07-17-2021 Fun times in Early July

Early July began with record breaking temperatures for Southern Oregon, and for much of the west.  For us, the 116 degree temperatures moderated a bit to a livable 100 degrees.  Amazing how good that feels even when the thermometer hits 100 several days in a row.  So far, a couple of weeks into the month we haven’t experienced those awful 100 teens plus days since that first week.  I hope we don’t get them again.  In addition, in spite of the seriously hot weather and afternoon winds, we don’t have any fires locally.  The biggest fire in the country right now is the Bootleg Fire, northeast of Kamath Falls, but the smoke is heading east and here in Grants Pass the skies are a gorgeous clear blue.

Going to the Lavender Festival inspired me and on the first day of the month I decided I should cut the lavender.  The bees weren’t happy with me. They seem to love lavender more than just about anything in the yard, except for the bird bath which they have taken over completely as their very own summer water fountain.  I try to be sure it is full every day.  Bees need water and these are very sweet friendly honey bees that buzz around like crazy but never bother me.

A photo from my little shop in Wallace, Idaho

I decided it was time to make a wreath.  I used to make so many of them when I was making a living growing and selling crafted dried flowers on the show circuit and in my little shop in Wallace, Idaho.  After I let that business go to once again make my living digging holes in the dirt, I never made another wreath until now.  I tried a small wreath of lavender.  It took four full large bushes of fully blooming lavender to finish that wreath.  Hanging it on the door, I delighted in the fragrance, if not the tiny little lavender flowers that shed all over the porch every time I open and close the front door.  Who knows how long it will last or how long it will keep shedding.

July 4th this year was a treat.  Especially after our nothing celebration last year because of Covid and everyone feeling much safer just staying at home.  This year I asked Daughter Melody if we could come to her house for the day.  She was thrilled, and even gave up the annual Fourth of July party that she traditionally shares with her Albany friends.  Daughter Deb was going too, and decided to drive her own car since we had a bunch of “stuff” in our car.  Grandson Matthew was going to go but at the last minute he had to opt out due to concerns with the couple that he helps to caretake.  He had no one at the house to help and couldn’t leave Karen alone with the blood pressure and heart rate issues she was having.  Next year we will celebrate minus Melody, but with a local picnic maybe Matthew will be able to participate.  So hard to get everyone in the same place anymore.

The drive north on the Fourth was easy, just 3 hours to Melody’s house in the car.  We opted to leave the MoHo at home since there really isn’t any place to park it at Melody’s house.  Daughter Melody and Robert did a great job fixing up the guest bedroom with a cooling gel mattress pad, new comfy sheets and pillows, and a big fan in the window.  Such a nice retreat it was for us.

By the time we arrived just after 11, Deborah was already there helping Melody lay out the huge feast of goodies she had prepared for the family.  Somehow the giant tray of veggies and dip went by the wayside as we all gobbled up Robert’s traditional deviled eggs.  No longer just for Easter, Robert’s eggs are a tradition whenever we all get together.  Deborah made a delicious guacamole which kept me quite happy. 

Grandkids,  Axel and Xavier, with Axel’s sweetie, Pi, showed up by early afternoon. Axel and Pi are “new” even though they have known each other for over two years.  At 28 years old, it is a good thing that Axel now at last has a solid, good relationship to enjoy.

My grandson Xavier was looking wonderful as well, putting on some weight and working at a job he loves. He is working in telephone sales for Cricket.  Indoors, air conditioning, no heavy lifting, and plenty of percs and benefits.  He likes it a LOT better than working in the produce department at Fred Meyer, which was the job he had before COVID required that he not work in that unsafe environment.  Type 1 Diabetes is nothing to fool with, and he couldn’t risk being exposed to COVID. The entire family is fully vaccinated now and it is such a relief to worry a bit less about exposure to the virus at last.

