You're looking at Pt. Reyes
Point Reyes – Tule Elk Preserve
··· Dec 15 2010 · By ···
Marin County is by far one of the most naturally beautiful places to live. This is evident in a number of ways; from the sweeping urban views of San Francisco from places like Sausalito or Tiburon to the thoughtfully preserved natural hillsides in the Marin Headlands, from the top of Mt. Tam to the foggy coast with stunning cliff-sides and hidden beaches. Point Reyes is such a place, jutting off to form Tomales Bay on the east with the mighty Pacific Ocean on the south and west shore of this awesome land formation.
What makes this place so cool? Well, it is for the most part a free place to roam around, part of the National Park Service and there are a bunch of really neat, quirky things about the land. First, there are a lot of dairy farms out on the point, essentially leasing the land their cows graze on from the NPS. The ranches that the dairy’s are located on are historical ranches where cows have grazed for a while. The Coast Miwok lived…
On Tomales Bay: Echa-kolum, Shotommo-wi (near the mouth of San Antonio Creek), Sakloki (opposite Tomales Point, Dillon Beach area), Utumia (Near present-day town of Tomales.) and At the present-day town of Olema: Olema-loke.
We traveled out to Pt. Reyes for an afternoon of hiking, looking at Tule Elk and the many coastal birds, and maybe a walk on the beach, or a look at the lighthouse. Well we did most of that stuff, and found a place that epitomizes the term micro-climate. You can almost find a different, distinct weather pattern every ¼ mile or so, walking in just about any direction out on Pt. Reyes.
Fortunately for Dorothy and I we headed up to the Tule Elk preserve to bother the small herd, and kind of think about how the “collective” we have essentially brought this breed back from the edge of extinction and now are scratching our heads how best to “manage” the herd, since this group of elk are pinned into the end of the point, and they really should have some more room to elk around in. Dairy farming sort of prevents that sharing of pasture land with the elk.
So with that in mind we walked around on a pretty easy trail that starts you out in a historic ranch that houses info and stuff now for the park. You start in going around a hillside, and head out towards the rugged coast line. The drop off is a couple hundred feet in some parts, but there aren’t any technical paths that put you in danger. Being this high up above sea level puts birds right at eye level as they catch ocean breezes and soar around.
The crows seemed as interested at seeing us as we were to be seeing them, just a few feet away, just coasting along on the wind, cawing away.
I spoke about the micro-climates earlier and we finally hit that point of feeling the weather just suddenly start changing, as the fog decided to make its march onto the beach, up the cliffs and across the point. So we turned around, to see a small group of Tule Elk chilling up on the hillside beside the path. Their heads perked up as they, one by one, became aware of our presence in their yard. We stood around, checking them out with the zoom lens on our camera, snapping a few pictures, then started back to the ranch.
The beach was ruled out this time, but as we started our drive off the point, we decided to take Sir Francis Drake to the end where the Point Reyes Lighthouse sits but by the time we got there, the weather had turned into the fog equivalent of a blizzard. There was Zero visibility, with wicked fast winds. What’s the point in enduring that to see a lighthouse? Especially since there is no doubt that I will make my way to Point Reyes many times down the line.
Our Ashram = 120 D Street
··· Jul 30 2010 · By ···
A couple weeks ago I was enjoying a Friday afternoon at our local Peet’s (yay – our favorite coffee shop chain in walking/biking distance!), working at a sunny outside table. Jeph sent me an email with a picture he took when we visited Pt. Reyes National Seashore a couple weeks prior. It’s a seagull balancing on one leg with the other leg straight out to the back. He dubbed it “the seagull warrior pose” (it’s like Warrior III pose, only no arms extended in the front.) He said “it’s the new craze at the yoga gyms” to which I replied “you mean, at our yoga studio, to which he replied “yeah, our ashram.”
