RE: California Day 13, Alamere Falls...the Hard Way

Wednesday 8/23/17

    During the revised planning of this trip, I came across quite a few interesting hikes within the Point Reyes National Seashore.  Two were fairly long.  I tackled one the previous day. Today it was to be all about Alamere Falls. 

    The hiking trail website I naively believed had easy directions.  You park at the Palomarin Beach lot and follow the Coastal Trail seven miles until you run into the falls.  Pretty easy.

     So, I packed for the day and left the Air BnB bright and early.  Even without proper street signs, I did eventually find my way.  There were only a handful of vehicle in the lot when I arrived.  Finding the trailhead was easy.  There’s even a big sign proclaiming fourteen miles round trip to the falls.   Oddly, that was the very last sign I saw for the falls.  Well, the last park service sign at least.

     The waterfront was mired in morning fog with a thick white mass covering everything.  A mist was coming down lighter than any mist you’ve ever felt,  It was barely fine enough to feel.  The two together had me shoving my camera into my pack and not taking it out again for quite a while.  I doubted I would see anything on the hike out that I wouldn't see on the way back.

     Two miles in and I took this with my phone.  These are always sobering.  The fact Nikhil had been reported missing only three days prior made it even more so.  I had the trail mostly to myself and as I read the poster, I heard some coyotes begin to howl off to my left.  Two more answered off to my right.  And they stopped as I moved on.  Very strange.

         There were markers for the ocassional side trail, so it was easy to keep track of how far I had gone.  The distances sometimes contradicted themselves, but at least I had an idea.  Three miles in I passed a stone cairn pointing to a break in the hedgerow.  On the cairn was simply written “The Falls.”  Coming so quickly after the missing hiker poster, it just seemed creepy.  More on that later.

      At five miles I came to a campground by the beach.  I kept following the signs for the Coast Trail.  From the campground it was a slow, steady, almost mile long climb up a twisting road.  Every turn revealed more climbing. Ugh.

     At the top of the hill there was a another trail sign.  Coast Trail this way. Six miles back to the trailhead.  Hooray, one more to go.  A half mile later there was another fork in the road.  I followed the one labeled Coast Trail Spur, Meadow Trail .3 miles. There were no Coast Trail signs at the other end, just the one pointing back the way I came.

     Feeling frustrated, I backtracked through the meadow and took the other fork through the woods.  When I eventually came to another trail junction, the math put me at 7.5 miles. I didn’t see any  waterfall, nor had I even heard running water.  Resigned to my fate, I turned around and headed back towards the trailhead.

    I hadn’t gone a quarter mile when I ran onto a lone backpacker.  She asked how I was doing,  So, I told her.  She knew all about the waterfall.  I had missed the turn two and a half miles back at the campground.  She had stayed there the previous night and walked to the waterfall during low tide.  She also told me there had been whales off the coast late the previous afternoon.  We parted ways and  I simply worked my way back up to the top of the hill.

     This is an overlook above the beach. The twisted line to the left is the road back down.  The line across the top of the shot is the surf line.

      I eventually made it back to the campground and walked out on the beach.  Way off to my left was the Alamere Waterfall.  She was right, I could see it from the campground.  However, it was still a two mile walk up the beach.

     That couple up ahead got the that large rock outcropping in front of the waterfall.  The surf was coming up past the front of the rock.  They paused there obviously pondering.  In the end they scrambled up and over it.  Eventully, I saw them climb atop the falls and take the unofficial trail back out.  It's that unofficial trail I had passed earlier.  I ran into a member of the Park Service later n the day and asked about it.  He called it a "Social Trail" and not one authorized.  He also said it's steep, often slick and the cause of numerous sprains and broken bones.  They're trying to discourage its use.  Good thing I went the long way.

      

     When I got up to the rock I decided I just wasn’t that daring.  I love you guys, but it seemed a dumb thing to do just for a photo.  I turned back. 

      I had the beach to myself at this point.  I’ll admit I was enjoying it.  The waves were crashing to my left as I walked back.  They were just big enough to make that distinctive cracking sound when they crashed.  Add to the mix a seal just beyond the surf line.   But, two miles in the sand does take a lot out of you.

    From the beach it was a short climb back to the trail.  I gave it another look over and saw absolutely no sign indicating the falls.  While I knew I was in the right place and heading in the right direction, I also knew it was five miles to the parking lot.

    With two miles to go I encountered the biggest group yet. It was about sixty students plus teachers from the local high school.  I stopped to let them by and one of the teachers asked if it felt "like swimming upstream."

      With a quarter mile left to go I stopped off at an overlook.  My feet hurt.  My back was sore and I was beyond tired.  But, when I saw whales diving in the distance, somehow I felt okay again.  It put as much of a spring in my step as I could possibly muster.  

    So, considering the hike to the falls and the missed trails, I did twenty miles and felt it.  

    It was around 6P when I finally drove away.  Once again I just didn’t want to face a big meal.  So, I stopped off at the local grocery store and got a turkey sandwich from their deli.  Passing the beer cooler, I picked up an amber ale I had a few days earlier.  I think I definitely earned it.

     One last thing to do before calling it a day.  The first rental agent had warned me about my Golden Gate Bridge crossing. Cash is no longer accepted.  In my position, the best way to handle it would be to register my rental’s tag number and prepay.  My car’s tag would be scanned as I drove through.  I got some weird error message when I tried to enrole my rental.  I went with Plan B instead.  I took note of the time I eventually crossed the bridge and called the 800 number.  After far too many menu options I finally got a human who took care of it.  I'd hate to think what Hertz would have charged me if they had been billed.  

