
Day 3 · Wed 7/15 · ~85 mi · The scenery day (starting at Salt Point — half the original driving)
Salt Point tafoni sunrise → Sea Ranch → Point Arena → Mendocino
Wake at Salt Point → Gerstle Cove tafoni → Sea Ranch → Gualala → Point Arena → Elk → Van Damme SP → (⚡ Fort Bragg +10 mi)
Time
Plan
Distance/notes
Sleep in ~07:30
😴 Nothing scheduled this morning (your call: more sleep, less tension). ❌ Skipping the Gerstle Cove tidepools — honestly, today's 06:41 is the lowest tide of the trip (−1.72 ft), but you need the rest more; it's a fair trade, don't second-guess it
Late night — you built a fire
08:30
Slow breakfast, break camp, roll out. ❌ Also skipping Fort Ross / the Sea Ranch Chapel
09:00–09:20
📶 Connectivity test #1: Sea Ranch Lodge (60 Sea Walk Dr, free WiFi, cafe opens 07:00). Buy a coffee, run a speed test; good → stay, bad → leave immediately
💻 Xinyi's meeting (important) · today's first priority
See the connectivity battle plan below
11:00 · ⚠️ Top priority: EAT + stock up
🍔 The moment the meeting ends, deal with food! Yesterday you forgot to buy any on the way from Bodega Head to camp and ran the whole day on morning crab + a pile of oysters + one taco — and only realised at camp that the nearest open store was 40 min away. Don't repeat it. Proper lunch in Gualala, then load up tonight's + tomorrow's food at Surf Market (39250 S Hwy 1, 7:30–20:00)
Gualala is the only real resupply on this stretch — nothing after it
15:30–18:00
🗼 Point Arena Lighthouse + Stornetta bluff trail: climb the tower (one of the tallest on the West Coast), scan the bluffs for whale spouts, watch the sea caves and blowholes. Pure nature and hands-on — exactly your taste 🔌 Yes, you can charge while you walk! The Point Arena City Hall lot (451 School St) has a ChargePoint L2 station (J1772 — bring your Tesla adapter), and the southern Stornetta bluff trail starts from that same lot (behind the VFW building). Plug in, walk Stornetta, come back topped up. The lighthouse itself (2 mi further west) and Elk have no chargers.
Gualala→Point Arena 15 mi / 25 min. L2 is slow (~20–25 mi/hr), so a 1–2 h walk adds only 5–10% — a bonus, not needed. ⚠️ Bowling Ball Beach is out today (low 06:41, submerged by afternoon)
18:45
🌊 Optional, on the way: Elk / Cuffey's Cove viewpoint — one of the most beautiful spots on Hwy 1 (sunset 20:38, great light)
17 mi / 30 min. 🔌 Elk's chargers are all at inns (Elk Cove Inn etc.) — almost certainly guest-only, don't count on them; for a public plug it's the Point Arena City Hall one
~19:30
🌙 Check in at Van Damme SP (site 68) · last stop today — once you're in, you're in. Set camp, 🚿 finally a proper hot shower ($1/5 min); scout tomorrow's Caspar urchin run. Not hungry = skip dinner out, early night to catch up on sleep
11 mi / 20 min. ✅ No supercharge tonight (already 90% from Sea Ranch; 68% on arrival at Noyo — plenty for tonight + tomorrow)
📶 Wednesday 10:30 meeting · connectivity battle plan (checked 7/14)
The honest picture first: this coast has genuinely bad signal. Per FCC data, only about 46% of Gualala has Verizon coverage, and the town ranks 1,077th in California for reception. Your Visible is a Verizon MVNO, which means your data is deprioritized — when the tower is busy, you're the one who slows down. Treat Salt Point campground as having no signal at all. So do not gamble this meeting on a cell connection: the plan is WiFi plus a phone dial-in, belt and braces.
Tier
Option
Detail
① Primary
🥇 Trinks Cafe (Gualala)
39140 S Hwy 1 · free WiFi · Wed 8:00–15:00 · arrive 09:35, a full hour early
② Dry run
☕ Sea Ranch Lodge
60 Sea Walk Dr · free WiFi · cafe opens 07:00 · closest to Salt Point (25 min). Test here first — it's a free rehearsal
③ Backup
🛒 Surf Market (Gualala)
39250 S Hwy 1 · 7:30–20:00 daily · right next to Trinks · has coffee. Move here if Trinks is loud or slow
④ Backup
📚 Coast Community Library (Point Arena)
225 Main St · free WiFi + public computers + a quiet study booth · Tue–Fri 10:00–18:00 · the best actual room for a real meeting, but it opens at 10:00 and is 25 min beyond Gualala — a fallback, not the plan
⑤ Lifeline
☎️ Phone dial-in (the single most important backup)
Save the meeting's dial-in number TODAY. A voice call needs far less signal than video — one bar is enough. This is the only option that still works if the internet fails completely.
⚠️ Do all of this today (Tuesday), while you still have signal:
☎️ Get and save the meeting's dial-in number + PIN (Zoom/Meet/Teams all have one). This is the most important item on the list.
💬 Warn the other side in advance: Xinyi is in a remote part of the Mendocino coast and may be audio-only, and may drop. Set the expectation now and a dropout stops being a crisis.
📥 Download every document she needs, offline.
📱 Turn on WiFi Calling (Visible supports it) so she can take a call over cafe WiFi even with zero bars.
🔋 Charge phones and laptop tonight / in the car. Salt Point has no power.
🔌 Have the phone hotspot ready as a spare (Visible allows hotspot).
🎯 Bottom line: leave Salt Point 08:15, be sitting in Trinks by 09:35, meeting at 10:30. Give yourself 55 minutes of slack — this coast is not worth gambling on.
⚠️ Watch: no-signal stretch Salt Point→Gualala (offline maps should already be downloaded); almost no gas/charging on this stretch; Gerstle Cove no-take (urchins wait for Mendocino County tomorrow); winding + fog after dark.