The day was simple and easy with lots of talking and visiting.  Melody and the kids and I walked the two blocks to the city park and the river.  Pioneer Park is a popular place on the fourth and many families were camping and enjoying picnics at the big tables in the shade.  Mattie went completely crazy with all the excitement of the river, the kids, and all the people. I did not manage to take a single photo of the excitement.  It was hot and we were all quite happy to return to the cool living room for the rest of the afternoon.

Somehow we didn’t manage time for games, and by 3:30 Robert fired up the grill for supper by 5.  It was amazing watching him manage all the different requests from each guest.  Robert cooked filet mignon steaks, hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken legs, and four racks of ribs.  Everything turned out perfectly, well almost.  Some of us thought the ribs were a bit too done, but the kids loved them and took all the leftovers home.  Not a thing went to waste….then again I am sure much went to our waists!

After dinner we visited some more. The kids left around 7 since they didn’t want to drive back to Albany after dark.  It’s only a 20 minute drive or so for them, but with holiday crazies running around on the highway between Brownsville and Albany they thought it would be better to lay low in their own apartment for the evening.

The five of us ate some more goodies and waited until about 9 to gather up our chairs and walk down to the park once again for the fireworks.

The show was put on by the Brownsville Fire Department and they did a spectacular job.  I have seen shows in much bigger cities that weren’t as wonderful as this show.  It was also good to know that the fire department was making sure that everyone was safe and no stray sparks were unattended.  I loved every minute of it.

The next morning we had a wonderful breakfast with bagels and Deborah’s egg bake casserole and more visiting before Deborah left for home and Mo and I headed south toward our next adventure.

July 5 Visiting Wildlife Safari in Winston

I think I went to Wildlife Safari a very long time ago, when Melody lived in Medford.  All I remember is being with Melody and her mother-in-law, Donna, and Axel who was just a little one.  I remember the cheetahs behind the fence and how much Axel loved cheetahs.  Mo had never been to the Wildlife Safari.  It isn’t far from Grants Pass, maybe 80 miles or so, and is a popular place to take out of town guests.  Crater Lake, the Coast, Wildlife Safari, and the Hellgate Jetboats on the Rogue are the go to activities for company. Pretty sure Crater Lake and the Coast win hands down.  We have talked about going the Safari a few times, and yesterday when I mentioned it again, Mo said, why not tomorrow on our way home from Brownsville.

In spite of the mid day hour, the heat, and the holiday, we decided to give it a try.  We were happy to learn that even though dogs are not allowed in your car when traveling through the park, there are nice kennels provided for them to be safely housed during your visit.  The kennels are free if you bring your own lock, but they will provide a padlock that you can keep for $5.  Not bad to keep Mattie cool and safe while we explored.  We decided to do the walkable portion of the park first.  The area isn’t too big to walk in a short time and the gardens and shade trees are lovely.  Most of the animals were lounging in the shade, too hot to move around much, and often hidden in their dark lairs so we weren’t able to see all of them.  The tortoise was slowly meandering around his enclosure with a leaf in his mouth.  Such fascinating creatures!  The lions were pacing near the feeding area, but too far from the viewing platform to see them very well.  The wolves from South America were completely zonked in the heat, very little movement from them.

The rest of the area is geared to families and kids, with a couple of eating establishments for snack food, and some exhibits geared to kids enjoyment.  I think we stayed maybe an hour at most before getting in line for the slow meander in our car around the wild animal area where most animals roam freely and humans must remain in their cars. 

Some of the animals from Africa, who seemed to be immune to the intense heat, were roaming about.  Several were eating in the shade shelters which made photography a bit difficult, but as we rounded a curve to the area where feeding cups could be purchased, the emus, rheas, and several varieties of young deer were milling about begging for food from people in their cars.  A lovely rhea poked his head in our window and looked rather disgusted that we had no food for him.

As we approached the cheetah area, there wasn’t a cheetah in sight, but there was a big jam up of cars.  People were instructed at the beginning of the tour to stay to the right to let people pass if they wished, but many folks had no clue about how to do that.  Drivers of cars full of young kids parked in the middle of the road, with no room on either side for passing. 

