Point Reyes, California

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Recently I traveled to California and visited Point Reyes National Seashore. This park is north of San Francisco along the coast, accessible through the town of Point Reyes Station. This park is large considering how close it is to populated areas and has a lot of different types of scenery from coastline to meadows to wildlife.

We had unbelievably clear weather the entire time we were in California. Not only did it not rain a single drop for an entire week, most of the time there wasn’t even a cloud in the sky. To put this in perspective, they filmed the movie “The Fog” in Inverness, a small town in Point Reyes… so we were very lucky.


These are yellow Lupine flowers.

They introduced Tule Elk into the park and they are readily visible from the road. These photos were taken in the drive up to the north end of the park. They also have elephant seals on the beaches at the southern end but we did not have time to go to that side of the park.

Point Reyes is highly recommended if you are near San Francisco, especially if you are lucky and have a clear day and can see for miles and miles.

Cross posted at LITGM

11 thoughts on “Point Reyes, California”

  3. Actually the fall is the best time for the No CA coast – we once had a car club drive to Bodega Bay – just a bit down and being from the hot Central Valley dressed for summer.

    We sat outside for lunch and froze.

    In July.

    You can always spot the tourists in San Francisco in the summer – dressed for summer ;-)

    Did you take the 2-3 mile walk in to the ocean? I think they have an interesting exhibit along the way showing a fence separated from the 1906 earthquake – it has been years but I think they were a good 6′ apart – broken by the fault line.

    Next time I hope you have time to drive Hwy 1 from Monterey to San Simeon – about 70 miles and some beautiful scenery. Plus visit Hearst Castle.

    You are advised to call CalTrans at 800-427-ROAD to make sure Hwy 1 is open – frequent washouts in rain –

  4. San Simeon is well worth a visit. When I was much younger, I used to drive to SF every fall for the USC – Cal or Stanford game. We would take a week and drive up CA-1 and stop at San Simeon. You really can’t see it in one day. We would stay in Morro Bay and then go to Pebble Beach and play golf a couple of days. It is impossible to get a tee time at Pebble unless you are staying at the Lodge. If you do stay at the Lodge (expensive- about $400/night) you can get a tee time with no trouble in October when we always went. The whole trip would take a week.

    One year, we met a Dutch surgeon at the American College of Surgeons meeting in SF and spent a couple of days squiring him and his wife (We thought at the time) around the city. He was from Rotterdam. We were walking across SF one time about 3 AM after a night of pub crawling. I mentioned that the city wasn’t safe at night for one person or a couple. He replied that he wasn’t concerned. He had killed a dozen Germans with his bare hands in the underground during the war.

    It turned out that his “wife” was his mistress and the wife of a prominent architect. We saw him a few years later at the College meeting, in Chicago this time and asked about his “wife.” We had heard the story in the meantime. He looked startled when we suggested he bring her again, but then agreed it was a good idea. Alas, we never saw him again.

  5. Michael – that surgeon sounds like an old pastor I had – during my church going days.

    Rev Brooks was this Episcopal priest – short in stature, bald and thin.

    I learn he was a British commando who, like the surgeon, killed plenty of Germans during the war.

    On San Simeon, I love the history of the Hearst’and Marion Davis.

    On my last visit there – our car club had an Oktoberfest in Cambria a few months ago (Oktober? ;-) ) – I wanted to see the chapel in Cambria (6 miles away from San Simeon).

    It is on a hill and supposedly Bing Crosby and Gary Cooper used to go there while visiting Hearst. There is an organ inside that Marion supposedly donated.

    Alas they were having a wedding that day there and a matronly looking caretaker told me “some other time” for a visit.

  7. Bill,

    While in Cambria I’ll assume you’ve tried The Brambles Dinner House. It’s been through an ownership change. Pre-change I had been there a few times and consider it a superbly fine restaurant. Cambria, particularly Moonstone Beach, is a fantastic weekend getaway for us here in LA. As for that chapel you mentioned I don’t recall one being there.

    http://thebramblesincambria.com/index.html

    Regards

  8. Jason have to say I have never been there. But – a funny story – there is a pasta house I did frequent – and they underwent an ownership change.

    Cambria/San Simeon is a favorite meeting place of car clubs because (a) it is first a nice place, (b) is equidistant for North and South

    So I had arranged a few get togethers at this Pasta House.

    It’s always in issue trying to arrange dinner for 20-60 people!

    Everything was fine the previous time, and this time, unbeknownst to me, they had an ownership change.

    Well, on the evening of the dinner things “appeared” to be OK – the table for 30 is set up – everything fine.

    Sometime between the salad and the entree I notice something unpleasant unfolding – a band had come in and during set up, set a 6′ speaker not 5′ from our table ;-)

    I will have to try Brambles.

    I assume you have seen the elephant seals? One of our car club members lives in Cambria and is on this conservancy Board – took us to a secret path that took us right up to those 4,000 lb “seals”.

  10. Cambria is the town shown in the movie “Arachnophobia” an enjoyable film about killer spiders brought in accidentally from south America. I took my daughter to see it. In one scene, a giant spider is walking up the hero’s leg. At that moment, my beeper, which I had turned to “vibrate” for the movie, went off. I jumped a foot.

  11. I grew up in western Marin County, and chiefly its Point Reyes Peninsula, and had an idyllic childhood. I vacation there frequently, and my office is filled with gorgeous photos of the area. The clerks in my court asked if I intend to retire there, and my reply was that it was too bloody cold and damp in winter.

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