☕ Sea Ranch Lodge (meeting + breakfast)🌊 Working over the water🗼 Point Arena Lighthouse🚗 Me and my favorite Tesla at the lighthouse🧗 Stornetta bluff trail🤸 A jump on the bluff (backlit)📉 Cuffey's Cove (just OK)🌊 Greenwood State Beach (happy accident)⚡ Charged for an hour at Greenwood🦨 A skunk at the Van Damme campsite at night
⚡ Fort Bragg → 90%🌙 Van Damme ✅ BOOKED Upper Loop #68 (conf. 30846672)🚿 Showers $1/5 min
Day 4 · Thu 7/16 · ~25 mi · Uni + Dungeness day
Dawn urchin picking → Mendocino village → Noyo Dungeness → Glass Beach → MacKerricher
Caspar Cove (urchin — the only place you can legally hand-pick unlimited) → Mendocino village breakfast → Noyo Harbor (Dungeness) → Glass Beach → MacKerricher SP
Time
Plan
Distance/notes
Leave ~06:15
🚗 Drive from Van Damme camp to Caspar Cove (~15 min, past Mendocino). Why not the Van Damme cove across from camp: see "where to pick" below
Low 07:24 / −1.39 ft (NOAA, checked 7/15; the old 07:50 was stale)
06:30–08:30
🟣 Hand-pick purple urchins at Caspar Cove: thick gloves on, pry them out of the rock crevices with a small bar; scissors around the mouth, spoon out the golden roe, rinse in seawater, eat on the spot. Unlimited here (kelp-restoration zone, through 2029)[10]
Low 07:24; sunrise 06:00. Snorkelers can free-dive (50°F, 7 mm wetsuit) but the low-tide shore pick is enough
10:30
Mendocino village headlands walk + coffee (GoodLife Cafe)
3 mi
12:30–16:00
🦀 Dungeness at Noyo Harbor — north of the county line, open through Jul 30[3]: limit 10, males, 5¾" min (use your gauge); rock crab as backup
7 mi; jetty/pier drops
16:30
Glass Beach (look, don't take) + Laguna Point boardwalk seals at MacKerricher
2 mi
17:30
🌙 Check in at MacKerricher (buy shower tokens at the entrance kiosk!); crab boil
3 mi
20:15
Ten Mile Beach sunset walk
📍 Where to actually pick the urchins (important correction)
⚠️ Correcting the original plan: do NOT "pick" urchins at the Van Damme cove across from camp.
California law: the general purple-urchin limit (40 gallons/day) is a SKIN/SCUBA-DIVING limit — it's written for people in the water. Picking by hand from the low-tide shore isn't that provision[1].
✅ Caspar Cove is the one place that explicitly allows hand / hand-held-tool take, in unlimited numbers (the state's purple-urchin kelp-restoration zone, in effect through 4/1/2029) — just carry a valid fishing license[10].
The Van Damme cove sits inside the Van Damme State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA). It's a permissive SMCA that does allow recreational take, but with Caspar so close, unlimited, and unambiguous, there's no reason to risk the grey area here.
Van Damme cove is great to look at the tidepools (take nothing); for picking, go to Caspar.
Point
Coordinates (lat, lng)
Notes
🟣 Caspar Cove (Caspar Headlands State Beach) — pick here
≈ 39.3605, −123.8170
Park opposite Caspar Beach RV Park (14441 Point Cabrillo Dr, ≈39.3589, −123.8140), walk down to the cove
🔴 Puncture-resistant gloves (thick rubber / leather) — purple-urchin spines are sharp; you can't do this without them
🔴 Fishing license (on phone / printed, on you) — wardens check
🟡 Small pry bar / old flat screwdriver / sturdy metal spoon / abalone iron — urchins wedge into crevices and need levering out
🟡 Bucket or mesh bag — to carry them
🟡 Kitchen scissors — to open them
🟡 A spoon — to scoop the roe (uni)
🟡 Grippy water shoes / rubber boots — the rock is wet and slick
⚪ Small cooler with ice — to keep uni cold if you're not eating right away
🔪 How to pick, open, and eat:
Pick: at the minus tide, search low-intertidal tidepools and crevices — purple urchins often pack in densely ("urchin barrens"). Gloves on, lever them out with a tool, into the bucket.
Open: hold the urchin mouth-up (the mouth = the small round opening in the centre of the flatter underside). Push the scissor tip into the mouth and cut a circle around it, lift off the cap.
Clean: pour out the dark liquid and guts; against the shell wall you'll find 5 orange-gold "tongues" — that's the roe (uni), arranged like a star.
Eat: slide the spoon along the shell to lift each piece of uni, rinse in seawater, eat plain or with a little soy/lemon. Honestly: purple urchins are small with little roe — you won't get much per urchin. It's about freshness and fun, not the big lobes you'd get from a restaurant red urchin.
⚠️ Safety (the #1 killer on this coast = sneaker waves): always keep one person watching the ocean, never turn your back; work only the falling/low tide and leave the moment it turns; the rock is very slick — wear grippy shoes; spines: purple-urchin spines are brittle and snap off in the skin — soak in hot water + tweezers, they usually work out over a few days. Abalone is closed statewide (don't take any); wild mussels are quarantined May–Oct — do not eat[2].
⚠️ Critical: sneaker waves are the #1 killer on this coast — one person always watches the ocean, never turn your back; leave when the tide turns; urchin spines: tweezers + warm water; abalone is CLOSED statewide — don't take any[2]; wild mussels are quarantined May–Oct — do not eat[15].
