Point Reyes National Seashore
Kate and I spent Tuesday at Point Reyes National Seashore which encompasses about 71,000 acres of land including forest, grassland, dunes, beaches, and marine habitat. The Bobcat above was my highlight for the day. We were driving along when we saw three people by the side of the road, two with long camera lenses. I expected that they would be looking at birds, but they were looking at this Bobcat instead.
Two days before, on Sunday, we drove from Monterey to Sausalito where we had dinner with my cycling buddy Paula. Paula was on both the 2019 and the 2023 Cross Country cycling trips. After a wonderful dinner, Kate and I returned to our hotel room and this lovely view of San Francisco.
On Monday, we drove over Mount Tamalpais towards the coast north of San Francisco. Along the way, we stopped at a trailhead for a short walk. This was the view down to the coast.
On the way to our hotel, we stopped by the Point Reyes National Seashore visitor’s center. The center was closed, but we had a small picnic lunch. Up in the sky, a White-tailed Kite was harassing a Red-tailed Hawk.
We checked into our lodge which was on a hill above Tomales Bay. Exploring the hillside, I was able to get this photo of a Pygmy Nuthatch.
From the top of the hill above the lodge, I could see Point Reyes on the other side of Tomales Bay.
On Tuesday, Kate and I spent the whole day on Point Reyes. Our first long stop was at Abbot Lagoon.
Hiking to the lagoon, I was able to photograph this Lincoln Sparrow. I had seen a Lincoln Sparrow in Alaska, but had been unable to photograph it, so this is my first photo of the species.
I was also able to photograph a Marsh Wren. There had been at least 5 times this year when I could clearly hear a Marsh Wren, but had been unable to see one. This one popped out of the dense grasses for about 3 seconds, but that was enough time for me.
On the walk out, I saw this California Quail sitting perched atop the scrub.
As we got to the trailhead, Kate spotted this huge Elk on a hill way in the distance on the other side of road. One of the things I love about walking with Kate is that she is a wonderful spotter, constantly pointing out things that I do not see.
Next, we decided to drive to the Point Reyes Lighthouse. It was shortly after leaving Abbot Lagoon Trailhead that we came across the Bobcat.
As we got closer to the Lighthouse, the low clouds and fog started rolling in and the temperature started to drop.
Once we parked at the Lighthouse parking lot, we needed to hike perhaps a quarter mile to the overlook above the Lighthouse. At this point, the fog was very dense. Apparently, Point Reyes Lighthouse is one of the foggiest places in all of North America. On the walk, we could barely see this deer which was not more than 50 yards away.
For about 20 seconds, there was a break in the fog and we got this lovely view of the shore north of the Lighthouse.
By the time we reached the overlook to the Lighthouse, we were again completely socked in. The signs told us that somewhere at the bottom of these 300 stairs is the Point Reyes Lighthouse. The stairs and access to the lighthouse were closed because of the US Government shutdown. The lighthouse was placed close to the water rather than up here on the bluff because the lower location means there are times when the lighthouse is below the fog while the bluff is socked in.
Our next stop is Bodega Bay where we will be for 4 nights.