On Sunday, 19 November, an intrepid crew of 10 people staggered out of bed and up to Point Reyes for a brutal hike basking in sunshine and soaking in glorious views.
Okay, would you believe we had a wonderful time basking in sunshine and soaking in glorious views?
We headed out of the Bear Valley Visitor Center at the crack of 10:30am. Scoffing at the wimpy highway known as the Bear Valley trail, we elected for the straight-up route, climbing up to the top of Mount Wittenberg, the highest point in the park, towering over hill, dale, and wave. Upon our arrival there, we scouted around, congratulated ourselves on a job well-done, and sauntered down the Sky trail, eventually arriving at the Coast trail and Arch Rock -- a relatively high tide and a roaring creek prevented us from venturing onto the beach, but we handled this hardship with fortitude and much chocolate, thoughtfully provided by Deb and Elinor.
Our skill and hiking abilities proven, we swaggered proudly back to the Bear Valley visitor center, observing other hikers bow low in admiration for our feats as we passed. The bikers were not so kind.
In the course of the day, we wandered through mossy oak forests, fern-laden forests, thickets of grey pine, open coastal grasses, and riparian forests. We gloried in sunshine and basked in cool breezes. The variety of microclimates and flora was, as always with Point Reyes, wonderful to behold. No fog was to be seen.
A wonderful day was had by all. Hope yours was as good.
--Steve (scribe)