🟣 Cassie hand-picking urchins at Caspar Cove (net + bucket)🍣 Opening the urchins for uni at camp🌊 Glass Beach (Fort Bragg)🔷 Sea glass on the sand (look, don't take)🏕️ MacKerricher coast
🟣 Urchin, 40-gal limit🦀 Dungeness (open here till 7/30)🌙 MacKerricher ✅ BOOKED West Pinewood #85 (conf. 30848582)🚿 Token showers
Day 5 · Fri 7/17 · ~215 mi · Home
Fort Bragg → Hwy 128 redwood tunnel → Anderson Valley → home
⚡ Fort Bragg Supercharger (breakfast, to 100%) → Hwy 1 south → Hwy 128 east through Navarro redwoods & wine country → Cloverdale → US-101 south → Santa Clara
Time
Plan
Distance/notes
07:45
Optional last tidepool stroll (low ~08:30)
MacKerricher pools
09:00
⚡ Fort Bragg to 100%; breakfast at Eggheads or Headlands Coffeehouse
3 mi
10:30
Hwy 128: the 11-mile Navarro redwood tunnel
25 mi to the turn
12:00
Boonville lunch; Pennyroyal Farm cheese for a last picnic
14:00
101 south at Cloverdale — decision point: rescue the elephant seals? (optional add-on below)
Superchargers everywhere on 101
17:00–18:00
[No-detour version] Home with a cooler full of uni, crab, and stories
~215 mi total
🐘 Optional add-on: recover Monday's cut elephant seals (+3 h, +35 mi). Decide at Cloverdale ~2 PM Friday — if on time and not wrecked: exit for a 15-min Petaluma top-up (on the way) → Sir Francis Drake Blvd west → Cypress Tree Tunnel photo stop en route (15:10) → Drakes Beach elephant seals (15:40–16:30, year-round colony by the visitor center) → back to 101 → home ~7:30 PM. Still skip the lighthouse (+40 min more and often fogged in by afternoon). Too tired? Straight home — the seals are there year-round and worth their own day trip.
The Hwy 128 redwood tunnel homeHumpbacks feed off this coast all July
⚡ Fort Bragg → 100% · optional Petaluma
⚡ Charging Plan (Model Y LR AWD)
~310 mi rated, coastal driving at ~85% efficiency; Camp Mode uses ~8–12%/night (HVAC on). Rule: never bed down below 40%.
When
Charger
Details
Target
Mon AM
Home (Santa Clara)
Schedule to finish at departure
100%
Mon afternoon
Petaluma Supercharger (on the way north)
1 PM-departure version: arrive 14:20, lunch while charging to 100%, then elk + camp (~67 more mi today)
~100%
Tue morning
Petaluma Supercharger (after clams + showers)
09:45–10:55, 35-min top-up to ~95% — restores the margin Monday's reorder spent, keeps Wednesday's hilly leg comfortable
~95%
Wed eve
Fort Bragg Supercharger · 171 Boatyard Dr · 12 × 250 kW[12]
Arrive ~30–35%; charge during Noyo dinner
~90%
Fri AM
Fort Bragg Supercharger
Breakfast charge for the 215-mi run home
100%
Fri (opt.)
Petaluma / Novato
Only if arrival estimate <15%
+10 min
Leg-by-leg estimate
Leg
Miles
Battery used
Arriving at
Home → Point Reyes loop → Petaluma
~150
~55%
45% → charge to 95%
Petaluma (100%) → elk → Lawson's (night) → back to Petaluma Tue AM
~89
~33% + 1 night 10%
~57% at Petaluma Tue AM → top up to 95%
Petaluma (95%) → Marshall → Bodega → Salt Point (night) → all of Wed → Fort Bragg SC
~170
~63% + 1 night 10%
~20–25% at Fort Bragg — comfortable margin; backup: Little River Inn destination charger next to Van Damme (confirm on PlugShare) → charge to 90%
Fort Bragg local + 2 nights
~30
~10% + 20%
~55–60% Fri AM → full
Fort Bragg → home (128 + 101)
~215
~75–80%
~20% at home
No Superchargers on the coast itself between Petaluma and Fort Bragg. Destination-charger backups (check PlugShare): Little River Inn (next to Van Damme), Elk Cove Inn, Beachcomber Motel (Fort Bragg), inns in Gualala/Point Arena. Navigate to each Supercharger in the car so the battery preconditions.
🎣 Licenses & Regulations (read before you go)
Buy licenses BEFORE the trip — coastal signal is too weak. Buy online at CDFW[6] or at Walmart / Big 5 / bait shops. Everyone 16+ needs one for clams, urchin, and shore crabbing. Exception: no license needed to crab from a public pier. Screenshot + print.
Item
2026 price
Notes
1-day license
$21.09/person
Fine for a single foraging day
10-day nonresident license (✅ 1 bought)
~$65
Under 6 months residency = nonresident — right call. But licenses are per person: the unlicensed one of you cannot dig clams / pick urchin / run a snare (public-pier crabbing excepted). Add 2× 1-day ($42) or another 10-day for the second person
Crab trap validation
$2.98
Only for "trap"-type gear; snares & hoop nets exempt
Ocean Enhancement stamp
—
Not needed (only south of Point Arguello)
Species quick reference
Species
During your trip
Limit
Rules
Source
🟣 Purple urchin
Open
40 gal/person/day (Sonoma–Humboldt, diving); unlimited by hand in Caspar Cove zone (till 4/1/2029)
Before eating anything: call the CDPH shellfish line (800) 553-4133 for current biotoxin advisories in Marin/Sonoma/Mendocino; clean crab before cooking and skip the "butter" (viscera) — standard practice this season.
🌊 Tide Table (approx — verify on NOAA before you leave)
Date
Morning low (approx)
Height
Plan
Mon 7/13
~05:45
~−1.3 ft
On the road — skip
Tue 7/14
~06:26
~−1.5 ft (lowest of the week)
Clamming at Lawson's ✔
Wed 7/15
~07:10
~−1.4 ft
Optional Doran flats walk
Thu 7/16
~07:50
~−1.2 ft
Urchin at Van Damme/Caspar ✔
Fri 7/17
~08:30
~−0.9 ft
MacKerricher tidepool farewell ✔
Rule: arrive 60–90 min before the printed low, leave when it turns. Verify: NOAA Tides & Currents (Point Reyes station for Tomales Bay; Arena Cove for the north)[14].
📍 Why These Spots (+ distance from that night's camp)
Spot
Why it's good
From camp
Lawson's Landing flats
Huge sand flats at Tomales Bay's mouth — California's classic gaper clam grounds; camp is on-site and the store rents gear[7]
Protected harbor, dense rock crab; pier crabbing is license-free[6]
In-park / 3 mi
Van Damme / Caspar Cove
Urchin-barren epicenter — 40-gal limit + unlimited restoration zone because CDFW wants them removed; hand-pickable at minus tide[1][10]
0 min / 7 mi
Noyo Harbor
North of the county line, Dungeness open till 7/30[3]; jetty, skiff rentals, bait shops
5 mi from MacKerricher
🔴 Post-mortem (7/14): we caught zero clams today, and the reason was not buying a clam tube.