We finally meandered along with the rest, but not without a few impatient exclamations from Mo and from me now and then.  It was hot and many of the animals were not to be seen.  We missed the rhino, the cheetahs, the yaks, and the hippos.  Actually, we didn’t miss the hippos completely because as we passed I am pretty sure that two large gray rocks were actually hippos.

We enjoyed the Safari somewhat, but I think the most excitement came from Mattie when I picked her up from the kennel.

07-08 Driving up to Recreation Creek and Malone Springs.

With the heat in triple digits for days on end, Mo and I wondered when we might have a chance to get our butts in the boats again.  We scheduled a day trip to Rocky Point for a nice early morning kayak after I looked at the temperatures and decided Thursday was the only day that it was to be less than 100 degrees in the Basin.  We planned to leave early, and I packed a tuna sandwich lunch for us and we were in the truck by 7.  When we travel, the kayaks are lifted on top of the Tracker and tied down.  Requires quite a bit of effort, climbing up and down on a step to reach the straps, and getting all safely balanced and secured.  We decided that for a simple day trip we could take the pickup.  Loading the kayaks is considerably easier with the pickup.  They still have to be lifted, but not nearly as high, and strapping them down is much simpler.

The route to Malone Springs, a few miles north of Rocky Point, is easy, and requires traveling from Grants Pass toward Medford, turning east near Central Point and traveling Highway 140 over the High Lakes Pass toward the east slope of the Cascades.  Malone Springs is about half way between the Rocky Point boat launch and the northern terminus of Crystal Creek at Crystal Springs.  We have kayaked the entire length of the canoe trail from end to end and through the marsh many times.  This time, however, we decided to put in at Malone Springs and kayak south toward Rocky Point.  We haven’t been in the kayaks since last year, and both of us were just a little bit apprehensive about our ability to get back out of the kayaks at the end of our paddle.  We decided on paddling south for just and hour before turning around to be sure we didn’t do more than we could manage.

I was worried about my left shoulder which has been acting up lately with either arthritis or bursitis, legs with muscle atrophy which may or may not hold up when I try to rise from the boat, and now a silly trigger thumb that has been giving me a bit of trouble.  Mo had been dealing with knee and ankle issues.  It was time to get back in practice and see just how much we could manage.  We also wanted to paddle in a place that didn’t have too many people around to witness our attempts at exiting our kayaks.

Nothing to worry about in the least.  I was thrilled to be on the water again after so long.  The morning was marred a bit by smoky skies from a large fire to the east of the Klamath Basin.  Our views were up close, with the distant mountains of Crater Lake and Harriman Peak completely obscured by the smoke.  Still, the wocus were blooming, although this late in the season there were only a few blossoms.  The creek level was quite low, but not so much that we had any difficulty paddling, and the section of the creek that we followed wasn’t terribly weedy. 

The water was clear and we were completely alone for the entire route, up and back.  We turned around after an hour and 15 minutes to paddle upstream.  As often happens on Recreation Creek, a slight breeze from the south made paddling against the gently current nearly effortless and the return trip was a bit shorter than the trip downriver.  The views were limited by smoke and in the distance where we usually see the rim of Crater Lake to the north and Mt. Harriman to the south, we only saw murky skies.  Birds were few and far between as well, except for the red winged blackbirds, many little brown twittery birds, a kingfisher and one great blue heron. 

The canoe trail sign is very high above the water, indicating how low the water level is this year already.  Often those signs are only a foot or two above the water level.

After all that time alone, I was exclaiming to Mo how lucky we were to have the creek to ourselves on this gorgeous summer day when suddenly ten kayaks rounded a curve and entered the Malone Springs area.  We looked at each other, wondering if they planned to lunch there, and wondered when we would have the nerve to try to get out of the kayaks with ten people observing!  The young woman who was guiding the group said they were leaving, and began loading all their kayaks onto a big trailer.  Whew.  Mo and I paddled around a bit in the spring waiting for everyone to leave.  Along comes another kayaker, with a young lab puppy, and she kindly agreed to wait until we could get Mattie out of the boat.

