Point Reyes, 3/16-17, 2016

[Wandering Daisy]

This trip was constrained both the day going in (still on winter hours so cannot get a permit until 10AM) and a promise to babysit the grandkids at 4:30 PM on the day out. So I chose the Five Brooks Trailhead and a counter-clockwise loop camping at Wildcat Camp. My car would always be close enough to take a short-cut out if needed. Weather could not have been better.

Annoyingly, I had to wait until 10AM to get the permit and by the time I reached the trailhead it was 10:30. The route via Stewart Road – Greenpicker Trail - Glen Camp Loop –Glen Trail – Bear Valley Trail – Coast Trail and Stewart Road to Wildcat Camp is about 11 miles. It took five hours. I had hoped to hike the beach to Alamere Falls, but with tides rising I decided to turn back about half way down. I set up camp, cooked a leisurely dinner and had plenty of time to sit on the bluff and watch the sunset. The camp was full; it was Spring Break for some area colleges.

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Greenpicker Trail

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Glen Camp Loop

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Arch Rock (which collapsed last year killing one person)

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Looking south towards Wildcat Beach

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Found the USGS bench mark

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Recent high flows have cut into the beach at Wildcat

Sunset at Wildcat Camp
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Night was clear but a massive amount of dew was unloaded from the sky by morning and everything was soaked. Sun hits the campsites late so I was not able to fully dry the tent before I left at 9:45. The 9.5-mile return route was better than I had remembered; Lake-Ocean Trail past many lakes and ponds, Coast trail to Bass Lake, Lake-Ranch Trail through forest tunnels, Ridge Trail and back down Stewart Road. I would have preferred Bolema Trail, but with all the recent rain the trails were muddy and Bolema is very steep.

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Wildcat Beach in the morning

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Looking North from viewpoint on Lake-Ocean Trail

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Looking south from viewpoint on Lake-Ocean Trail

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Bridge over creek that feeds Alamere Falls

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Bass Lake

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Tunnel of trees on Lake-Ranch Trail

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Algae covered pond

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Moss covered trees

The flowers that were out were wonderful. It is still a bit early for the full bloom of many of the flowers. Deer, quail and turkeys were abundant. There were a few banana slugs and very small ticks. I only saw one mosquito. The poison oak was shiny and ready to create havoc for anyone susceptible; luckily I do not react to it as I sat in a bit patch once! The web-cam shows fog today so I lucked out on the nice warm, sunny and breezy weather.

[Wandering Daisy]

Flowers

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[rlown]

Nice report, WD. Your flower part was interesting because most of us who live here are actively spraying to remove the "weeds" on our properties about now. But very pretty pics for a natural area.

Loved the sunset pics as well.

[sheperd80]

Great photos. Looks like a nice trip, that area reminds me of a trip to Big Sur last year.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

[maverick]

I had hoped to hike the beach to Alamere Falls, but with tides rising I decided to turn back about half way down.

Last time going to the falls, the trail leading down to the falls was quite over grown with bush, this was several years ago, spoke to a few people who have been there recently, and they reported the trail is now completely over grown with poison oak.

[Tom_H]

Just beautiful! Thanks for sharing.

[Wandering Daisy]

Yes, I know about the overgrown trail. That is why I wanted to walk the beach to the Falls and back. I have done that several times previously. I suppose if I were really motivated, I could have made it. But after walking over 11 miles it did not take much rationalization to convince myself to just sit at the beach and watch the waves!

By the way, I am bad at flower identification. If anyone wants to name the flowers, it would be great.