Gapers sit 2–3 feet down in wet sand. You dig one foot and the walls collapse back in, endlessly. Without a tube to hold the hole open, you will never reach the bottom. The clam tube isn't a nice-to-have — it is the thing that makes the activity possible at all.
Lesson: every gear list from now on gets a priority marker. 🔴 = without this the activity fails; 🟡 = markedly better experience; ⚪ = optional. Never talk yourself out of a 🔴 item.
Recovery: Lawson's store, Diekmann's in Bodega Bay, or any tackle shop sells one ($20–30). But today's big minus tide is gone — no low tide for the rest of the week comes close to this morning's.
Priority key: 🔴 Essential (skip it and the activity fails) · 🟡 Important (much better with it) · ⚪ Optional (nice to have)
🛒 What to Buy (Walmart / Big 5 / bait shop this weekend)
Cooking the catch
Item
~Price
Why
🔥 Butane camp stove (卡式炉) + 3 canisters
$25–35 + $10
The core item — boils crab and clams anywhere; add a windscreen
16-qt stockpot with lid
~$30
Fits two Dungeness at once
Long tongs + heat gloves
$15
Crab retrieval
Oyster knife + cut-proof glove
$12
Cheaper than buying at the Shack
Kitchen shears + metal spoon
$10
Open urchins, scoop the roe
Flavor kit: soy sauce, wasabi, lemon, garlic, butter, salt
$15
Uni sashimi, garlic clams, butter crab
Foraging / crabbing tools
Item
~Price
Why
🦀 2 crab snares + a sturdy surf rod (or 1 hoop net, no rod needed)
$12–15 each; hoop $25–35
Jetty/pier crabbing workhorse; bait = chicken necks or squid from any grocery
Crab gauge
$5–8
Legally required measuring: 5¾" Dungeness, 4" rock crab
🐚 Clam shovel (narrow-blade; a trenching spade from Home Depot works if you can't find one)
$25–35
Buy it — don't rely on renting: you hit the flats at 5:30 AM Tuesday before the store opens, so gear must be in hand Monday night, and rentals can run out. Gapers sit 2–3 ft deep — a shovel beats the suction-style clam gun; add a bottomless bucket as the hole sleeve (the local trick). Treat Lawson's store as top-up; call (707) 878-2443 en route for evening hours
The main tool for hand-catching rock crab while tidepooling: hook/pin them out of crevices and from under rocks
🦀 Long-handled dip net
$15–20
Scoop escapees; also lifts crabs off the hand-line at Doran pier
🦀 Extra-long BBQ tongs
$10
Grab crabs without meeting the claws — rock crab pincers are shell-crushers, never bare-hand them
🦀 Hand-line + bait cage (or just a chicken neck on a rope)
$8–12
The classic pier method: sink it, wait 5 min, lift slowly with the net ready — big rock crabs often ride it up refusing to let go
Big cooler + ice
have?
The ride home for your catch; restock ice at grocery stops
🦀 Catching big crabs WITHOUT diving (the 赶海 method): Rock crab — yes, you can: at a minus tide in the rocky intertidal, flip rocks (put them back), probe crevices and kelp piles; pin the crab with the hook, then grip the back of the shell from behind with a gloved hand (never reach from the front — those claws crush shells). Many tidepool ones are under the 4" minimum, so gauge and release. Dawn/night lows produce far more crabs than midday — your sunrise minus tides are ideal. Dungeness cannot be caught tidepooling (they live on subtidal sand) — for the big ones, Thursday's snare-casting off the Noyo jetty is the real shore method. Location check: no-take reserves like Gerstle Cove are off-limits; Van Damme, Caspar, and the Dillon Beach rocks are all fair game.
🎒 What to Bring
Sleeping in the car
Model Y mattress (your Yosemite setup) + a real blanket (45–55°F nights)
Window shades / privacy screens
Pillows, earplugs, eye masks
Camp Mode on; ≥40% battery at bedtime
Washing up
$10+ in quarters (shower currency)
Quick-dry towels, flip-flops, toiletries
Solar shower bag + privacy tent (no longer a backup — Salt Point Tuesday has no showers, must-bring)
Wearing
Layers: fleece + wind/rain shell (July north coast = fog + wind, 60–65°F days)
2× quick-dry pants (the flats will soak you), extra socks
Beanie (dawn tidepools are cold), sun hat, polarized sunglasses
Download offline Google Maps for the whole coast; set each day's destination in the car while in town
2 power banks, cables
Verizon holds up best out here; towns (Bodega Bay/Gualala/Mendocino/Fort Bragg) have LTE
Pre-download movies/music (camps have no signal)
Kitchen misc
2 × 5-gal drinking water, hand sanitizer, lots of paper towels
Trash bags (raccoons are pros — food in the car or site locker)
Zip bags, foil, cutting board, knife
2 camp chairs (sites have tables)
📖 Booking Status (checked evening of 7/11)
Night
Campground
Status
How to book
Mon 7/13
Lawson's Landing (Dillon Beach)
✅ BOOKED — site 602 Seawall Ocean View
Confirmation #1266651 · $80.04 paid · check-in after 1 PM / out 12 PM · showers & store right across · ask about the EV charger by the store · cancellation = full forfeiture (<5 days) — no plan changes
Tue 7/14
Salt Point SP (Doran/Westside/Bodega Dunes were all full Tue)
✅ BOOKED — Woodside Upper Loop site W96
Confirmation #30849447 · $43.25 paid · check-in 2 PM / out 12 PM · no showers (solar-bag rinse; real shower Wed at Van Damme) · fire ring + food locker · potable water spigots in campground · arrive quietly at night
Wed 7/15
Van Damme SP
✅ BOOKED — Upper Loop site #68
Confirmation #30846672 · $45 · check-in 2 PM / out 12 PM · campfire allowed · give the number at the kiosk
Thu 7/16
MacKerricher SP
✅ BOOKED — West Pinewood site #85
Confirmation #30848582 · $53.25 paid · check-in 2 PM / out 12 PM · buy shower tokens at the entrance kiosk · near the Laguna Point seal boardwalk
🎉 All four nights booked — $229.79 total. Remaining pre-trip list: ① buy fishing licenses online[6] and print them; ② call the crab/biotoxin line (800) 553-4133 before departure; ③ save all four confirmation PDFs locally on your phones (no signal on the coast); ④ shop the gear list — especially the solar shower bag (Salt Point Tuesday has no showers).
