I spent Friday night in Petaluma, which has a beautiful downtown with many old buildings — Petaluma was one of the few northern California cities unscathed by the 1906 Earthquake. A highlight is the 1904 Free Public Library (pictured below). One of the prettiest of the 2,500-or-so Carnegie Libraries, it was designed by noted local architect Brainerd Jones (who also designed the old Petaluma Opera House). Two other pretty buildings in Petaluma are the Freemasons Lodge #180 and the Mystic Theater. In the morning I went for a short hike in Roy's Redwoods Preserve. It was very pleasant, not least because for the first 90% of my hike I didn't see anyone else on the trail.
From there it was off to Point Reyes. In the afternoon I went on a ~5-mile hike on the Fire Lane and Coast Trails. The trail had more people than Roy's Redwoods had had, but it wasn't crowded. Early in the hike there were blackberries to eat and pretty wildflowers to view alongside the trail, which went along for a mile-or-so on fairly flat terrain before curving toward the ocean and heading downhill through a wide ravine. The glimpses of the ocean on the downhill slope were enticing and the slope wasn't too steep for my knees.
Near the bottom of the ravine the trail branched, with the south fork headed to campground and beach. I took the north fork for a stroll along the coastal bluffs. The views were panoramic and the strong winds invigorating in the afternoon sun. I had to tie my sun hat on to my head, because there's nothing more foolish than a man chasing his hat.
This was my first time and Point Reyes, and the hike made for a good introduction, but there was better to come...
The afternoon was getting on, so it was time to gather supplies and head for the beach! About 30 miles north of Point Reyes Station there is a beautiful beach that you get to via a hike down Pinnacle Gulch. One of those hidden gems known mostly by locals, there were only five people on the whole beach when I got there. Rocky outcroppings divide the beach into sections and I had a section all to myself. As near as I could tell from the signs it was even legal to camp there — not that I wouldn't have done so anyway, but it's nice to have the peace of mind. After watching the sunset over Bodega Head, I lit my campfire and settled in for my dinner. A decent loaf of bread, a ripe cheese, and farm-fresh cherries got me started. I barbequed a dozen oysters and even roasted a hot dog and some marshmallows (it was a campfire, after all). A feast! Long since the only one left on the beach, I slept to the susurrations of the sea.
In the morning I trudged my stuff up the mile-long trail. Luckily, the the week before I had scored a Peak 1 external-frame backpack on craigslist for 10 bucks, so it wasn't that bad. I drove back south to Limantour beach — one of the most popular beaches at Point Reyes. The Parking Gods did their usual smiling upon me as I spied a family leaving early and I followed them to their car. The beach was crowded but fortunately for me it's a very long beach, and most people are content to stake out blanket-space as near as they can from the trail to the parking lot. I walked a couple of miles along Limantour spit, feeling the salt breeze right off of the ocean.
After the beach I drove out to the Chimney Rock area. For my money this is the most beautiful part of Point Reyes. There are a couple of elephant-seal coves to admire; you have a sweeping view of the coastline to the south and Drake's Bay to the East; the walk along the grassy bluff out to Chimney Rock point has plenty of wildflowers; and the ocean-side of the bluff has scenery that almost rivals that of northern California and southern Oregon.
Next I went out to the Point Reyes Lighthouse. It was too late to climb down the 300-or-so steps to the lighthouse itself, but it was very picturesque. I even saw a gray whale or two out in the ocean to the south. I didn't take any photos here, as I had left my phone on the roof of my car -- a mistake that was to have negative consequences for my phone's glass screen. Hey — at least the phone still works!
Before saying goodbye to the seashore I drove to the North and West. Passing a herd of Tule elk on the way, I went to McClure's beach out by Tomales Point and hiked down its trail for another glorious sunset and another feast by a campfire. I didn't get home until about 2AM (with work the next day), and it took me a few days to recover from all the hiking, but it was totally worth it. California has a tremendous amount of really great stuff, as long as you get far enough from Sacramento!