We had nothing to worry about.  I decided to exit my boat on the side opposite the shoreline in knee deep water.  It was perfect.  I didn’t even have to roll into the water as I did last summer to get out of the boat.  The knee deep water did a great job of giving me the extra boost I need to rise from a sitting position.  Mo tried the same maneuver and did just fine.  We are now much more comfortable with our planned kayak day with family during the first week in August. No matter how understanding folks might be about our ungainly attempts to exit the kayaks, it is much nicer to not have to look silly in front of everyone.

After loading up the boats we settled in to the nearby picnic table for our packed picnic lunch.  Malone Springs is known for having hordes of mosquitoes and yet with the heat and drought this year there were very few around to bother us.

We returned to Grants Pass, happy that we could do a simple day trip to find good kayak waters.  Of course, being in the outdoors triggered the need to check for possible reservations available at any of the many campgrounds in the Cascades, or even perhaps farther east.  We try to be sure to get at least one trip away in the MoHo each month and July was passing quickly.  Lo and Behold…everything was blocked out and reserved every place I looked, except suddenly an opening appeared at a campground we have visited in the past and loved.  The reservation was open for three days beginning on the 12th, giving us just two days to make the decision to go.

But that is for the next story….

05-31-2020 Sunday at Hart Antelope Refuge

The winds continued through the night, but we slept really well until about 2 am. A bit of conversation in the dark about our plans for the next day and then Mo fell asleep, but I wasn’t so lucky. I finally got up around 4am to shift positions from lying to sitting which seems to help the leg pain when it hits me like this in the middle of the night.

We got up around 6 to a cloudy day that seemed a bit threatening. The winds had stopped, but there had been just a light patter of rain during the early morning hours although nothing seemed very wet when I stepped outdoors at dawn. Dawn comes a lot earlier this far east, even though we are in the same time zone as we are at home in Grants Pass. Surprising what a just a couple hundred miles can make when it comes to daylight times. After a quick breakfast we were on the road by 7:45

Even though on the previous day we had decided that driving southeast through the featureless desert wasn’t an option, Mo saw a camera marker on the refuge map that indicated the drive might be worth it. There aren’t a lot of roads to explore that go into the higher mountainous areas of the refuge at this time of year, with many roads gated. We did know that the Martin Canyon road had a sign saying it wasn’t officially open until June 15, but the gate was open and unlocked. We decided that our destination for the morning would be Desert Lake marked by the tiny camera on the map. I did mention to Mo that Desert Lake was only an intermittent lake and probably didn’t have any actual water in it.

We drove back up the hill and were surprised that it only takes about 15 minutes to get to the headquarters. Once again we turned south on Blue Sky Road and headed for the Martin Canyon turnoff that we had seen the previous day.

The road was only moderately rough for the most part, meandering across wide alluvial fans and descending gently into depressions and drainages that could hardly be called canyons. I was glad that I had the BLM map because the refuge map wasn’t very clear about the route to Desert Lake, with Martin Canyon road not showing on that map. We knew to turn east at the crossroad with Old Military Road, and then turn again south toward Desert Lake on another road with a strange name that for the life of me I can’t remember. Here is a link to the map.

Back Road to Desert Lake

It was so incredibly quiet except for the birds. The views of the spectacular desert landscape was worth the nearly 7 miles of rough road we took to get there. Colorful wildflowers were everywhere. We saw sulfur lupine, death camas, prairie lupine, various versions of white and pink low phlox, and tansy leaved evening primrose ‘Oenothera tanecetifoli’, which was especially thick on the roadbed.