Coming Up, 

I meet a guy genuinely excited about otter poop.

     

California Day 12. Hiking With the Elk

Tuesday 8/22/17

     One of the big hikes I knew I wanted to tackle was Tomale Point.  It’s 9.4 miles round trip from the parking lot to the very tip of Tomale Point.  And here’s the best part, it’s through the Tule Elk Preserve.  I even had to wait for a few to cross the road en route to the trailhead.

  This sign was at the trailhead.  Do you think it went heeded, or ignored? Hmmmm

       

   The trail itself is heavily trafficked and simple to follow through rolling hills and beautiful scenery on every side.  What’s not to like.  As for the elk, they got out of my way, but certainly let their annoyance be known.  A few were quite vocal about it.  It was still early and there was just one group of hikers ahead of me.  By afternoon there would be a steady stream of them.  But for now, it was just myself and the elk. Some seemed curious and others were making a lot of noise.  At one point the trail dips into a small canyon, the elk calls were echoing off the walls.  Very cool!

     The sign at the trailhead warned of a large rockslide at the very end of the trail that took place in January.  There are no barricades, just a few signs.  I had passed the other group of hikers heading back and was alone.  So, if there had been a barricade, I probably would have hopped it anyway.  I walked out as far as I could.  So worth it.

     On numerous occasions I had seen some colorful pink flowers along the roadside.  There were quite a few along the trail.  They're called Naked Ladies.

     After a break for lunch, I continued deeper into the Point Reyes National Seashore.  The road had split earlier.  One route went to Point Tomale, the other the Point Reyes Lighthouse.  It’s only open on the weekends and I could only get so close.

     

     We've all seen tall lighthouses.  They're built that way to project their light over greater distances.  Here in Pt. Reyes it was built as close to the water line as possible.  The coastal fog gets thick enough that a tall lighthouse wouldn't be very efficient.  Instead, the idea was to get the light underneath the fog banks.  

     One last stop on this end of the park.  There was a .9 mile trail out to a place called Chimney Rock. The road itself was in bad shape and one car wide.  For once everyone seemed to be using the turnouts and waiting for others to pass.

      The hike out was only a gentle climb and easy.  The point at the end of the trail was blocked by a barricade.  There were way too many people to even consider jumping it.  I never did see a chimney shaped rock.  It was obscured by the barricaded point.

    

    All told it was around eleven miles worth of trails for the day.  Not too bad.  It was a nice warm up for the longer day I had in store.  A day that would turn out much longer than I had anticipated.

California Day 11, The Eclipse

Monday 8/21/17

     After an excellent breakfast in the hotel, it was back on the road.  I wasn’t going very far.  Just three miles south of town is Van Damme State Park.  There’s a loop trail I wanted to hit.  You can either pay the entrance fee for the main entrance, or get into the park from a side trail outside along Airport Road.

     The side trail comes in through a place called the Pygmy Forest.  It’s a grove of stunted trees.  Between the lack of drainage and the harsh soil, trees have a difficult time here.  The ones that do survive have trouble accessing proper nutrients from the soil.  This their stunted growth.

     There’s a fire road that takes you back to the Fern Canyon loop trail.  Sure, it doesn’t have the walls of ferns like the previous fern canyon, but the trail was clear of fallen trees.  With the two loops and the access road, I’m putting this in the books as five miles.

      An hour into the hike we hit peak eclipse in the greater Mencodino area.  It was gray and overcast.  All I noticed was the light getting a little dim. Oh well.   I was enjoying the forest and only met a handful of other hikers while there.

     Back on Hwy 1 south and passing through Manchester.  I don’t even want to think about the landscaping that went into doing this.

     Manchester is also the turnoff point for the Point Arena Light Station. Naturally, I went to check it out.  It’s the highest light on the west coast that allows tours.   I was surprised to see no lens atop the tower.  It was removed a few years ago and replace with a smaller light attached to the outside of the structure.  The new light is cylindrical and about the size of a breadbox.  Isaac our guide claims the light reached fourteen miles on a clear night,  Considering the coast here, that’s probably a good thing.

   

    Lunch was a place called Cove Azul in Gualala.  The sandwich was nothing special.  It came with a small salad,  As they say in the culinary world, presentation is everything.  I should have taken a picture.(Sorry Connie)  Using the usual salad items, the presentation was simply elegant.  I told Scott, my waiter.  He said he made it himself.  He’s an artist and he thanked me for noticing.

    One more stop at a place called Black Point Beach.

    My goal for the night was an Air BnB in Point Reyes Station. My guidebook has numerous interesting trails here. So, I stopped into the visitor center and snagged a map for the morning before backtracking to the house.  

     Gilbert and Elizabeth are the home's owners.  Oddly enough I never met Gilbert, but had a nice conversation with Elizabeth.  The house was built to be a Bed and Breakfast.  There were a few owners in between and when they bought the place there were the three rooms with their own bathroom and numbers still on the doors.  I was downstairs.  The room was the size of a large motel room and spotless.  There was a second room downstairs as well.  In addition to the two bedrooms there's also a small TV room with a couple of chairs.  It was the perfect place to settle in with the tablet to type up notes from the day.   

     A couple of days before I arrived, they emailed me the front door code, the wifi password and house rules.  The main level was open for everyone. If I had wanted to cook dinner I could have.  I was just grateful for the use of the laundry room.