On the second day of our Labor Day weekend in Point Reyes, Pappa Quail and I went on a beautiful hike which was full of surprises at Abbotts Lagoon. After that we drove to Pierce Point Ranch where the Tomales Point Trail was.
Not quite sure where exactly the trailhead was, we ended up parking at
the McClure Beach parking area. There were no picnic tables there so we
had our lunch art the car's tailgate, then gathered our things and
started up the road to the Tomales Point trailhead.
Right by the road's shoulder I saw some morning glory in bloom. This species isn't a California native, and has spread itself along the coastal area of California. It is lovely to see though, when very little else is blooming at the end of summer.
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| Field Bindweed, Convolvulus arvensis |
A small cluster of eucalyptus trees was off to the right. Eucalyptus were introduced in California to provide fast growing timber after the local redwood forests were logged into oblivion.
Coming up the road we reached the Pierce Point Historic Ranch. The first ranch was established there by Mexican settlers in 1820. They were later displaced by American settlers that arrived during the Gold Rush, and exchanged hands a number of times after that. Throughout its existence the ranch had only one main branch, which was cattle. We chose to not explore the historic site at the time, and headed right away to Tomales Point Trailhead.
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| Pierce Point Ranch |
The trees at the Pierce Point Ranch were the native Californian Monterey Cypress. I think they too were planted there, though.
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| Tomales Point Trail |
The Monterey Cypress growing at the Pierce Point Ranch were much taller than any naturally occurring Monterey cypress I've ever seen. Like their shore counterparts, these cypresses also had the windswept look, way up at the canopy.
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| Monterey Cypress, Hesperocyparis macrocarpa |
The trail was sandy and here too I saw the sand wasps, like those I've seen earlier that day at the Abbotts Lagoon trail.
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| American Sand Wasp |
The animal we were on the lookout for however (other than birds), were tule elk. Tule elk, which used to roam California in great numbers, reached the brink of extinction because of massive hunting during the Gold Rush years. With much efforts of preservation their numbers grew. One of the places where the elk preservation efforts are centered in Point Reyes, and specifically, at Tomales Point. I thought that we would be lucky to see elk on the trail, but less than 200 yards up the trail we spotted the first one - a solitary bull that was moving down the slope toward the trail. The elk was also quite vocal and kept calling loudly. After we took some photos I nudged Pappa Quail along the trail - I feared that the elk would reach the trail and then I'd be afraid to walk there - elks can be quite dangerous.
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| Tule Elk, male |
After the excitement of seeing the elk I moved my attention to wildflowers, of which I did see some along the trail. Coastal bush lupines were blooming still, although most of them were already setting seeds.
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| Coastal Bush Lupine, Lupinus arboreus |
There were other yellow flowers blooming and I recognized one of them as an introduced plant used in landscaping to cover large areas. It has established itself in the wild now and seemed to be thriving there.
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| Prostrate Capeweed, Arctotheca prostrata |
The trail was leading us uphill at a mild slope. At some point we reached a nice vista point from which we could see the McClure Beach behind us. I could see the people on the beach far below, including two horse riders that were moving slowly on the white sand.
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| McClures Beach |
Ahead of us the trail leveled and continued along the edge of the cliff, above the ocean. There were many people out on the trail and it was difficult to get a people-free photograph so I didn't bother.
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| Tomales Point Trail |
At some point I looked down and noticed something that was floating in one place in the water. I thought it might be an otter but it turned out to be a piece of plastic junk.
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| Beach |
What we did see below near the water was a sandy beach full of birds. There were two brown pelicans, a few gulls , and lots of rock pigeons, all resting together on the beach.
The trail descended a bit, following the contour of the hill. I took an instance of no hikers in view and took a photo of the beautiful coastline to the north.
The end of August is by no means the bloom season. Along the California coast however, bloom season is as extended as it can be. Oregon gumplant shrubs were blooming still.
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| Oregon Gumplant, Grindelia stricta |
We reached a low point on the trail. Right before we had to ascend again passed a short gulch that was going down to the east and there was a spot where we could see all the way down to Tomales Bay - the narrow strip of ocean that separates the north part of Point Reyes from the mainland.
On the hill south of that gulch we noticed a herd of elk. Most of them were all the way up on the crest of the hill - a group of females and a few males flanking them. They were far away and hard to see.
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| The elk on the hill |
Pappa Quail had a better view of the herd through his strong birding lens. He could see that there were elk also on the slope below the hill's crest. They were so well blended with the dry vegetation that they were nearly impossible to see with the naked eye unless they were on the move.
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| Tule Elk |
Many of the people on the trail were satisfied with reaching this point. After seeing the elk herd many of the hikers turned around and headed back. We continued forward. The trail was now ascending again and there were considerably fewer people sharing it with us.
