Another year gone by already, I set out for my ninth "last light" photograph at Cape Mendocino, where the sun sets last on the continental 48 states.  The yearly pilgrimage is full of photo ops. I always feel God's touch on some of the most scenic landscapes to be found anywhere, and never seem to start early enough to fully capture all the light and surprises along the road.

Cape Mendocino - the "elbow" of California

This year I took the southern route to the cape, driving about 40 miles from Eureka, California on US101 to the Honeydew exit. Heading west, the road to Honeydew and Petrolia begins with a tour through the tall Redwoods of Rockefeller forest.

Just off of Highway 101, the South Fork of the Eel River has begun to fill with winter rains, giving kayakers a good ride.

From a distance, Redwood forests soften the mountains of the North Coast.

The Mattole River near Honeydew winds west toward the setting sun. As usual, I could have used more time along the way for photographs, and needed to hurry before that sun set over Cape Mendocino, still about 20 miles away. On back roads like this, however, "hurrying" in my 1988 Toyota Supra just adds to the adventure! My vantage point is at the southern-most part of the 100 mile loop to the cape, which bicyclers race every year in the "Tour of the Unknown Coast". Their map shows the clockwise route I took, outlined in red.

The Mattole River is framed by the King Range, with rolling foothills a couple miles inland that make farms into lonely outposts along the Pacific.

From seven miles south of Cape Mendocino, I watched the last rays of the year 2008 kiss the most western coast in California. At the edge of the distant cape, the western shore of Sugar Loaf Rock is at 40° 26.302'N and 124° 24.914'W. At low tide this small island is connected to the mainland , and at its latitude and longitude sees the sunset about five minutes later than anywhere else along the west coast of the lower 48 states. Photographs Copyright Gary Todoroff.