Point Reyes National Seashore

We had a few more hours to spend at Point Reyes National Seashore before we needed to head back to Fresno, so we headed to the Visitor Center which we had not yet had a chance to get to. We were just in time to join a ranger led walk along the Earthquake Trail. The walk took us along the San Andreas Fault where we saw two halves of a fence that was displaced by 16 feet during the Earthquake of 1906. The ranger provided lots of information on the geology of the area.

We left the visitor center and stopped in Inverness to see the shipwreck - the S.S. Point Reyes. It's a boat that shipwrecked on a sand bar in Tomales Bay over 100 years ago. At one point, the owners of the land it sits on were going to remove the boat, but that caused an uproar amongst local photographers who frequently photographed it. So, the owners decided to leave it be.

Our last stop was back at the Cypress Tree Tunnel to walk all the way to the end. 

Mt. Tamalpais State Park and Muir Woods National Monument

We started our day by driving south from Olema (where our campground is located) to Mt. Tamalpais State Park. We drove to the East Peak where we walked the Verna Dunshee Trail which is a great paved loop that offers fantastic views of San Francisco, the bay, Marin, and the Pacific Ocean. Then we took the Plank Walk Trail which took us to the base of the Fire Lookout Station with more gorgeous views. After a picnic at Mount Tamalpais, we drove the short distance to Muir Woods National Monument.

The view from the Verna Dunshee Trail.

Looking toward the Pacific Ocean

The Fire Lookout Station on the East Peak of Mt. Tamalpais

Once at Muir Woods National Monument we set out on a 3.1-mile hike that started along the Redwood Creek before heading into the hills on the east side of the redwood grove. It was a great hike that allowed us to get away from the crowds and really enjoy the towering redwood trees. 

Several posts along the hike were covered with ladybugs!

After our day of sightseeing, we drove back through Olema and on to the next town, Point Reyes Station, where we celebrated our 28th anniversary with pizza at Cafe Reyes. 

Point Reyes National Seashore

For our anniversary weekend, we wanted to continue the tradition we started a few years ago of taking a camping trip. This year we chose the coastal region north of San Francisco to be the focus of the trip. We arrived at the Olema Campground in the early afternoon where we quickly unhitched from our trailer and headed straight to Point Reyes National Seashore. We made a short stop at the Cypress Tree Tunnel before continuing the drive to the lighthouse. When researching this trip, I kept reading that the lighthouse is frequently closed due to high winds, but we got lucky and were able to tour it. 

It's a long way down to the lighthouse - 313 steps to be exact!

After seeing the lighthouse, we had just enough daylight left to squeeze in a hike to Chimney Rock. It was an easy 2-mile hike that afforded views of Drake's Beach (with seals sleeping on the beach) and the coastline stretching to the southeast.

We think this was Chimney Rock (after which the hike was named)

See the seals?

We ate dinner back at our trailer and watched a DVD before going to bed.