Hike out of Sky Camp in Point Reyes

Just came back from an overnight hiking trip to Point Reyes. It was great. We camped at the Sky Camp, which I chose because it was the first available reservation when I called the Visitor Center two months ago. In the end I was very happy with that choice, we had a very private camping site surrounded by forest on one side and tall chaparral on the other sides. The site was very clean, had a picnic table and a large food locker.

The plan for Saturday was to hike the Sky Trail down to the coast, walk along the coast to the Sculptured Beach, and go back to the camp on the Fire Line Trail. We parked at the Sky Trail head at about 11 AM and hiked to the camp on the Sky Trail service road. The day was foggy and tall trees along the road were dripping water.


At the camp we just setup the tent and started the hike. I knew Point Reyes as semi dry coastal hills. The Sky Trail going out of the camp is very different, a temperate rain forest with lush green vegetation. On Saturday the forest was covered in fog and dripping buckets of water. The sides of the trail were dotted with blooming Crocosmias. We also found blue berry bushes (at least they looked and tasted like blueberries).


The Sky Trail goes on the forested high ridge for several miles, and at the end drops down to the coast.


At the coast we decided to walk extra 0.5 mile to see the Arch Rock. This picture shows a little sandy beach just to the left of the Arch Rock.


Arch Rock was a good place to sit down, look at the ocean, have some snack, and be watched by a very curious California Seagull.


Out of the Arch Rock there is a little trail going along the cliff, which we tried hoping to get back to the Coast Trail. No luck, the chaparral is too thick and high. But the trail has nice lunch spots at the edge of the cliff, and a view on the rock inhabited by the Black Cormorants.


Our next stop was the Sculpture Beach, where I got a good shot on the seagull working on a crab dinner, and a raven sitting on the nearby rocks.



We were back in the camp after 7PM. The area was covered in fog and trees kept dripping water. At the camp site it felt like sitting next to the rain.

On Sunday early morning, before folding the tent, we made a short walk to the top of a nearby Mt. Wittenberg. The air was fresh and moist, everything was quiet, and the forest in the fog was very mystical.


If you looked through this post and like some of the pictures, drop me a comment line.

Hike in Andrew Molera SP

Andrew Molera State Park in Big Sur is only 2 hours away from Sunnyvale, we drove there on Sunday morning, started to hike at 10AM, and were back home by 8PM. The trip details were set in advance thanks to the Redwood Hikes, which I found on the web while browsing for the Big Sur maps.

Our first hike up the East Molera Trail was in a full sun and exhausting. We scrambled up the grassy hill for about 2 miles and got past the small redwood grove with the tree trunks black from the 2008 fire. The trail was extending higher and deeper into the Big Sur, but it was too hot for the inland hiking. We took a couple pictures from the highest point and rushed down to the coast. On the way back we visited the Molera ranch house, which is now turned into a small museum.

View from the East Molera Trail at the Big Sur River estuary

View at the East Molera Trail from the coast

The second hike was the Bluffs, Panorama, and Ridge loop. This is really a magnificent hike, going along the beach in one direction and then back on the mountain ridge. The Bluffs trail has short connector trails to the beach, we took one of them, the Spring Trail, to have a rest on the beach. I learned later that at the low tide one can walk on the beach all the way from the Big Sur River to the Spring Trail, I would like to try it next time as an option to the Bluffs Trail. Past the Spring Trail the trail climbs up to the ridge and has sections with only a foot wide corridor between 6 foot tall and higher plants. I never experienced that in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

A turkey vulture in flight over the park

A rest at the beach at the end of the Spring Trail

Deer hikers on the Panorama trail

The Ridge trail is mostly flat and goes partially through the forest with redwoods and other trees. This was a nice surprise because after reading the trail description on the web I was ready for the unshaded hills. I certainly want to come back to this park another time, perhaps in early spring.

Red Hawk at Lake Lagunitas

The red hawk came down out of the blue sky when we walked around the Lake Lagunitas at Stanford. He made a few low circles around the path and then started to gain altitude. Enough time to take a few pictures.