As expected, the lakebed was dry, but a ridge of volcanic rock on the western side of the lake streaked with orange and chartreuse lichen was spectacular. The rocks were thick with birds that I didn’t recognize but the many types of songs indicated many different kinds of birds make their homes in the rocks. Bright white streaks of bird excrement painted the rocks as well as the lichens.

The one bird we did see and recognize in the low grass in the middle of the road was a horned lark. Of course, no photos since she was bouncing around in the grass so quickly I couldn’t get her on camera. They are ground dwellers, feeders, and nesters, so it may be she had a nest nearby in the dirt because she didn’t want to move out of the way of the car.

We also saw three sage grouse females walking in the sage and then flying low across the brush. I tried to get photos of them, but once again no telephoto, and fast moving birds in the sage didn’t allow very good photos. Still, I’m including one grainy shot because sage grouse are pretty special and are one of the protected species in this refuge. If you want to photograph the amazing sage grouse mating displays in the spring you are required to have a special permit to film birds in the “leks”, or mating grounds of the sage grouse.

We returned the same way we came, passing Old Military Road, turning west on Martin Canyon Road, and then back north on Blue Sky Road to Lookout. Once again, the expansive views were spectacular.  We decided that the next time we came to Hart Mountain we would plan to come just a bit later and explore Black Canyon Road and Military road into places yet to be found.

View to the northwest from Lookout with The Steens on the horizon

We saw only a few pronghorn this time compared to the large herds we saw in September 2013

Our plan for the second half of the day was to return to the Visitor Center and then travel east on the “main” gravel road toward Steens Mountain to Flook Lake. Daughter Melody visited this area last year, camping at the edge of the lake in a tent and bringing back her legal 7 pounds of rocks.

Flook lake is another dry lakebed at this time of year, and there are many surface deposits of small pieces of agate, jasper, petrified wood, and opalized fossils.

We drove across the dry lake, parked on a slight rise, and brought out the chairs for a great lunch of leftover steak sandwiches.  After lunch, we took our time heading back along the playa looking for rocks from the Tracker windows.

Something funny about the landscape at Hart Mountain is the way it can shift and change in ways that are disorienting.  I was the one driving to Flook Lake and yet on the return trip, even though I knew exactly where I was going,  I still got disoriented. I could see Hart Mountain and Poker Jim Ridge, knew I was traveling west, and still had to double check to be sure I was going the right way. It was a very strange feeling and left once we reached the top of the steep hill going down to the Warner Wetlands. I made maps for a living, have a great sense of direction, and have spent a lot of time alone in wild places. Just a heads up, be sure you have a good map and some kind of GPS unit that works without the internet if you plan to wander around this part of Oregon. There is NO cell signal anywhere for a long distance.

Some people asked for a bit more information about the campground. It is operated by the refuge and there are 14 sites, including a camp host site which wasn’t occupied when we were there. I am not sure if that is because of COVID or if it is just too early in the season. The campground was originally a CCC camp developed in 1937 for young men who came west to help build the Hart Antelope Refuge. There is still a building nearby that looks like an old bunk house. At the main visitor center there are beautiful stone buildings characteristic of the CCC style.

There is no shade, the sites are dirt, but are widely spaced with nice metal fire rings and picnic tables at each site. There is a spigot for potable water at the picnic facility which states specifically that camping is NOT allowed under the shelter. When we arrived on Friday night the only occupants were a big motorhome and a small trailer. Throughout the weekend, a couple of campers came and went, but on Sunday night, to our surprise, there were 8 rigs in the campground. Still can’t quite figure out why all those people showed up at the end of the weekend.

I tried in the last post to describe how I feel about Hart Mountain, but I think part of it is the absolute aloneness, miles and miles of nothing and so much open space with no humans. We saw only one truck all day on Blue Sky Road.   The rest of the day we were completely alone. I always feel we are lucky when we return from these forays unscathed. Thank you to the powers that be.

