Point Reyes

California desperately needs rain, but it’s so easy to appreciate the fact that we’re enjoying a wonderful spell of perfect weather in the middle of Janurary. All week it has been cloudless skies with temperatures in the high 60s to low 70s.

Of course I did not know this back in November when I reserved a campsite at Wildcat Backpack Camp at Point Reyes. It’s always a gamble to plan a backpacking trip in advance in winter, but this time the gamble paid off. I invited a group of friends to join me, some of them newbies to backpacking, and managed to look the hero by picking such a perfect weekend. The park was booked solid and the parking lots were full of dayhikers – everyone wanted to be out enjoying the perfect weather.

We met at the Bovine Bakery in Point Reyes Station (a must-visit place – try the goat cheese and spinach croissant) and then hit the trail around 10:30 am. It’s around 6.5 miles in to Wildcat Camp via the Glen Trail and we arrived in camp for a late lunch, followed by a hike down the beach to Alamere Falls. After the falls it was back to camp where we shared a 2.5 gallon keg of homebrew that David carried in for us. This means that I carried the rest of the gear, but it was worth it!

Having carried back a bunch of firewood from waaaay down the beach, we were able to have a nice campfire on the beach, along with some fire-starting survival experiments from Ben. It’s good to see some of the ‘tricks’ being tried.  Overnight the temperature barely dropped below 50 degrees – I don’t think I’ve ever had such wonderful weather on the coast!

In the morning we hiked out via the Coast Trail with a stop by Arch Rock. As we normally do, the after-hike meal was at a brewery, this time at Moylan’s in Novato.

I don’t know if a trip to Point Reyes could possibly be any better. I better just give up now!

Point Reyes Wildcat Camp (01.17-18.2009)

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