Day 4 - Whack-a-mole

Day 4, January 31, 2010

Last day of January already...time does fly. The weatherman predicted a beautiful day today so of course we woke up to fog and overcast skies. It was pretty chilly as well. So, we had a slow start to the morning.

We decided to drive out to a place called Limantour Beach. The 8 mile drive was foggy, but eventually the fog cleared and boom there wasn't a cloud in the sky as we arrived at the beach. When we turned around, we found that the fog was really just covering the rolling hills that we had just come from. The beach didn't hold our attention for very long, so we drove out and back to the Bear Valley Visitor Center.

Today was the day of the Fungus Show and out back were several tables covered with live mushroom exhibits. It was really very interesting and probably around 100 mushrooms were on display, growing, and complete with names and edibility.

From the center we started out on the Bear Valley Trail to Arch Rock. We were told it was one of the most popular trails in the park and we could tell. Most of the hike was very well maintained...enough that the Ranger's Explorer could get through. Only the very tail end narrowed down to what I would consider a wide footpath. The hike was all pretty flat and along the valley 4 miles out to the coast. On the coast, the trail ended on top of a high cliff's edge that apparently was Arch Rock. Only when hiking down underneath the cliff did we find the namesake for this rock. There is an archway down below that is apparently hikeable in low tide. The waves were crashing while we were there, so we just took a look and a picture. The day had turned into a beautiful one for most of the hike out and at the coastline we could see into the ocean pretty far. We could even see around to where we were a couple days ago at the Elephant Seal Overlook. Here is a photo of part of the view:



There was a short side trail that we went up to get more views and we found probably the highlight of our hike. We were surrounded by little rodent holes and the rodents would pop up and back down much like whack-a-mole! It was a blast to watch and one of the funniest things I've seen on a hike. They were very much like gerbils in color and size, but with teeth like beavers. In any case they were not very frightened of us and I got some good close photos. I also managed to take a couple videos.



Since we didn't have anything else planned for the day, we decided to take a different route back which ended up being a few miles longer. The Sky Trail climbed one of the rolling coastal hills and went deep into the dougles fir forest. It was a great hike and definitely less crowded. The fog was rolling in again, so it was overcast and chilly, but that was a good thing because we managed to work up a sweat anyway. =) We would have called this the squishy trail instead of sky trail because of all the mud. The squishy mud just made it all that much more interesting of a hike.

Sunset was at 5:30 and in the forest, the light was fading fast even at 5. We did managed to finish before it was pitch black, but maybe next time we should start a bit earlier. It was fun, though, and as always an adventure to hike out in the dark. Especially with the squishy mud! We hiked a total of 11.5 miles today. After all that hiking, we went to Point Reyes Station and had onion rings and burgers. Mmmm, high calorie and tasty.

I think we'll skip any long hikes tomorrow and instead perhaps go into San Francisco a bit early. High on my list of things to do in SF is getting a bread bowl with clam chowder. We leave on Tuesday. Point Reyes is definitely a great vacation spot and I would recommend it to anyone.

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Thanks!

Day 3 - Tule Elk

Day 3, January 30, 2010

Today was supposed to be rainy. We figured that we'd have to find something to do inside, or maybe a nice drive for the rainy day. Instead, we woke up to an absolutely gorgeous day! There was some low lying fog over the water outside our room which made for some beautiful views. I took this photo from our room:



We decided to drive to the north tip of Point Reyes called the Tomales Point and hike there. I've heard good things about this hike. First off, this is the only area in North America that the Tule Elk live. They are actually fenced into this area mostly to keep the separated from the cattle on the farms to the south. They are fenced in by the Pacific Ocean on the north, west, and east, and then a 3-mile long, 10-foot tall fence to the south. They thrive here as there are no predators.

So, off we went to Tomales Point. The hike was a little over 6 miles roundtrip, so we packed in our lunch. The hike stayed high on the cliffs. we could see the Pacific Ocean down below hammering what small shoreline there was. We could also see across the bay. It was a beautiful hike. We encountered many herds of elk. One herd was particularly close to the trail and they didn't mind if we stopped to watch. We also found a herd of elk that were all male. Some of the racks on these guys were magnificent. We had marvelous views, sun the whole way, and plenty of elk to keep us satisfied. Here's a photo of the view:



On the way out, we only encountered maybe 6 other people, however, on our way back in, we encountered too many to count. I guess the weekend and the beautiful day drew all the people out. There were a few large groups and we didn't see as many elk on the way back to the car.

Back at the trail head, the remains of a dairy farm from the 1800s stood waiting to be explored. The NPS has labeled all the various buildings with information and we spent some time learning about dairy production at the turn of the century.

After a rest and a snack, we took the 0.4 mile hike down to the beach and sat for a long while watching the waves crash on the shore. We were highly amused by some people who ventured out a little far and had to quickly run back in or else get soaked by the incoming waves.

