Get to the Point

Of the 28 NPS units in the state of California, we have visited 26 of them. Today we checked Point Reyes National Seashore off our list, leaving only Redwood National Park and Castle Mountains National Monument to go.

Even though it looked fairly close to Berkeley on the map, it took us an hour to get to Point Reyes. But the drive was very pretty once we got off I-580 onto Sir Francis Drake Blvd.

Our first stop was the Bear Valley Visitor Center, where we got our bearings on places to see. M and I stamped our passports, and the boys were convinced by the ranger to work on Point Reyes' brand new junior ranger booklet.

Then we were off to visit the Point Reyes lighthouse. Because recent storms had damaged the road to the Kenneth C. Patrick Visitor Center, the shuttle buses weren't running between the lighthouse and Chimney Rock. I'm so glad we arrived early because we found one of the last spots in the small parking lot. The hike out to the lighthouse was breathtaking!

The hike down to the lighthouse (and back up) was breathtaking in other ways - more than 300 steps to climb!

While the young legs were waiting on the observation deck for R and me to make our way back up, they spotted a gray whale with the help of one of the wildlife docents. Bummed that we missed it, but at least we did get to see several dolphins.

Our next stop was Chimney Rock. By the time we arrived (about noon), the parking lot there was completely full, so we pulled off onto the shoulder just outside of the lot and hiked out to the Elephant Seal Overlook.

While we were standing there, a deer suddenly came bounding down the side of the hill and leapt into the water.

It was being chased! The boys thought it was a bobcat, but then we saw a coyote pop its head up...

The deer just kept on swimming out further into Drakes Bay, but eventually turned back towards the beach. After it exited the water, it climbed back up the hill. No lunch for you today, Mr. Coyote!

The elephant seals were unfazed by the unfolding drama

We decided not to hike out to Chimney Rock and headed over to see the Cypress Tree Tunnel instead. The worst part was driving back out to the main road. By now, there were more cars parked along the side of the one-lane road and even more driving in, which made navigating the low shoulders a challenge, as I'm sure the scrape marks on the bottom side of our minivan will attest. Not fun!

The Historic KPH Maritime Radio Receiving Station sits at the end of the road lined by Monterey cypress trees. We parked next to the building and fixed ourselves sandwiches for lunch. Pretty cool visual!

Then it was back to the Bear Valley VC, where we hiked the short (0.6 mile) Earthquake Trail and ended up joining a ranger program on earthquakes and plate tectonics.  The San Andreas Fault Zone, which separates the Pacific Plate from the North American Plate, runs along the eastern border of the park.

The blue posts mark a fault line

This fence illustrates the displacement of the fault during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake

Last order of business - junior ranger swearing in...

And a shout out on the Point Reyes Facebook page!