Point Reyes National Seashore January 29, 2015

[retired jerry]

I did 2 night backpack in Point Reyes National Seashore:

Escaping rain and cold in Oregon. Point Reyes is very close to San Francisco. This was not a solitude hike - a shock compared to my last couple trips when I pretty much saw no one for 4 days. Met up with some people from backpackinglight.com - I thought those entities were just 'bots created to torment me, but there were actual people - at least some of them - or maybe the 'bots got some actual humans to show up just to fool me...

This would be a good trip if you just happened to be in the Bay Area, but I wouldn't consider this a destination from Portland.

I started at Bear Valley Visitor Center and hiked to Arch Rock/Kelham Beach, camped at Wildcat:

http://www.nps.gov/pore/planyourvisit/u ... ssouth.pdf

Arch Rock was populated with people, I didn't walk down to it:

I walked over to Kelham Beach which was pretty nice:

Wildcat Camp is right next to ocean. There are 8 sites within view of each other. You have to reserve a numbered site ahead of time. They fill up on weekends and all days in the summer:

All of the campgrounds have an outhouse and a water spigot:

Trail signs at every trail intersection:

Bear Valley Trailhead is very busy:

This is a very civilized area!

Selfie:

[cunningkeith]

It’s hard to beat sunshine and the ocean this time of year. I cut my backpacking-teeth at Pt. Reyes, so I have fond memories of the place. But now I need more solitude when backpacking, so it’s less of a draw. Coast Camp is pretty nice too, in addition to Wildcat. The last time I was there, they had a pretty weird permit system. Barely any spaces for walk-ins, and they had no way to release those spaces that people reserved but no-showed—a pretty big waste of campsites for such a high-demand area.

Did you notice much air traffic noise? That was the thing that bothered me the most. I think there is some beacon or something that most of the bay area air traffic goes to that is right at Pt. Reyes.

But despite the nitpicking, it’s still a great spot for Bay Area folks who need a quick shot of outdoor time—especially as an introduction to backpacking.

[retired jerry]

I didn't notice airplane noise, but I'm not too sensitive to that.

I like that that area is totally on the other side of San Andeas fault, which runs on the East side of the area. Last time it slipped was the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. I left my wife in RV directly on fault.

[bobcat]

That's a beautiful area and you got to be there without the usual fog bank. Did you run into any of the dwarf elk?

[retired jerry]

No dwarf elk

Maybe 4AM there was a huge commotion from nearby coyotes. They must have been fighting over food.

[raftingdog]

way back in 1976 stayed in hostel in Pt Reyes park was nice ranch house..... large group were planning coast to coast bike rides....

[miah66]

Jerry, your selfie is so eerily similar to your avatar photo! You could make a new one from it!