That got me thinking about what an ashram is, so I Wiki’d it, of course, and what I found was pretty interesting. In it’s key attributes, an ashram is what we are creating in our new home:
- a place to practice yoga, make music (create), study spirituality (consciousness)…
- a place for regular physical and spiritual (self development) exercises…
- a place to find solace and tranquility…
- amidst nature…
- a place to learn and practice the art of personal power…
Pt. Reyes National Seashore – Limantour Beach
··· Jul 06 2010 · By ···
The day after the 4th we decided to take advantage of the long weekend and make our first trek out to the coast since returning to the Bay Area. Since we knew Fairfax already (that’s where we stayed for the 3 days we were looking at apartments – Big Thanks to Nicole), we decided to follow that trajectory West, which leads to Point Reyes National Seashore. It’s a lovely, winding drive through the forests and fields of West Marin. Midway there, in Woodacre, I was excited to see the sign for Spirit Rock Meditation Center, a place I have read about many times, from far away, and now it’s less than 30 minutes from home! I look foward to learning and practicing through some of their classes, daylongs, and retreats.
Jeph’s suggestion to stop first at the Bear Valley Visitors Center was a good one. Aesthetically it feels like a lovingly restored old barn. As their mission states, it was,
“designed to blend in with the historically significant ranching culture of this area.”
Well done. On a holiday weekend in the heart of summer vacation season, it was abuzz with activity. We enjoyed exploring the natural history exhibit there, learning about the flora and fauna of the land and water. There were plenty of maps and pamphlets with suggested routes and activities. And there were plenty of rangers on hand to answer questions, too, like our burning question: where can we get gas? I highly suggest you fill the tank before heading out to these parts because gas stations are few and far between.
We decided to detour up to Point Reyes Station (the closest gas – only about 5 minutes away) so our minds would be at ease while hiking around. Our first week in Marin, Pacific Sun had an article about the town, extolling it as a mecca for local, sustainable, and organic farming, foods, and other businesses. It’s very tiny and quaint and we plan to return for a tour of Cowgirl Creamery, and coffee and the Saturday Farmer’s Market (the Bay Area’s only all-local all-organic market) at Toby’s Feed Barn.
With that taken care of, Jeph pointed us towards the beach – I was craving that fresh, wet air and ocean rhythm that’s so good for the spirit. In the 30 minutes or so it took us to climb up and over the hill and end up at Limantour Beach, we entered a quite different microclimate (for which the Bay Area is famous – one of the many charms!) The wind was strong and steady and fog enshrouded the whole area. In the parking lot, we added a couple layers of clothing (thankfully we hadn’t forgotten that wisdom) and headed down to the water. There’s nothing like the feel of cool sand between your toes and ocean air in your lungs. It’s both relaxing and rejuvenating – a winning combination.
As we walked up and down the beach, examining natural and man-made objects left behind by the tides, taking pictures, breathing and letting our minds wander I realized that our palette had totally changed. In San Rafael it was a typically golden sunshine-y day, and was like that most of the way, until the final hill down to the water. In the language of film, that’s Kodak. But in this part of the world it was a million shades of gray, some gray blue and gray green for sea grass and water, muted browns and more gray for the driftwood and rocks, pale salmon for crab shells, and the occasional manufactured item of a brighter hue. This is what Fuji film is like. After that analogy, I found myself feeling like part of a photo. It was lovely to experience and is vividly imprinted in my memories, (and captured digitally.)
One thing we learned from the Visitors Center and the maps/guides we gathered there is that Point Reyes National Seashore is a Large area. We could easily go there every weekend for the next year and not see it all. On our next visit, we’d like to head up to Tomales Point, at the northern tip, to observe the tule elk during their “rutting” season. It is encouraging to know that, after being on the brink of extinction in the mid-1800s, with the aid of complete state protection, their population has steadily grown. And then, in January, the California gray whales pass through on their Southern migration to Baja, California. Just the thought of the opportunity to see them leaves me breathless. The National Parks Website describes their magic well:
There is a mystery about these beautiful giants. Like humans, they breathe air, have warm blood and give birth to live young. However, their home is in the depths of the dark ocean where so much is concealed from our probing human eyes.
I can tell that Point Reyes National Seashore is going to be a cherished outing for our family for many years to come!
