The Russians built Fort Ross more than 200 years ago, and I?m in the old cemetery looking at the reconstructed trading post. Photos by the author.
I’m sitting on a bench in an old graveyard, wooden crosses standing before me, the Pacific Ocean off to my left. In the near distance is the stockade surrounding Fort Ross, a reminder of the early 19th century Russian expansionism into California. This was a fortified trading post built in the early 1800s, and later sold to an American merchant in the late 1840s, to become a State Historic Landmark in 1903. Much of the fort has been rebuilt with historical accuracy. A calm-water cove below the fort allowed for ships to come in and load the furs that were the main source of profit for the company, as well as foodstuffs grown in the seaside fields. Jenner is a delightful village along State Route 1, where the Russian River flows into the Pacific Ocean.
I had just come north on State Route 1 from Jenner, at the mouth of the Russian River, the two-lane road warbling along the Jenner Cliffs hundreds of feet above the ocean. This particular stretch of coastal byway is probably my favorite, as relatively few tourists are on the road, the curves are delightful and the scenery beyond compare. A few miles up from Jenner, the Meyers Grade Road angles inland and upward, and the barrier on Route 1 is open. Just in case landslides close the coast road, Meyers Grade is the alternative. But no landslides today.
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