🚿 The Shower Solution (your Yosemite answer)
The trick is simple: every night is at a campground with coin/token hot showers — the main reason to book real sites instead of stealth parking (overnighting in Hwy 1 turnouts is illegal and patrolled).
Night
Camp
Shower
Mon
Lawson's Landing
Coin-op hot showers (restrooms at sites 400s–700s)[7]
Tue
Salt Point SP (booked, W96)
NO showers — solar bag on the roof all day, rinse at camp; real shower Wed at Van Damme (this is why the gear list includes the solar shower bag)
Token showers — buy tokens at the entrance kiosk on arrival[9]
Bring $10+ in quarters; at MacKerricher buy tokens at the gate.
Backup A: solar shower bag on the glass roof all day = warm rinse anywhere (+$25 privacy tent).
Backup B: Planet Fitness day pass in Petaluma/Santa Rosa on the way home.
Rinse foraging gear and hands at fish-cleaning stations/spigots, not in the shower stalls.
🚗 Car Sleeping + Internet
All four campgrounds allow sleeping in your vehicle at your site. Don't overnight in Hwy 1 turnouts or day-use lots.
Camp Mode: ~8–12%/night; July coastal nights are 45–55°F and foggy — bring the blanket anyway.
Raccoons are professionals: catch and food in the car cooler or site locker.
Frunk = wet-gear locker; keeps urchin gloves out of the bedroom.
Dead zones: Stinson→Point Reyes, Jenner→Gualala, much of Mendocino. Verizon is least-bad; towns have LTE. Set each day's nav + send a check-in message while in town each morning.
✅ All 4 nights booked — confirmation PDFs: Lawson's #1266651 / Salt Point #30849447 / Van Damme #30846672 / MacKerricher #30848582 — save locally to BOTH phones (no signal on the coast, don't count on email)
☐ Wash: solar shower bag (needed Tuesday), privacy tent, $10+ quarters, quick-dry towels, flip-flops
☐ Wear: 3 layers (quick-dry base + fleece + wind/rain shell), 2× quick-dry pants, beanie, sun hat, polarized glasses, plenty of spare socks — this week's forecast: 61–70°F days, 48–57°F nights, foggy windy dawns
☐ Safety: first-aid + tweezers, sunscreen, binoculars, paper map, 2 power banks, 2× 5-gal water, big cooler + ice, trash bags, paper towels
🏕️ Every Campsite: Arrival / Departure Routine
On arrival (each night)
☐ Give confirmation # + ID (self-check kiosk: slip on dashboard)
☐ MacKerricher: buy shower tokens at the gate first
☐ Verify site number; all wheels on the pavement
☐ Food & anything scented → locker or car (raccoons WILL visit)
☐ Refill water (find the potable spigot at Salt Point); check trash situation
☐ Stage tomorrow's gear by the door (dark-dawn grab-and-go)
☐ Battery ≥40% before Camp Mode; phones on the car charger
☐ Send location/check-in message while still in town signal
On departure (each morning)
☐ Out by 12:00 (you're always earlier)
☐ Fire dead out (water, stir, water again)
☐ Sweep the site: under the table, locker, drying towels, shower stall
☐ All trash to the camp dumpster; seafood-boil water down a drain, not on the ground
☐ Cooler: drain, re-ice the catch; wet gear into the frunk
☐ Set ALL of today's nav stops while you still have signal
☐ Glance at today's tide window and battery plan
📅 Calendar File
highway1-roadtrip-calendar.ics sits next to this file — 20 events with times, locations, and confirmation numbers. Apple Calendar: AirDrop to iPhone, tap, import. Google Calendar: calendar.google.com → Settings ⚙ → Import & export → upload the file. Import on both phones.
📍 Tesla Nav Address Table (for offline manual entry)
With no signal Tesla can't search POIs — only street addresses work. Ordered by day; favorite each day's stops every morning while in town. GPS coords are for the phone's offline Google Maps (paste into search).
Day 1 · Monday (1 PM-departure version — enter in this order)
Order
Stop
Address for the car
GPS (phone backup)
①
⚡ Petaluma Supercharger (20×150kW) — first stop, charge first
401 Kenilworth Dr, Petaluma, CA 94952
38.2436, -122.6350
②
Point Reyes Station supplies (Bovine Bakery)
11315 CA-1, Point Reyes Station, CA 94956
38.0697, -122.8065
③
🦌 Pierce Point Ranch (dusk elk trailhead)
End of Pierce Point Rd, Inverness, CA 94937 (enter "Pierce Point Rd", drive to the end)
38.1897, -122.9539
④
🌙 Lawson's Landing (site 602)
137 Marine View Dr, Dillon Beach, CA 94929
38.2254, -122.9568
(Drakes Beach elephant seals & Cypress Tunnel moved to Friday's optional add-on — addresses in the Day 5 table)
Day 2 · Tuesday (rewritten live 7/14 — use this order)
#
Stop
Address to type into the car
GPS (phone backup)
①
🦪 The Marshall Store (today's main event · closes 15:00)
19225 CA-1, Marshall, CA 94940
38.1516, -122.8881
① alt
🦪 Hog Island Hog Shack (to-go only; The Boat is closed Tuesdays)
20215 Shoreline Hwy, Marshall, CA 94940
38.1616, -122.8935
②
⚡ Petaluma Supercharger → ~95% (NOT optional)
401 Kenilworth Dr, Petaluma, CA 94952
38.2436, -122.6350
③
🪝 Diekmann's Bay Store (buy the hoop net — you need it Thursday for Dungeness)
1275 CA-1, Bodega Bay, CA 94923
38.3334, -123.0484
④
Spud Point Crab Co. (closes 17:00) / Fishetarian (open later)
1910 Westshore Rd / 599 CA-1, Bodega Bay, CA 94923
38.3300, -123.0569 / 38.3264, -123.0411
⑤
🐋 Bodega Head (walk + whales)
End of Westshore Rd, Bodega Bay, CA
38.3037, -123.0640
⑥
🌙 Salt Point, Woodside campground (W96)
25050 CA-1, Jenner, CA 95450 (Woodside entrance is east of the highway)
38.5731, -123.3204
❌ Removed: crabbing at Doran day-use (no gear) — replaced with Bodega Head + buying a hoop net.