Although, speaking of unscathed, we didn’t quite make it through the trip without an issue. After returning home around 3 in the afternoon, it was cool enough to nap and read a bit. As dinnertime approached, the cloud cover increased to a dull sort of gray. We ate our bean soup and Mo built one last great fire for our sunset watch. We had been pretty happy that our house battery charge stayed above 12 all the time. We ran the gennie before dinner for just an hour to top the charge.

We came in after the sunset and the charge had dropped to 9. What?? Ran the gennie again but as soon as it stopped the charge would drop like a stone. We pulled in the slide, pulled up the jacks so the lack of power wouldn’t interfere with using these operations. We went to bed. It was the darkest night ever.  We still  aren’t sure if there was a wire  loose or if the water level in the batteries was low. (update: water was low, Mo tightened all connections, and so far the batteries are again holding a charge here at home in the MoHo shed.)

We slept well  Morning came early with the sound of rain. We waited until 6am to start up the engine to at least heat up our coffee. Please note, with the rig on “store” instead of “use”, it is impossible to light the stove because the gas doesn’t run if there is no power. We didn’t realize that until we tried, thinking the gas should work no matter since we do not have electronic ignition on the stove.  We thought it would work since we always need to manually light the stove.  Preparing to travel was quick with the slide and jacks already stored.

We were on the road by 6:30 AM on Monday morning, taking a different route south through Adel to reach Highway 140.  It was a perfect choice.  The lakes of the Warner Wetlands extend south from Plush all the way to the highway and in the mixed morning light and partial cloud cover the views were mystical.  No photos once again, since I was driving, and pullovers on that section of road are rare. In the future I would always choose to travel to Plush from the western cutoff for the first views of Hart Mountain and to leave via the more eastern road to Adel so as not to miss the views of the wetlands.

As we continued west through Lakeview Mo suggested a good hot breakfast at a restaurant.  Sounded great, except any restaurants that might be open would also be much farther west in Klamath Falls, and would require masks and who knows what else.  We decided instead to find a good pullover and cook our own breakfast.

 

The summit of Highway 140 where the Gearheart Mountain road heads north into the Gearheart Wilderness was perfect.  The skies opened up to brilliant blue, the trees smelled wonderful, and we had the large bathroom stop entirely to ourselves with the Forest Service pit toilet still closed for COVID.

Breakfast was superb, much better than anything we could find in a restaurant.

Google Maps of our Trip

01-29-2020 Visiting Point Reyes National Seashore

I recently read a blog from Nickie about their visit to Point Reyes National Seashore back in 2015. It looked wonderful, and as we planned our trip south I made sure that we would spend an extra day on the road to enjoy the park. I didn’t think I had been there in the past, but when I perused old photos I found that on our very first trip to California together, Mo and I visited Drake’s Beach, right in the middle of the sanctuary.

It was a long time ago, back in 2004, and it was a short side trip on our route south. Mo didn’t remember our visit either. It’s a good thing I have photos or I wouldn’t remember much at all, especially in the days before blogging. I am pretty sure there is a journal entry back home in our old leather journal, but that doesn’t help much when on the road.

We began our morning with a short jaunt from the campground to the Bear Valley Visitor Center. The building is architecturally lovely, with lots of tall glass windows reflecting light in all directions. We first stopped at the information desk where a very knowledgeable park ranger answered our many questions about visiting the park. I was especially curious about the geology of the area, and without a moment’s hesitation she explained the “accreted terranes”, mentioned John McPhee’s book “Assembling California”, and offered a book with a great geologic map of the area. Such a delight.

I had been trying to think of the term “accreted terranes” for many miles during the previous day as we drove along the highway and Mo asked me about the geology. Imagine a bunch of dishes on a table, and tilt that table and watch them all slide together, mashing up into a big mess, then heat it up a bit, watch them melt and resolidify and become part of the table next to them. The American Plate and the Pacific Plate come together here on either side of the San Andreas Fault which runs through the park. Driving down the coast, we are on the American Plate, driving out to Point Reyes, we are on the Pacific plate. I love geology, can you tell?

