Jan 15-17, 2011
This trip started out as THE big winter adventure of '10/'11 - bringing together Steve Krueger from SLC, his wife Mary Ann from Toronto, their friends the Walkers from Salt Lake City, me from Santa Cruz, Mark Stoelting and Leanne Schy from Santa Rosa, and Chris Kitting and Sophie from Hayward. But the wheels came off the bandwagon one by one. First, Steve's Dad's health took a turn for the worse and he and Mary Ann had to cancel on Wednesday. Then the Walker's dog ate their chocolate and had to be taken to the vet on Thursday, so they cancelled out. Then Mark and Leanne cancelled out later on Thursday... was the whole juggernaut going to end up in the ditch? No! I was still looking forward to my annual winter pilgrimage to Pt. Reyes, and this time not only to kayak, but also to test my improving running abilities with some long trail runs. Chris and Shoko were game too.
I had a leisurely start on Saturday and didn't arrive at Pt. Reyes until 1:00pm. My plan was to park at the Visitor's Center and then run the 8.2 miles to and from Arch Rock on the coast, crossing over the ridge. I was a mile up the trail before I realized "Oh s****T! I left my camera on top of my car!". I turned around and sped back, only to find my Panasonic Lumix camera gone. A kind soul had just turned it in to the Visitor Center, and so a relieved Rick was soon back on the trail. And this is where our picture story will begin...
Saturday - Trail Running
At the map display outside the Visitor Center before re-starting my run |
The Bear Creek trail climbs ~350 ft to the ridge line, then descends in lazy turns to the coast. I kept my Lumix in hand, doing a few arm's length shots as I ran. |
Taking a drag off my great new Camelback |
Arch Rock, packed with hikers. It's probably the most popular trail in the park |
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Looking back towards the ridge |
The coast looking north, quite the photogenic scene |
Bear Creek drains through the golden arch in Arch Rock |
On the trail back. Did I tell you I like my new Camelback? |
Driving towards the hostel on Limantour Rd, I felt good enough to change plans and continue on to Limantour Beach for more running. On the way, I enjoy an eclipse of the sun courtesy of my kayak on the roof |
Run #2, on Limantour Beach as the sun sets |
Let's go totally cliche' for this shot, Rick! |
This weekend was a gathering of SF Area Sierra Club chapters at the Pt Reyes Hostel - a great group of people to talk with for the evening. |
Saturday night, after a great dinner and sharing Sierra Club stories with the hostelers, I settled into a comfy sofa with plans to work on my class materials... but I just couldn't get into it. I found myself instead browsing the bookshelf, and found "The Lonely Planet Guide to Tibet", and got enthralled into reading the story of this other worldly place. It was good to leave my Santa Cruz life behind for a weekend. Sleeping was not great; a bad snorer drove me eventually to the couch in the commons room.
Sunday - Kayaking
The hostel - my favorite in the HI system - is the original farmhouse from the Laguna Ranch of over 100 years ago.
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Driving back over the ridge to Inverness, light fog made some beautiful "God beams" through the trees |
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Monday - Trail Running and Kayaking