Day 3 · Wednesday (7/15 · meeting-first version)
⚠️ This morning's order exists to protect the 10:30 meeting. Salt Point has no signal — favourite stops ②③ in the car TONIGHT (Tuesday) while you still have a connection. Right after the meeting, eat in Gualala + stock up at Surf Market (don't forget again).
🔌 Point Arena City Hall — charge + Stornetta south trailhead (L2 / J1772, charge while you walk)
451 School St, Point Arena, CA 95468
38.9093, -123.6922
⑤
Elk / Cuffey's Cove viewpoint (on the way)
Greenwood State Beach, 6100 CA-1, Elk, CA 95432
39.1288, -123.7176
⑥
🌙 Van Damme (site 68)
8125 CA-1, Little River, CA 95456
39.2735, -123.7899
—
⚡ Fort Bragg Supercharger / Noyo dinnernot tonight (already 90%, not hungry) — both move to Thursday
171 Boatyard Dr / 32410 N Harbor Dr, Fort Bragg
39.42, -123.80
❌ Removed: Fort Ross and the Sea Ranch Chapel (not your thing, and the meeting comes first). Bowling Ball Beach is also out — low tide is 06:41, so the concretions are submerged by the time the meeting ends.
Verification note: Supercharger (Petaluma 401 Kenilworth Dr; Fort Bragg 171 Boatyard Dr) and state-park addresses were cross-checked against Tesla/park/Yelp listings; small shops and viewpoints use public directory values — if a street number disagrees, trust the GPS coordinates. Favorite each day's stops in the car every morning while you still have signal.
📝 Field Notes · What Actually Happened
This page is the reality, not the plan — mistakes made, what to do differently, and what we didn't get to. The itinerary pages are what we imagined; this is what occurred.
Day 1 · Mon 7/13 · Tomales Point elk
✅ Verdict: absolutely worth it — but it deserves a return trip.
Item
What actually happened
❌ Never reached the end
We walked 1 h 40 min and still hadn't reached the tip of Tomales Point before we had to turn back (darkness + an early start next day). The trail is 4.7 mi one-way — this is not a "quick stroll" you tack onto a driving day.
🔁 Next time
Either find a way to drive closer to the start, or dedicate a whole day to hiking it properly. This trail earns its own trip.
✅ Wildlife (beat expectations)
Loads of elk, plus coyote, rabbits, and many birds. Beautiful throughout. Coming at dusk was the right call.
Day 2 · Tue 7/14 · Clamming at Lawson's Landing
🔴 The big mistake: we didn't buy a clam tube → we caught zero clams.
It seemed like something we wouldn't need. In fact it's the thing that makes the activity possible at all. Gapers sit 2–3 ft down and the sand walls collapse back in continuously; without a tube you simply cannot reach the bottom.
The spot was right and the tide was right (−1.48 ft) — it was purely the tool. We watched people next to us pulling out beautiful big clams.
Lesson now baked in: every gear item carries a priority (🔴/🟡/⚪). Never talk yourself out of a 🔴.
Discovery
Detail (use this directly next time)
🚤 Bring an inflatable boat next time
There's another foraging ground out in the bay (the big sandbar / Seal Island Bar) reachable only by boat — and it's the best clam bed. An inflatable dinghy unlocks it.
📶 Signal (Visible)
There IS a connection — slow, but usable. Not a dead zone.
🚿 Showers
Coin-op: 1 quarter = 30 seconds.Bring lots of quarters — budget 8–10 per shower.
⚡ Surprise: the campground HAS an EV charger
Lawson's really does have one (previously just an unconfirmed icon on their map). Factor it into the charging plan next time — this stretch of Hwy 1 otherwise has nothing.
🦀 Caught crab by hand
You can catch crab bare-handed on the exposed flats (legal). No net gear required — but the crab gauge is 🔴, you must measure on the spot.
🦪 Oysters, tested: Hog Island > Marshall Store (important correction)
✅ We ended up at Hog Island, and it was far better than the planned Marshall Store.
Price (Marshall Store is pricey): shucked oysters 6 for $25; unshucked (extra small) 6 for $12.
Hog Island is the better experience: you buy them and shuck your own at the little pavilion by the parking lot — they lend you an oyster knife and teach you how. They tasted great and we ate a lot here.
⚠️ Correcting what I told you earlier: I said "Hog Island's Boat Oyster Bar is closed Tuesdays, to-go only." In fact the Hog Shack retail + shuck-your-own at the pavilion works on a Tuesday (only the full-service Boat restaurant is Thu–Mon). Next time, just go straight to Hog Island's shuck-your-own.
🏕️ Day 2 night · Salt Point Woodside camp (new lessons)
Discovery
Detail / what to do next time
🦟 Mosquitoes and bugs
Woodside campground has mosquitoes/bugs — first time this trip, and we weren't ready. Bring next time: repellent (DEET / picaridin), mosquito coils or incense, long sleeves/pants, and a window mesh screen for sleeping in the car with windows cracked. Worst at dusk while lighting a fire / cooking.
🚻💡 Restroom-adjacent sites have light pollution
Close to the toilet = convenient, but the restroom light stays on all night and spills into the site — not ideal for stargazing. Trade-off: for stars, book a site away from the restroom; for convenience, book near it.
📶 Visible signal (better than expected)
At the site: 2 bars, sometimes 5G, more often LTE; full-bar 5G near the host site. Takeaway: Salt Point isn't a total dead zone, but pick your spot — walk toward the host if you actually need to upload or take a call. What "bars / 5G / LTE" mean: bars = signal strength (how strong, not directly how fast); 5G/LTE = which network generation you're on (LTE is 4G). Visible is a Verizon MVNO, and 5G here is likely low-band, so in practice it's about the same as LTE, sometimes slower. 2-bar LTE is fine for calls and messaging, choppy for video; full-bar 5G is what you want for uploading big files.