Finally, we ended up coming back to the hotel early in the day so we could spend the evening relaxing and eating some leftover pizza from the night before.

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Day 2 - deer and elephant seals

Day 2 - January 29, 2010

We woke up this morning to a gentle sunrise through our skylight. Did I mention that we really like this hotel? =) We came to the lobby to heat up the bagels we bought the night before for breakfast and ate at the provided table.

Then, we headed off to the Bear Valley Visitors Center here in Point Reyes National Seashore where we plan to spend the next few days. The rangers there provided us with all kinds of good information on hikes to pursue starting with a short Earthquake Trail just out the back door. The 0.6 mile loop had information on how earthquakes work and especially about the San Andres fault like that we were standing on. We were able to see the effects of the 1906 San Francisco area earthquake. Mostly, though, we were able to spot half a dozen black-tailed deer that were grazing in the area. They managed to follow us along the trail and we were happy to have them as companions. At one point even, a bunny bounded across the path followed by a doe and I thought I was looking at a scene from Bambi or something!

The day was overcast, but there was still visability, so we drove off to the point of Point Reyes to learn about the historic lighthouse. This point happens to be one of the windiest (and foggiest) points on the west coast, and we quickly found out just how windy it could be! Because of all the usual fog, this lighthouse is very important.

We also passed by a field of AT&T communication poles. These poles actually read signals from ships on the whole Pacific Ocean. It is only one of 3 nautical communication stations in the US, and the only one on the west coast.

At the lighthouse we tried to spot the migrating gray whale, but we didn't see any. We did see the clouds coming in and the rain in the distance. We had enough time to go down and up the 300 steps to the actual lighthouse and then back to the car before the rain hit us. We drove to another outlook in the area and decided to wait out the rain and eat our lunch in the car. There were several other people in their cars waiting out the rain.

Finally, we gave up and decided to drive to another area of the park. We did still see lots of deer even in the rain. Also, apparently this road is full of dairy farms, so there were lots of cattle and cattle guards. The Smart car is fun to drive, but the cattle guards were incredibly bumpy! The cattle on the side of the road looked like they could knock us over as well. Luckily, we didn't have to worry about them moving too fast. =)

After a while the rain stopped and we took a short stroll on a beach. At 49 degrees and gusty winds, it was very chilly. No swimming for us! Good thing, too, because this is not the beach for swimming. We were told to stay out of the water because the riptides would pull us right out to see. The waves were magnificent to watch!

We drove back to the Elephant Seal Outlook now that the rain had stopped and walked a short distance out to see the 400+ elephant seals laying on a beach below. They were loud, too. Some were screaming, others were bellowing, and there was lots of noise to hear. We could even hear it over the wind that was threatening to blow us over!

Finally, as the light was fading and the rain coming back, we turned and headed back. The "big" town in the area is Point Reyes Station and it has about 4 streets and 5 restaurants. So, we should be able to eat at a different place every night. We had a delicious dinner at a wood-fired oven pizza place and now we are back at the hotel. It's amazingly dark outside, so it feels so much later than it actually is. It's only 8pm! But, I don't imagine that we will stay up too late tonight. Maybe we'll wath some tv or play some pool.

I'm not sure what we'll be doing tomorrow since it is supposed to rain. I guess we'll just have to make some spontaneous decisions! We are having a great time.

Arrived in San Francisco

Day 1 - January 28, 2010

We started our short weekend trip to the San Francisco area today. This trip will be almost completely spontateous. All we arrived with today was hotel reservations, a car reservation, and of course the flights. From here we will play it by ear and do whatever sounds good at the time. This is a welcome change from our usual vacations. =)

We arrived in Oakland from Houston with no problems. Then, we hopped right on the BART train that took us from the airport to San Francisco. We rented our Smart car in Union Square. The walk to Avis was only 7 blocks. For our short weekend trip, we packed in only a backpack each, so it was an easy walk. On the way we stopped at a Jewish deli for a yummy lunch.

Once we had our Smart car, we drove off to Muir Woods and had enough time for about 2 hours of hiking. Then, we took highway 1 to the north until we arrived at Motel Inverness. On the way we watched a beautiful sunset off the coast. I nearly stopped for photos. We were tired from the time change, though, so we kept going.

We were very pleasantly surprised to find that we had gotten a free upgrade. Also, this little "motel" is nothing like a motel. There are only 7 rooms and there is a big lodge/lobby at one end that serves as our living room. Here we have access to a pool table, a big tv, computer with wireless internet, and a little mini-kitchen. The room also is nice with a large private balcony that overlooks a lake. In the lobby we found lots of good books of information, maps, and even binoculars for use while here. We didn't stay up too late before heading to bed.