We found this beautiful and secluded spot along the Mendocino coast completely by accident. There are almost too many parks and trailheads to choose from as you travel north of Albion on Highway 1 — Jug Handle State Natural Reserve, Point Cabrillo Lighthouse Museum, Russian Gulch State Park, and Mendocino Headlands State Park, to name just a few. With only a little time to explore, we decided to check out Point Frank, located between the Headlands and Point Cabrillo. We hiked north from a deserted parking lot along a narrow, overgrown trail that was very muddy from a rainstorm the night before — so muddy that we soon gave up and turned back. It was only much later that I realized we should have hiked south to find Point Frank. But as we sat and ate our lunch gazing at this view, it really didn’t matter.