🍔 Forgot to buy food (lesson)
We bought no food on the way from Bodega Head to camp and only realised at the site that the whole day had been morning crab + a pile of oysters + one taco, with the nearest open store 40 min away. Next time: before leaving the last town, force a check — "did we buy tonight's + tomorrow's food and water?" (Now built into the Wednesday plan.)
☕ Day 3 · Sea Ranch Lodge (thumbs up · meeting + breakfast spot)
✅ A pleasant surprise.
Breakfast: the bagel & lox is good (quality smoked salmon); the sandwich wasn't good.
Scenery: good. You can walk out to the sea bluff for the view, and there's a spot to sit in the sun — great for decompressing between meeting bits.
Connectivity: free WiFi + good cell — full-bar 5G, occasional LTE — the meeting held up solidly (much better than expected).
🔌 Destination charger on site: charged the car from 50% to 90%. ChargePoint app showed more chargers up the coast (a cluster in Point Arena town).
📝 Takeaway: next time through Sea Ranch, this is a reliable one-stop for charge + WiFi + breakfast + ocean view.
Working over the water · bagel & lox breakfastThe deck — the spot to sit in the sun over the sea
🗼 Day 3 · Point Arena Lighthouse + Stornetta + Cuffey's
Place
What it was actually like
🗼 Point Arena Lighthouse
Nice, but closing soon (we got there late). The cliff walk is lovely. ⚠️ The trail has a poison-plant (poison oak) warning, but the sign is vague and hard to spot — wear long pants, don't touch the roadside brush.
🔌 Charging reality (correcting the earlier tip)
The Point Arena charger is a 2-min drive but a 20-min WALK from the lighthouse trail, so we didn't charge there. (The "charge while you walk Stornetta" tip only holds for the southern trail; we did the lighthouse end.)
🌊 Greenwood State Beach (happy accident)
We were aiming for Cuffey's Cove and wandered into Greenwood State Beach by mistake — luckily it has a few chargers, and we charged for an hour. Good scenery, short trail, not tiring. One downside: it smells down there — the sea grass is very fishy.
📉 Cuffey's Cove
Just OK — not as impressive as we'd expected. Average for Hwy 1; not worth a special detour.
🚿 Three-campground comparison: showers / outlets / signal (very useful)
Campground
Shower access
Price
Outlet (hair drying)
Signal / charging
Lawson's Landing (Mon)
Shower room needs a code from check-in
50¢ / 30 sec
✅ Outlet in the restroom (the one separate from the showers) — you can blow-dry there
Visible works (slow but usable); campground has an EV charger
Van Damme (Wed)
No code — coins / token
Token or 4 quarters = 5 min
✅ Outlet in the separate restroom (the toilet building) — can blow-dry
❌ No signal; WiFi near the kiosk, but the range is very short
MacKerricher (Thu · last night)
Showers are clean and modern
Token only: California state-park universal token, $1 each / 5 min
❌ No outlet — can't blow-dry
❌ No cell signal; charger at the entrance (unsure if free)
💡 Bottom line: dry your hair at Lawson's / Van Damme (outlets in the restroom); MacKerricher has no outlet and no signal but the cleanest showers. Carry lots of $1 coins/tokens — the California state-park shower token is universal across parks.
🔌 Charging app: PlugShare beats ChargePoint. We'd been using ChargePoint, but PlugShare has more info (more stations, user reviews, whether it's free / working). Use PlugShare first for finding chargers next time.
🔥 Day 3 night · impromptu BBQ (lesson)
Lesson: don't start a spontaneous BBQ the night before a foraging dawn.
Wednesday night we decided on the spot to BBQ — bought charcoal, chicken drumsticks, wings, and steak. We badly underestimated the time and were at it until 1 AM.
And it didn't come out well: the campground fire ring isn't designed for BBQ — hard to control heat or set a grill grate.
Net result: only 2–3 hours of sleep, because Day 4 meant an early start for the Caspar urchins.
Next time: either plan the BBQ properly (bring a stove / grill grate / foil / seasoning) or eat something simple and sleep early the night before a foraging day.
✅ But the urchins were a big win: on Day 4 we followed the method at Caspar Cove and got a lot of urchins (photos to come). Sleep well the night before and the forage goes much better.
🎒 Bring next time (packing list)
Item
Why
🔴 Aluminum foil
For BBQ (line the grate, wrap food, improvised tray)
🔴 Wet wipes
The restroom is sometimes far and the site has no running-water tap — wiping and cleaning hands depends on these
🔴 More clean plastic bags
Dirty clothes, trash, wet stuff
🔴 BBQ seasoning
Oil, salt, sauces, spices — easy to forget when you buy meat on a whim
🟡 Rear-AC air deflector (DIY)
Once the mattress is in, the Tesla rear vent is blocked and can only blow down — DIY a deflector so it blows up for a cooler sleep
🟡 In-car hanging pockets / organizer
For a toothbrush and small grab-and-go items (Tesla camping storage pockets)
🟡 Tesla screen protector
Protect the center touchscreen
🛒 Consider buying (future)
Item
Notes
🧊 12V car fridge
To store fresh food (meat, eggs). Alternative: the cooler we already have + ice bags — but we're not sure we can always find ice bags on the road, which is exactly the car fridge's advantage (no ice needed)
🔋 Portable power station
Our Model Y doesn't support power export (V2L), so you can't plug in a hair dryer etc. A portable power station lets you blow-dry / power devices anywhere, independent of campground outlets (MacKerricher had none). ⚠️ Hair dryers draw a lot (~1500W) — pick a model rated ≥1500W output.
🎯 Unfinished business
Didn't happen
Why
Fix
Digging a gaper clam
No clam tube
The best tide of the week (−1.48 ft) is gone. This one waits for next time.
Thursday Noyo Dungeness (with gear)
Ended up not going — sick of seafood (clams/oysters/our own crab several days running; by Thursday we just didn't want more)
So the hoop net never got used; next time spread the seafood out, don't eat it every meal
Finishing Tomales Point
Ran out of daylight
Come back for it on its own
🔧 For next time (improvements)
Change
Why / how
⏰ Pick dates with friendlier tides
Several of the good foraging low tides fell at 5–7 AM, so we were up in the dark at 5 every day — exhausting. Next time choose a window where the good minus tide lands at 7–9 AM — same big low, but no pre-dawn wakeups, and the foraging is far more relaxed. (Big minus tides come around new/full moon, but the time shifts daily — pick the day on NOAA before you go.)
