On Monday, Jeopardy!, this year on its 38th season, gave a nod to Mendocino County’s very own hamlet of Leggett, a village known for the Drive-Thru Tree and Standish-Hickey State Park.
On June 6, 2022, in Episode 191 of this season, contestants were provided the category “On the Coast.” Contestant Eric Ahasichad just correctly identified the sound of a hummingbird’s wings and chose the “On the Coast” for $600. The clue read “PCH for short, this road has its northern terminus near Leggett, California.” Ryan Long, who had won the previous sixteen episodes, quickly rang the buzzer and correctly answered the Pacific Coast Highway.
The Pacific Coast Highway has become a route inexorably linked to the quintessential California Road trip, riding the bluffs of Big Sur, the coastline of SoCal, the vistas of the Mendonoma Coast, stretching its northern reach into redwood Country.
Despite Ryan’s knowledge of Mendocino County’s tiny towns, he would go on to lose that day’s episode with Eric taking the cake and Ryan ending his sixteen-episode streak.
So, remember, your esoteric geographical knowledge of Mendocino County’s peaks and valleys, lakes and rivers, farms and cities and, of course, iconic Hwy 1, might one day help you be the next Jeopardy! champion.