We wandered through the exhibits, enjoying the panoramas, the information about the plants and animals in the park, and marveling at some truly spectacular garbage art decorating one of the hallways.

Point Reyes is located just north of San Francisco Bay and covers more than 100 square miles of coastal wilderness. The park preserves the natural ecosystems, native plant and animal species, and cultural heritage sites that are part of a diminishing undeveloped western coastline of the United States. There is a LOT to see, much more than we would be able to manage in our one day of visiting.

We spent most of our time exploring as much of the area that we could access and marveled at the incredible diversity of the landscape. There are vast beaches, grasslands, salt and freshwater marshes, coniferous forests, and magnificent granite headlands. We learned that there are more than 1,000 species of plants and animals that are protected here.

The park also contains several historic farmhouses, barns, and creameries that have been preserved as cultural heritage sites and are still in operation.

We couldn’t decide which way to go first, thinking we would head north toward the Tule Elk Reserve area but somehow missed the turn. Instead we traveled west through some rough roads toward the lighthouse. Along the way we stopped at North Beach, and then South Beach. Our friendly park ranger had drawn specific areas that were accessible to dogs on a leash on our map. Mattie was appreciative.

The lighthouse wasn’t open for tours on the day of our visit. I am reasonably certain that even if it had been open I wouldn’t have managed the more than 300 steps down. Just over a year ago, I could climb all the steps in Florence, but this year is a bit different. My legs aren’t working quite right and I am in the midst of the long process of diagnosis. Sticks are now required for balance and lots of stairs are now off the table. But that is another story for another time. In the mean time, I do what I can, and after our day at Point Reyes, I happily noted that I managed to walk 3.5 miles, but not all at once.

The lighthouse is high above the ocean, but far below the high point of the headland where our trail led to a breathtaking viewpoint overlooking the lighthouse and the entire coast. It was built in 1870, but retired from service in 1975 when many lighthouses were automated due to the rising costs of manning and maintaining them.

Point Reyes is the windiest place on the Pacific Coast and the second foggiest place on the North American Continent. Weeks of fog, especially during the summer months, reduce visibility to a few hundred feet. The Point Reyes Headlands, jutting ten miles out to sea, are a threat to ships entering or leaving San Francisco Bay. The Point Reyes Lighthouse has warned mariners of danger for more than 100 years.

After our visit to the lighthouse, we meandered slowly along the somewhat rough and narrow road to the elephant seal overlook. A short hike to a viewing platform is accompanied by the snorts and squeals and calls of the seals, long before they come into view. I made the mistake of leaving our binoculars in the MoHo for this trip, silly me, and was only able to see the pups through the telephoto lens of the camera.

We returned to a road that led to the highest point of the reserve. The Point Reyes Peninsula is geogically separated from the rest of Marin County and almost all of the Continental United States by the rift zone of the San Andreas Fault, part of which is sunk below sea level and forms Tomales Bay. The bay was barely visible through the late afternoon fog from the summit of Mt Wittenberg, at just over 1,400 feet elevation.

It was getting late in the day, but we still hoped to see some marshy muddy wetlands and find some shore birds. Driving back west, into the setting sun, we dropped down rapidly to sea level toward Limontour Beach, where a trail adjacent to the marsh promised great views of birds. We could see a few in the distance, but up close observation would have required more hiking and the day was drawing to a close. I did manage a photo of a pair of ducks and one last view of beach.

We traveled back east up the 17 percent grade, happy that the sun was at our backs, and arrived at camp after sunset. I would love to return and spend more time walking the trails and enjoying this beautiful place. At this time of year it was wide open and uncrowded, but a bit cool. Warmer temperatures later in the season would no doubt bring out more crowds. For the time being, I am grateful for two nights at Olema Campground that gave us a full day to explore Point Reyes National Seashore.