🐋 No whales
We saw no whales at Bodega Head or the Mendocino headlands. Summer humpbacks do come close to shore, but it takes binoculars + luck + time. We didn't buy binoculars — too expensive; better to borrow or rent a pair (or use a phone zoom / monocular), and deliberately sit quietly at a headland for 20–30 min watching for spouts.
🦀🦪 Don't over-schedule seafood
Clams, oysters, crab several days in a row and we were sick of it by Thursday — didn't even want the Noyo Dungeness. Next time mix in non-seafood meals (BBQ, restaurants, lighter food) and treat foraging as the highlight, not every meal.
📚 Sources (numbers match the superscripts)
Cal. Code Regs. 14 CCR §29.06 — Purple sea urchin: 40-gal/day dive limit in Sonoma/Mendocino/Humboldt, no possession limit; unlimited hand-take in the Caspar Cove restoration zone (till 4/1/2029).
CDFW Marine Management News (2025–26 season): domoic-acid delays, statewide opening Mar 27 with trap restrictions in some zones (hoop nets/snares still legal — hence our snares).
Caspar Cove Project + Mendocino Voice coverage: community urchin-removal events (usually last weekend monthly), snorkel-friendly, tidepool hand-picking at minus tides, bring your own gloves/tools.
NPS Point Reyes — Tule elk + NPS — Elephant seals: Tomales Point reserve; Drakes Beach/Chimney Rock year-round colony, 25-ft rule. (Corrected 7/13: this entry previously said "Jul–Aug rut," and its link 404s. The current NPS page states the rut is Aug–Oct — see [17].)
Tesla — Fort Bragg Supercharger: 171 Boatyard Dr, 12 stalls, 250 kW. Petaluma/Novato and the 101 corridor are in the car's nav.
ReserveCalifornia: availability checked live — eve of 7/11: Van Damme Wed 5 sites, MacKerricher Thu 5 sites (Van Damme Fri full); 7/12: Sonoma Coast SP (Bodega Dunes/Wright's) Tue 0 sites, Salt Point SP Tue 8 sites. Numbers change constantly — book now.
Hog Island Oyster — Marshall: Hog Shack to-go oysters daily; Shuck-Your-Own Thursdays 11–4 walk-in at The Boat (you pass on Tuesday, hence the to-go + self-shuck plan).
[Live-checked 7/13 · Day-1 wildlife]NPS — Viewing Tule Elk: bugling and sparring occur August–October (so 7/13 is not the rut); elk are "often seen near the road," and the northernmost 1.4 mi of Pierce Point Rd is the from-the-car viewing stretch. NPS — Tomales Point Trail: trail is open, 4.7 mi one-way to the tip; Windy Gap (1 mi in) has a perennial spring and is the best elk spot; trailhead has only 20 dirt parking spaces (full by 10 AM weekends); no water or food west of Inverness; restrooms at McClures Beach lot (6:00–24:00). Bulls shed velvet in June–July. Supplies: Palace Market 8:00–20:00 daily; Bovine Bakery Mon–Fri 6:30–16:00 (a 16:05 arrival = closed). Sunset 20:35; new moon is 7/14, so no moonlight tonight.
[Live-checked 7/13 · Day-2 foraging]NOAA Tomales Bay entrance, station 9415469: 7/14 low tide 06:26 / −1.48 ft (the original estimate was right); below −1 ft from 05:13–07:41; back through 0 ft at 08:42. Sunrise 05:59, civil twilight 05:29. 14 CCR §29.20: legal clamming hours = half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset; possessing any clam-digging instrument on any beach between half an hour after sunset and half an hour before sunrise is itself illegal; each person needs a separate container; clams stay whole and measurable until cooked. Littlenecks/cockles/chiones may be taken in Marin County only 9/1–3/31.§29.25: gapers and Washingtons, 10 each, no minimum size, all dug must be retained. §29.85: Dungeness south of the Sonoma/Mendocino line runs first Saturday in November–June 30 (= CLOSED at Bodega on 7/14); Mendocino and north run to July 30, limit 10, 5¾"; rock crab year-round, 35, 4"; traps need a validation, snares/hoop nets do not. CDFW Health Advisories: the Marin County bivalve PSP advisory was lifted 5/21/2026 and Sonoma's on 6/11/2026 (only Del Norte still active); but Sonoma County's own page still shows the stale 4/9 advisory — still call (800) 553-4133 before eating. The statewide wild-mussel quarantine 5/1–10/31 remains in force. Rock crab viscera: CDPH advises against eating it north of the Mendocino/Sonoma line (Thursday's Noyo is inside that zone).
[Live-checked 7/14 · Tuesday oysters]The Marshall Store: Tuesday 11:00–15:00; Tue/Wed is their "Shuck Your Own Raws" day; barbecued oysters are the specialty. 19225 Hwy 1, Marshall, (415) 246-9306. Hog Island Marshall: the Hog Shack retail counter is open 9:00–17:00 daily, but The Boat Oyster Bar runs Thu–Mon only (closed Tuesday), and picnic tables need reservations. Tomales Bay Oyster Co.: Fri 12–17, Sat/Sun 9–17 only, and county law makes it a farm stand — no picnicking on site. Not an option on a Tuesday.
[Live-checked 7/14 · Wednesday connectivity]Trinks Cafe (39140 S Hwy 1, Gualala): free WiFi, Wed 8:00–15:00. Sea Ranch Lodge (60 Sea Walk Dr): free WiFi, cafe from 07:00 daily. Coast Community Library (225 Main St, Point Arena): free WiFi + public computers + quiet study booth, Tue–Fri 10:00–18:00. Surf Market (Gualala) 7:30–20:00 daily. Coverage: CoverageMap/FCC — Gualala averages ~27% coverage across the four carriers; Verizon is the best but still only ~46%, and the town ranks 1,077th in California. Visible is a Verizon MVNO, so its data is deprioritized.
Honesty note: tide times are computed approximations (±20 min), not day-checked NOAA values; site counts are a 7/11 snapshot; crab season can change mid-season for whales or toxins. Re-check [3][13][14][15] 24–48 h before departure.
