Date: April 7, 2012
Location: Point Reyes National Seashore, CA
Difficulty: Easy (just a pleasant stroll, except for a slightly strenuous but brief ascent back up on the Lighthouse stairs)
Rating: A+
Description: At the end of a business trip to the Bay Area, some colleagues and I made a day trip to Point Reyes on a sunny spring Saturday. It was a beautiful day and a cool breeze complemented a mellow sun. Point Reyes is in Marin County, about 30 miles north of SF. It is a fairly large area comprising not just a significant stretch of very interesting shoreline but large stretches of rolling meadows (with alphabetically named ranches engaged in dairy farming) and also several hills. It is an excellent place for both whale and elk sighting. Another highlight are the abundant wind-blown cypress trees whose statuesque profiles make for excellent photographic subjects.
After picking up some maps at the Bear Valley Visitor Center, we headed to the Patrick Visitor Center where we purchased tickets for the shuttle to the Lighthouse and the Chimney Rock Trail and boarded the shuttle. Our first stop was the lighthouse. A few aspects of this segment were vaguely reminiscent of my short hike at Lime Kiln Point State Park last year (though of course, the shorelines are for the most part quite different...the latter is being more a close cousin of that in Maine).
Getting to the lighthouse from the shuttle stop requires a pleasant 5 minute walk with wildflowers, sycamores, and great views of the surf breaking against a sandy strip of beach.
After picking up some maps at the Bear Valley Visitor Center, we headed to the Patrick Visitor Center where we purchased tickets for the shuttle to the Lighthouse and the Chimney Rock Trail and boarded the shuttle. Our first stop was the lighthouse. A few aspects of this segment were vaguely reminiscent of my short hike at Lime Kiln Point State Park last year (though of course, the shorelines are for the most part quite different...the latter is being more a close cousin of that in Maine).
Getting to the lighthouse from the shuttle stop requires a pleasant 5 minute walk with wildflowers, sycamores, and great views of the surf breaking against a sandy strip of beach.
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| Many colors mingle in this view from the walk to the Lighthouse |
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| Handiwork of the wind: bent cypresses seen while walking to the lighthouse |
This is followed by a scenic descent down a flight of stairs with ocean views, and the possibility of whale-sightings (we saw more than one).
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| The lighthouse |
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| A whale just below the water surface (zooming in is suggested since this was taken with a wide-angle lens) |
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| The Lighthouse stairs |
Next stop was the Chimney Rock trailhead. This is a short 1.6 mile hike. The trail is mostly level with a very mild grade at a few places, and follows what is basically a ridge with Drakes Bay on one side and the Pacific on the other. The ground here has soft top soil and so it is very easy on the feet. Without detracting from the natural beauty, one must say that it would hardly qualify as a "real" hike by East Coast rugged trail standards! The views of the headlands against the backdrop of the ocean are incredible and at places there are isolated strips of beach with only lazy seals rolling around. It must be noted that the best views are to be had from the numerous side-trails that are marked as potentially dangerous out of what seems an abundance of caution (for the most part they are safe provided it is not very windy and one takes reasonable precaution to maintain safe distance from the edges...of course, these should be avoided by folks with kids, or those not sure-footed).
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| The seals have a private beach! |
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| Soaring over the emerald-green waters must be fun... |
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| Interesting rock formation |
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| Beautiful view of the headlands. |
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| Another beautiful view: both the Pacific Ocean and Drakes Bay can be seen |
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| A burrowing gopher peeps out! |
After Chimney Rock, we took the shuttle back and then drove down to the Tomales Point trailhead. By the time we got there it was around 5:30 p.m. Allowing ourselves 1.5 hours for the roundtrip, we headed out. Structurally, the area (and the trail conditions) are similar to Chimney Rock. The trail borders the Tule Elk Reserve and elk were grazing all over, though we were disappointed to not see any with horns (we did spot one lone elk with tiny horns on our way back much later). After a while, the trail ascends a bit and goes along a ridgeline with the Pacific on one side and Tomales Bay on the other.
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| Oceanside shoreline along Tomales Point Trail |
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| View from Tomales Point Trail |
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| Grazing elk |
By this time, the sun had started its descent towards the horizon, but we were not lucky enough to catch much sky color by the time we finished our hike and headed out of Point Reyes.
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| Sunset is approaching! |
Some of us had a red eye to catch and after stopping for a quick dinner at Sausalito, we headed towards SFO after what had indeed been a wonderful day!
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