Point Reyes National Seashore

We drove from the northern redwood country nearly all the way to San Francisco, stopping at Pt. Reyes for a few days, joined by Jeff and his girlfriend Katie.  We walked on the beach, went out kayaking on Tomales Bay, ate oysters from the Hog Island Oyster Company and generally hung out in this beautiful coastal area only an hour from SF, but feeling like a different world.  Lynnae dared to take her cell phone in the kayak, so I'll post some of her shots from that trip.  Other than the big weekend crowds visiting from the city, this whole are looks much like it did 50 years ago and has a bit of a Cape Cod feel to it.

Moving South!

Having poked to within about 20 miles of Oregon, we have now firmly turned south for the winter. Though it is still warm and nice up here now, we know that will change and head with our noses pointed toward San Diego, about 800 miles away.

We are staying for a few days at Richardson Grove State Park, where we can camp right within this little old-growth redwood forest.  We hiked (more like wandered) through the trees for a while this afternoon and look forward to nachos in the trailer for dinner.  Tomorrow we have a pretty long driving day to Olema, near Pt. Reyes National Seashore, which is only an hour north of San Francisco.  We'll see Jeff and Katie and spend some time in the wine country before heading to the southern half of the California coast.

Sometimes you see some funny (not intentionally) signs in the parks

One Year!

October 6, 2013 we left Plymouth for our life on the road.   It has been a hell of a year--everything we hoped it would be and no day anything like we imagined.  What did we do?

Miles traveled in the truck: 17,458

Campgrounds (or campground substitutes): 58

National Parks visited: 8 (Carlsbad Caverns, Yosemite, Kings Canyon, Sequoia, Death Valley, Joshua Tree, Redwood, Lassen, Cape Breton Highlands (Canada))

Miles of trail walked:  A couple hundred

Good times, meals together, laughs and moments of gratitude that we really get to do this:  Countless

Tidepools and Seals

We headed over to Palmer Point, where there were supposed to be some great tidepools, at 2 in the afternoon--low tide.  Like all the coastline around here, it is a bit of a hike down to the beach, or in this case, the rocky ledge where the tidepools are.  We were a bit late for low tide, as it turned out, but the tidepools were disappointing.  We had seen tidepools with more life and beauty in Laguna Beach, on the coast of overpopulated Southern California.  I had some fun shooting a hermit crab and a dead octopus washed up on the beach, then Lynnae spied some harbor seals hanging on the rocks offshore--or should I say posing!

This dead octopus was about 3 feet long.  I found the suckers to be fascinating.

Hermit crabs are common, but I liked this guy's blue socks

Doesn't this guy look like he is smiling!

Walking around Patrick's Point

This is such a scenic park, and very compact so walking just short distances brings you to scenic vista after scenic vista.  They are having a heat wave (in the 90's in San Francisco), so up here it is an unseasonable 75-80 degrees and beautifully sunny.

View of Agate Beach from our campground

From the beach north of Wedding Rock

From the viewpoint on Wedding Rock

Sumeg Yurok Village

The Yurok tribes lived in villages all up and down the coast between Crescent City and Eureka.  The site of one of these villages is in Patrick's Point SP.  In 1990, local Yuroks built a replica village using traditional construction methods and materials.  They use it for cultural events and ceremonies and it is open to the public at other times.  I thought an old-fashioned sepia style of image was in keeping with the spirit of this place.

Trinidad....in California?

We collectively lived in California for 100 years and neither of us had heard of Trinidad.  We were about to.

After spending 8 days at the Klamath River mouth and exploring the coast and redwood forests around there, we headed just 20 miles south to Patrick's Point State Park near the little (pop. 367) town of Trinidad.  Trinidad was "discovered" and claimed by the Spanish in 1775 and became a settled town in 1850.  It was an important lumber and mining shipping center because of its harbor and the vast forests nearby.  Today it is a gateway city for the California Coastal National Monument and has 10 public beaches nearby.  And it has knockout coastal scenery.  We'll be exploring the area for a few more days, but here is a look at some highlights from our first 24 hours.

The view of Agate Beach from Patrick's Point we can see a bit of this beach from our campsite.

Trinidad has a few little lighthouses and one is right on Main Street near the path down to the beach.

This picture was actually taken from the end of Main Street Trinidad.

Moonstone State Beach, just south of Trinidad

We also drove down to check out Arcata, about 15 miles away, home of Humboldt State University and pretty much the marijuana capital of the world.  They also have a very interesting marsh which was "constructed" on the site of a former landfill and lumber mills but today acts as their water treatment plant and creates habitat for hundreds of species of migrating birds.

Tonight we go back to Arcata to see a band called Leftover Salmon, who play a kind of music they call "smash grass" which sounds like what you get when you mix heavy metal and bluegrass music.  Should be fun!