A New Look .....
Point Reyes National Seashore
November 3 - 5, 2013
How lucky are we? 74 degrees, zero wind and sunny skies in November. Point Reyes Seashore at its finest! We decided to try a new trail in to wildcat beach to explore some new territory, so we began our trek at the Palomarin Trailhead. 1/4 mile into the hike Stacie decided to test out the "stop, drop and roll" technique. She ended up with a twisted ankle and a whopper of a bruised elbow - but what a trooper, she insisted on moving on. The hike took us along some dramatic cliffs of the shoreline, skirting small canyons and into the Forrest, including a beautiful grove of very large eucalyptus trees. The sights were amazing. We past Bass and Pelican Lakes and poison oak was thriving along the trail. We also crossed a total of four adorable bridges. We decided to gather some old wood along the trail and ended up carrying several pieces for about a mile before we landed at camp site #5. Needless to say...we were wiped out. We set up camp, walked down to the beach, had dinner and began a "Rummy 500" card tournament. The second day we again explored a new hike and headed out up Stewart Road and onto Coast Trail toward Arch Rock. A great trail along the coastline cliffs. We climbed and climbed and didn't think we could get any higher. We encountered a bobcat standing on the trail, which stopped Coral in her tracks. Coral did a quick u-turn and headed back to find Stacie for protection. With Stacie's knife in hand, we made ourselves "big" with our poles and continued on while Coral sang Kumbaya to make ourselves known. We still hadn't arrived at Arch Rock and after descending down a mountain, we decided to turn around. With early dusk hours and no headlamps, we didn't want to get caught with darkness. We enjoyed a nice lunch on top of a cliff sitting on a few large rocks. A definite look out point. As we headed down Stewart Road we again picked up some old wood for our beach fire. We arrived back at camp, and experienced déjà vu as we were once again wiped out. We carried our wood to the beach and reserved our spot with our large pile of wood. Funny thing is everyone was gone. We enjoyed an amazing fire while watching the sunset and the "new moon" rise into the sky. Awesome. We ended the night with more Rummy 500 and the game status remains 2-2. A winner is yet to be announced! We enjoyed our last morning with warm air and clear sunny skies. We agreed the hike back out was much harder then the hike in. We thought the trail would never end. We encountered two more bobcats and Coral's singing continued. Arriving at the parking lot was a joyous occasion. We hit a tavern and enjoyed burgers and fries before heading home. Total tough miles = 17.
Would do it again! :)
Would do it again! :)