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Point Reyes 2007

Page history last edited by lmckeega@... 13 years, 9 months ago

SECOND DAY HIKE
POINT REYES, JULY 14, 2007


Greetings from the Red Leader,


The second dayhike, of the 2007 workshop, was held on Saturday, July 14 at Point Reyes National Seashore. The skies were dreary with a low overcast when we met at the Whale of a Deli in Point Reyes Station. When I drove up, Gigi and Alexander "Sticker" Henderson (05) and 07 member, Anita Figge, were waiting. Gigi and Alexander had been waiting for some time, since it seems that the driving time from the Concord/Pleasant Hill area is more like an hour and a quarter, not the two hours I had estimated. David Skov (06) had told me he would be joining us and, after about 15 minutes, drove up. It was about 7:00 am when we finally got into our various cars and caravanned west, on the Limantour Beach Road, to the Laguna Trail trailhead parking lot, just beyond the Point Reyes Youth Hostel. We squeezed our cars into the few remaining spaces and, after orientating our maps, started up the canyon towards our first stop at Coast Camp.

 

The overcast was very low and we walked up into the clouds as we followed the trail up to the saddle at the Fire Lane Trail junction. We started down the hill, stopping occasionally to read our maps, and were well down from the summit before dropping below the cloud ceiling, where we could finally see Coast Camp. The large number of cars, so early in the day, at the trailhead parking lot indicated alot of campers at Coast Camp, and when we got there the campground was full. In years past we have usually been able to use a campsite table for our pack/snack break but this time we were forced to sit on the ground. After a quick snack we were on our way south, along the Coast Trail, to the Woodward Valley Trail. When we got to the trail junction we headed uphill, away from the coast, and began our 800 foot climb to Woodward Valley. By this time the clouds were pulling back from the coast and we had lovely views of Point Resistance and Millers Point, to the south. The fog bank to the north, in Drakes Bay, lay just off shore and Point Reyes was hidden from view. The sun was out but a cool sea breeze kept us from overheating as we ascended the Inverness Ridge, and the Sky Trail. Topping the ridge we turned northerly and followed the trail, through shady woods, to our lunch break at Sky Camp. The sun was fully out and it had become decidedly warm so we chose to stop in the shade and made our way to campsite 5. The table there was partially shaded and we doffed our packs, sat down and ate our lunches. Gigi had brought a container of M&M's and shared her chocolate, earning many coveted CAGTTF, chocolate points.

 

When we had finished we packed up and headed north on the Sky Trail. We crossed the parking lot at the top of the Limantour Road pass and began our descent, on the Bayview and Laguna trails. The fog had begun to roll back inland and kept us from overheating as we made our way past the Clem Miller Environmental Education Center. We were soon back at our cars and, after stowing our packs, we drove to Point Reyes Station and had an early dinner before heading home.

 

It was a wonderful hike in almost perfect hiking weather. We calculated that we had walked 9.4 miles with a total elevation gain/loss of 3772 feet.

 

Red Leader out

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