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| Tomales Point Trail |
The hill curved hard to the ocean. The ocean looked quiet, and it was deep blue, mirroring the deep blue of the sky. We couldn't have asked for a better day for hiking this trail.
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| Ocean View |
Little pink-flowering plants were growing right at the middle of the trail, clearly undisturbed by the trampling of the hikers.
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| Red Sand Spurrey Spergularia rubra |
On the side of the trail I started seeing other wildflowers. Not carpets of them, only a few here and there. There was a single paintbrush plant in bloom, a red dot against the green coyote brush that engulfed it.
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| Wight's Paintbrush Castilleja wightii |
A few seaside daisies were also blooming here and there. I knew that in the spring time the entire coastal hills are covered with these flowers and I vocalized my desire to return to that trail at that time of year.
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| Seaside Daisy, Erigeron glaucus |
There were also California poppies blooming. I love seeing our lovely State flowers wherever I go, they never fail to raise my spirit.
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| California Poppy, Eschscholzia californica |
So far, other than those we saw on the beach below, we saw very few birds. Occasionally one would fly by, only to disappear beyond the horizon, but we saw and heard very little bird activity otherwise.
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| Double-crested Cormorant |
The absence of birds, and probably some general tiredness, affected Pappa Quail. He wanted to take a break and then head back. Looking around we spotted a raised knoll where some people were sitting. As we looked there the people there had finished their break and were heading back to the trail, so we went to sit there on that same knoll, now vacated.
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| Vista Point |
On our way to our chosen resting spot however, we passed right by a herd of elk that was very close to the trail.
A number of people were off the trail, standing very close to the elk. Way too close for their safety, I thought.
It was probably for the best that the elk seemed to be used to people's presence and that the big bull was more interested in the elk cows than the bipedal spectators. We remained on the trail and Pappa Quail used his birding camera to take some nice close up photos of these majestic beasts.
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| Tule Elk |
After enough elk gazing we continued to the knoll where we sat down for a snack break. The view from there was wonderful. To the north, Tomales Point Peninsula continued on, blending into the blue, infinite ocean.
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| View Northwest |
To the southeast Mount Tamalpais loomed on the horizon. The location of the historic ranch sites were marked by the dark stands of trees.
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| View Southeast |
East of us was the blue strip of Tomales Bay. In the bay were two little rocky islands. Tomales Bay is one of the places where sometimes bioluminescence occurs. It's not as strong or as common as what I've seen in Puerto Rico a couple of years ago, but it still should be an impressive sight to see. Perhaps one day I'll get to see it myself.
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| View east, Hog Island and Duck Island in Tomales Bay |
Looking southwest we had a nice view of the coastline we just came up along. The white sands of McClure Beach and the rocky extension south of it marked the west point of our land view. Soon we would be returning along that very same coastline.
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| View Southwest |
Pappa Quail was the first to get up and start down the knoll back to the trail. I was delayed a few moments behind him because a pretty butterfly flew over and settled on the ground below me.
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| West Coast Lady butterfly |
We returned to the trail and started walking back south. Most of our way now was downhill, and most of the sights on the way we've seen already, so we moved fairly quickly.
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| Tomales Point Trail |
It was on our way back that we started seeing more winged creatures. There were more butterflies enjoying the late flowers now.
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| West Coast Lady butterfly |
We started seeing more birds too, although nothing unusual or spectacular. Sparrows are cute though, and I enjoy seeing them around.
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| Sparrow |
A large turkey vulture circled the sky above us. Pappa Quail continued walking, ignoring the hovering scavenger but it was so close that I was able to get a good photo of the bird.
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| Turkey Vulture |
As we were coming down toward Pierce Point Ranch we noticed a weird type of 'bush' on the slope above the trail. I suppose that the solitary bull elk we saw at the beginning of the hike has found his own resting place.
On the way back I had another opportunity to appreciate the stand of grand Monterey cypresses. I thought that these tall trees would be a perfect perching place for birds so I started scanning them with my binoculars, hoping to find an owl.
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| Monterey Cypress, Hesperocyparis macrocarpa |
Well, I didn't see any owl. The only bird that was on those trees was a raven. I hurried ahead to catch up with Pappa Quail who was already at the road, going down to the McClure Beach parking lot. On the way there I photographed a fern that didn't seem to mind being out on a dry slope directly under the sun. I guess that the morning fog is enough to keep it lush and happy there.
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| Western Sword Fern, Polystrichum munitum |
This was the second and last hike of the day. I exited the trail with a strong sensation of wanting to go back there and hike all the way down to Tomales Point. The best time to do it though, would probably be in the spring, when the hills are green and the wildflowers are at their peak bloom. On the way back to our lodge I was already planning aloud this future trip until Pappa Quail turned the music on.
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