Point Reyes
Directions: From 101 about 9 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge, take exit 450B, the Sir Francis Drake-San Anselmo exit west. Follow Sir Francis Drake Blvd approximately 21 miles to Olema and turn right on Highway 1. Take the first left at Bear Valley Road and drive about 1/2 mile to the big red barn and turn left into the driveway for the Bear Valley Visitor Center just past the barn.
I drove across the Golden Gate Bridge to get there
At the Bear Valley Visitor Center
The blue posts are on the fault
“V” checks the map. Now where is that trail ...
The Rift Zone Trail stretches out before us
Heading out on the Rift Zone Trail
The obligatory cow picture
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Banana slugs were everywhere!
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“V” checking the map again, now where are we?
Misty forest picture
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Lakes were everywhere
Another little lake
Heading up the Coast Trail
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Lunch break with a view
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The Point Reyes Light House is at the tip of that
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Arch Rock
Looking down the coast from Arch Rock
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Bear Valley Trail
Deer!
On Saturday, April 7, 2007, I joined in with the Stanford Outing Club for a beautiful hike at Point Reyes National Seashore
Hike Route: Bear Valley Visitor Center -> Earthquake trail -> Rift Zone trail -> Stewart trail -> Ridge trail -> Lake ranch trail -> Coast trail -> Arch rock -> bear valley trail -> End.
GPS/TOPO! Stats
Distance hiked: 24.6 miles
Total ascent: 3678 ft
Trailhead Elevation: 93 ft
Max Elevation: 1205 ft
Moving time: 8 hrs
Moving Average: 2.9 mph
Overall average: 2.1 mph
Time stopped: 2 hrs
Personal stats
Dates Hiked:
7-Apr-2007
Start time: 10 AM
Weather: Overcast with misty rain, temperatures in the 60’s F
Water consumed: 3 liters plus 600 ml Gatorade
Finish time: 8:00 PM
Total time: 10 hrs
Beauty: Parts of this hike are simply gorgeous, walking trails through lush and misty redwood forests. And when you get to the Coast Trail, the views along the coast make all the hiking to it worth it. For beauty, this is one of the best I have done!
Wildlife seen: Lots and lots of banana slugs, deer, elk, birds
Difficulty: This hike was strenuous for the distance. There was a fair amount of elevation gain but most of that was on easier grades.
Oh boy. I suffer from plantar fasciitis in my right foot and a bit of tendonitis as a result and so my right leg is weaker than my left leg. Two weeks prior to doing this hike I did a 19 miler with the Stanford Outing Club at Henry Coe that aggravated all that and left me with twinges of pain since. So rather than take more time to heal as I probably should have, when I saw “V” announce his intentions to lead a 22-23 mile hike at Point Reyes, I jumped for it and emailed him a short message, I’m in!
Living in San Jose, though, the worst part of going to Point Reyes is that it is a fair drive, taking me just about 2 hours to get there. I left my house at 7:30 AM and made it to the Bear Valley Visitor Center by the 9:30 AM meeting time. I found the Stanford Outing Club hikers and our fearless leader, “V” and after buying myself a map and gearing up, we were on the trail by 10 AM.
The forecast called for showers and there was misty rain as we started our hike and everyone started out wearing water proof shells that we all shed before long. The rain was more of a mist and the weather was warm enough that we were overheating. In fact my eyeglasses were steaming up so bad that I couldn’t see through them and so I took them off as well.
The hike route we followed was:
Headquarters > Earthquake trail > Rift Zone trail > Stewart trail > Ridge trail
> Lake ranch trail > Coast trail > Arch rock > bear valley trail > End.
The Earthquake Trail was easy enough to find from the parking lot and was a short easy trail. We expected the Rift Zone Trail to start somewhere along the Earthquake Trail and backed tracked over the Earthquake Trail a couple of times before we realized it had to start somewhere else. We found the Rift Zone Trailhead off of the other end for the parking lot and continued on with our hike.
The Rift Zone Trail was a nice easy trail through meadows and cow pastures and was good for a warm up. After we hit the Stewart Trail we started climbing, but again the slopes up felt gentle compared to the slopes up the hills at Henry Coe or Mount Diablo. But given we had to climb up a fair amount of elevation, the trails up seemed to go on forever. But in the process, as we went from the Stewart Trail to the Lake Ranch Trail, we walked through some simply gorgeous areas of misty forests that were as beautiful as can be. On the downside the area is very popular and understandably so for equestrians and it didn’t take long to realize that horse stuff smells a lot worse than cow stuff! A small price to pay I’d say given the beauty of the area.
Another consideration was the etiquette required of hikers around equestrians. One horse was decidedly spooked by our group even though we were given him a wide berth. The horse was really jumpy and the rider struggled somewhat to calm the horse and keep him under control. He succeeded though and we passed without incident.
From the Lake Ranch Trail we eventually made our way to the Coast Trail and in the area saw several lakes. The Coast Trail occasionally wraps back in some areas where you can’t see the ocean but on many sections, the views up and down the coast were spectacular and made the long hike worth it. We ate our lunches at 4 PM along the Coast Trail on a bluff with great coastal views and with a park bench for sitting just a little south of the Wild Cat camp area.
From there we hoofed it up the Coast Trail and made it to Arch Rock by 6 PM where we took another 15-20 minute break. After that we hit the Bear Valley Trail for the 4 mile hike back to our cars at the Visitor Center parking lot. I was in such pain by this point that I walked back as fast as I could since walking slow didn’t help. My feet felt like hamburger and I had developed blisters on the back of both heels as the moleskin and tape I had put there in the morning had slipped down to form something like a rock irritating my heels instead of protecting them. And my knees hurt and my legs were screaming at me with cramps and whenever I stopped, they would seize up in pain and stiffness that would take me a lot effort to break through so I could walk at all. At that point all I could think about was getting back to my car. I finally made it just before 8PM as the last sunlight was disappearing.
But the bottom line? In spite of all the pain, I am glad I did this hike. It was simply a great day out!
National Geographic TOPO! software website:
