Last weekend, Hubby and I packed up the 'ol Winnebago and took our brood out to A.W.Way Park, located in the beautiful town of Petrolia in the Mattole River Valley. I must tell you that I am in love with this area and truly believe it's one of the best places on Earth to visit. It's located about a little over an hour out of Ferndale (depending on which way you go and how familiar you are with the road) and about 20 minutes away from the gorgeous Lost Coast and Pacific ocean. The road is a little sphincter puckering in portions and you may have to occasionally share your lane of travel with a mad heifer or crazy sheep - but it's entirely worth it.

My family decided to take a break from constant swimming and s'more making, to take a hike out out to Punta Gorda. This gorgeous lighthouse was deactivated back in 1951, but still stands today as a reminder of it's hard work keeping sailors and boats safe off of Windy Point.

Punta Gorda was was originally nicknamed the "Alcatraz" of lighthouses, due to it's rustic location and difficult surroundings. I would have to say I totally I agree with this analogy because it's not at all easy to get to. You can access the lighthouse by following the Lost Coast Trail or by accessing BLM property and taking the "short" cut. You need a four wheel drive and the rough gravel road takes you over the tops of windy ridges and through some very beautiful, yet terrifyingly steep scenery. Can you tell I'm just a tad bit of an Acrophobiac? To access either way, you'll need to turn onto Lighthouse Road, just outside of Petrolia.

Here is the "short cut" down to the beach:

Taters kept stopping to admire the various plants and rocks strewn about the trail. I had to reminder her to keep moving so that I could keep my lunch down. Between the heights and bumpy road, my stomach was a tad bit unhappy.

As you can tell from the pics, it was very foggy that day, which is common for this location. The nice thing though, was that the wind was very minimal which is also a rarity for the Lost Coast. It made for a very comfortable hike.

Once you get to the beach, this is what you'll find:

People actually live in the above two cabins. From what I heard, they park at the top of the point and take the same trail we had traversed to access their home. I think I'd seriously consider a helicopter or some sort of Star Trek Transporter if I lived here. I couldn't handle that walk every day although you'd be guaranteed buns of steel after just a week or so.

Further along the beach, you'll find great tide pooling, seals, sea otters, and a plethora of cool rocks and shells. We made sure to keep our distance from the seals as many of them appeared to be angry or pregnant mommas, not too keen with us trekking through their home. We were super excited to see what appeared to be a baby sea otter scampering up the beach. It quickly hid itself under driftwood, and we kept walking to avoid ankle bites from momma.

Our buddies, Miss K and Miss M loved the tidepooling:

As you get farther down the beach, you'll want to hop up on the Lost Coast Trail so you can see this:

The lighthouse is in really good shape. The kids certainly loved exploring it and took turns climbing the ladder to the top in order to see the amazing views:

It's a tight fit at the top of the ladder and if you're not a size 5 or negative A cup, it's kind of a challenge to wedge yourself into the tiny opening. I'm not sure why I'm sharing this fact with you, other than Miss K and I had an interesting conversation with our hubbies about it. I know, TMI, Sandi, TMI.

After exploring the lighthouse and surrounding cement pads, we took a couple of family shots and made our way back:

Our buddies:

And us:

I didn't take any pics of us walking back because I was breathing so hard that I fogged up my lens and sunglasses. What was a rather quick jaunt down, was a long-ass walk back. I stopped numerous times to "check the children," even though they were way ahead of me. I gotta get my butt into better shape or seriously look into that Transporter.

What fun things are you doing this summer?