Monday was a beautiful day, as we left Moss Beach and headed north. Pt. Reyes is not very far from San Francisco - north on Hwy 101 to Sir Francis Drake Blvd., then head to the coast. The weather in the Olema area was very nice. We got checked in, then headed off to the Pt. Reyes National Seashore visitor center for maps. We learned there, that due to heavy winds, the light house was closed. We decided to drive over there anyway, as there was a large group of elephant seals that had hauled out on Drakes Beach.
Before going to the point, we drove up to the Tomales Bay State Park, and had lunch at Heart's Desire beach. A lovely little beach on Tomales bay. Again, the weather was beautiful, so it was hard for us to imagine that the lighthouse was closed. Of course, there was a mountain between us and it, so we started west. Sure enough, the wind picked up! Our first stop was to see the elephant seals. We nearly blew away when we got out of the car! We walked against the wind to the overlook and got some pictures, then blew back to the car. We wanted to do the hike to Chimney rock, but decided it was much too windy.
From there we went to the lighthouse. By the time we got there, the wind was terrific, and heavy wet fog was blowing in. We parked and started the 0.4 mile hike to the lighthouse. We could barely see, and talked about giving it up and going back to the car, but we were so close we decided to press on. When we got to the lighthouse, we were able to see it, as the fog got much lighter, and, while we were there, it cleared up completely! Amazing! We talked to the ranger at the visitor center, and her little wind thingy was recording gusts at 50 mph. We didn't have the camera, as the weather was so bad when we left the car that we knew we wouldn't need it - wrong!
Pt. Reyes is on a huge point, with a large ocean-side expanse of beach, as well as a bay side, Drakes Bay. http://www.nps.gov/pore/index.htm
It's 21 miles from the Bear Valley Visitor center to the lighthouse, and the road winds through many historic dairy farms. Some of them were founded in the late 1800's. Between Pt. Reyes and the Sonoma coast north, I think that we saw most of the happy cows in California!
Wildlife was amazing. We loved watching the hawks sail on the abundant wind. There were lots of deer roaming around - either it's not hunting season, or there's no hunting allowed on the National park grounds. We saw a coyote and quail. Really cool!
On Tuesday we went back out to the lighthouse, with the camera this time! You'll see! We also did the Chimney rock hike and saw some amazing views. Between the two of us, we again took about 1.2 million pictures.
OnTuesday we also visited Drakes Bay, on the leeward side, and theoretically not as windy - sure! I've decided that Pt. Reyes is the windiest place on the planet! Our picnic on Tuesday was back at Bear Valley visitor center. They have great facilities there. We also did the earthquake trail walk there. Very informative!
Next to our hotel was a great restaurant, where we had dinner both nights. Our room included breakfast each morning, and cookies/coffee/tea in the afternoons. We missed the cookies/coffee/tea both days but enjoyed the breakfast. The room had wi-fi, but no television. However, they had a gathering room with a TV, so we got to see both nights of Dancing with the Stars! : )
It was great to spend time at Pt Reyes National Seashore. We highly recommend it. We'd love to visit again on the one day a year when it's not blowing a bloody gale, and walk on the beach without being sand-blasted!
Hearts Desire beach at Tomales Bay State Park.
Ok, this says it all about the wind at Pt. Reyes.
The elephant seals hauled out at Drakes Bay. There's a group of about 200 that have claimed this beach.
Lee at the elephant seal over-look!
And me
Pt. Reyes National Seashore - long, beautiful beach with layers of waves coming in.
Lee
Pat. Yes, we were on an arctic expedition!
If you expand this picture, you will see the 4 deer on the cliffside, with the ocean below.
Blowing grasses on the hillside. You can see that there is a prevailing wind - the tree branch is resting on the hill.
Pt. Reyes National Seashore plaque.
Information on the lighthouse - expand to read.
And there it is! And the 308 steps down and back up! Note the wire cages to the right - that's where you step in to catch your breath on the way back up so that you don't impede the progress of others.
In the early days, water, or lack thereof, was an issue at the lighthouse. So, they built a cistern to collect rain water. Expand the picture to read.
And here it is. Apparently it wasn't very efficient!
Skull of a grey whale.
Plants are amazing - this one is clinging tenatiously to the rocks.
This picture was on our hike out to Chimney Rock. You can see the ocean on the left and Drakes Bay on the right. It was beautiful and clear and sunny and bloody windy!
More beautiful scenery and a seculed beach.
This is on Drakes Bay. The building in the foreground is the old lifeboat station. Like the one at Pt. Bonita, the boats are slid into the water on runners. We also saw the Lifeboat cemetary. Not sure if it was for the people who manned the life boats, or for people who were recovered from the sea.
The top of the world! Note the wind is blowing the strap on my back pack straight out! We were thankful that we didn't have small children with us - they would have blown away!
Arch Rock.
The end of the world! There was a bench to sit on and gaze at all the beauty. The wooden fence was blowing in the wind! The only way it could have gotten any better would have been to spot whales!
On the bench... Life is good!
The Pt. Reyes National Seashore with multi-colored ice plant in the foreground.
The wind blowing the waves at Drakes Bay.
Lee couldn't resist taking a picture of this cow and her "earrings"! She's right in fashion with "two" earrings in each ear. She said mooooooo.
This coyote was on the road, stopping traffic. I'm sure that it wasn't just a photo op - he/she doesn't look very happy. Hopefully he/she's not sick....
The quail at Bear Valley Visitor Center. They were in a median, and every time a car would come by, they would all disappear under the bushes at the top of the picture.
1 comment:
One of our church members are raising quail on their farm, and they're much smaller than these!
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