Well today was the assault on Tomales Point. Point Reyes basically is a triangle jutting out from the California coast north of San Francisco. Actually, to reveal my inner Star Trek geekishness, Point Reyes is shaped a little like the insignia for the starship Enterprise crew, you know, the bending over backwards triangle? Anyway, as you can see from this map, Tomales Point is the northernmost edge of the triangle, and today’s hike was from the historic Pierce Ranch north to the very end of the peninsula, which juts into Bodega Bay.
The day started off foggy, but around 9 it rolled back out to sea and for the rest of the day it was absolutely gorgeous weather. About 65-70, clear sun, with a constant breeze. This hotel (the Point Reyes Seashore Hotel) is pretty nice. Kind of a glorified motel actually, but they have nice furniture and settings, and the back courtyard is elegantly landscaped with lots of flowers (and looks down on a creek at the property’s edge). Breakfast was a carb fest reminiscent of the typical Argentine “hangover” breakfast-various forms of breads and fruits. No eggs! After racing back and forth to the Laundromat to clean enough clothes to make it the next three days, I headed out to Tomales Point, a 30 minute drive through the heart of the Peninsula. It started clear, but around midway a thick fog descended on the road, like it was Brigadoon and Cyd Charisse and 500 guys in kilts were about to surround me. Just as quickly, the fog lifted and it was clear again. That must be how Northern California rolls. I passed a number of dairy farms (Point Reyes is not only directly on the San Andreas Fault, it’s the epicenter of the Bay Area organic farming movement). Yeah, this romantic idea of dropping out of corporate/money culture and starting your own farm? Count me out. I can still smell these places about 48 hours later. Practicing law may be a prescription for an early heart attack, but at least it doesn’t smell bad at work. Usually.
The Tomales Point trailhead is located at the site of the historic Pierce Point Ranch, site of one of the largest dairy businesses in Marin County in the late 1800s and through the early 1900s. The Park Service has preserved the historic site, consisting of the main house, barn, creamery, tool building, chapel and a couple of other structures. It makes for an interesting 20 minute interpretative walk.
A sign at the trailhead warns about the endangered Tule Elk herds that live on the Point. It warns that these elk “need extended periods each day to graze, ruminate and rest,” so don’t harass them. Well no kidding. So do I. Do you think if I hung a sign outside my office door, or put in an automatic e-mail response saying "Chris Reeder needs extended periods to feed, think and rest," I’d get any reaction? I’m thinking not. I’ve tried everything else I can think of though, and nothing works.
The photos will do much more justice to the hike than this description. The first and last part of the hike (you go out and then come back) go through grassy hills without much tree or brush. All along the trail you have good Pacific views and I mentioned the near constant breeze. There’s a number of hills, but none terribly imposing until you pass the “Lower Pierce Ranch” site, which basically consists of a Monterey cypress grove. Shortly before that, however, I ran across two elk herds, the latter numbering about 40 to 50 elks, watering at stock tanks. They looked at me but otherwise ignored me and the few other hikers out on the trail this morning. Sure enough, they were mostly sitting around ruminating. I guess they were contemplating the meaning of life, or whether Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, or Judaism is the true religion…or maybe whether there’s any mountain lions ready to pounce. On the way back from the Point, I’d see two more herds larger than these first ones.
A short distance after the cypress trees, the Park Service doesn’t maintain the trail, so it becomes kind of helter skelter. And its mostly sand, so its hard to get good footing on uphill portions. Plus at this point, what appears to be some form of sage bush takes over the landscape, so you’re basically hiking on sand trails around sage bush until you reach the Point. The views are amazing the further you go. To the right, you can see Tomales Bay and the mainland. Ahead of you is Bodega Bay (as well as the town) and the entrance to Tomales Bay. To the left is the Pacific, and as you approach the point, some really interesting bluffs and ocean rocks below. I apparently interrupted a “sunbathing” European couple right at the Point itself. They were right there in the bushes and I almost stepped on them. These people were not that great to look at. Lets just say the frigid Latvian winters really don’t do much for the physique. The Point, however, was splendid. I took several photos and encourage you to look at those.
After having lunch right there at the land’s end, I turned around and hiked back from where I came, reaching the Pierce Farm at around 4:30 for a roughly five hour hike (9.7 miles or so roundtrip). When I got back, Kimberly and Taffy met me at the hotel. We got caught up briefly and then met Terry at the Olema Inn. This is a fantastic old hotel right across from my place, which has the best restaurant. We’ve eaten there a couple of times together on a past trip, but this time the Inn was under new management and has a new chef. We were interested to see what had changed. The dining room remains the same. On the other hand, the kitchen and service appear to be suffering kinks. They brought Kimberly a soup appetizer she didn’t order, and served me the wrong entrée. The food itself was still quite good and our waiter was friendly and well-informed. A pretty boisterous table of about six women (and a couple of men) were seated behind us, and as the night wore on (and the wine flowed), they broke out the marionettes. Yes, you read that right. The marionettes. It was the freaking “Lonely Goatherd” show right there behind us. Oh, and a couple of the women were dancing to the piped in music over the dining room speakers. Now, being from the People’s Republic of Austin, this is nothing. Unless people actually bring farm animals or start doing a rain dance, I hardly notice things like that any more. But I do have to admit, the puppets were a very creative touch. Props for originality in weirdness. Somewhere Frank Oz is thinking “God these people are annoying.” It was quite amusing watching Kimberly get more and more flustered by these people.
After dinner Kimberly and Terry returned home, while I walked across the street back to the hotel.
Next-a monster hike through the heart of the park.
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