Postcards from San Fran

It's a winding, narrow, rocky trip up Sir Francis Drake Rd. to get to Point Reyes but once there it has to be one of the most dramatic alluring landscapes on either American Coasts.  Located at the northern Pacific, bound by moisture coming in and a draught moving out from the interior, the landscape shifts from brown foothills to near rainforest sometimes within feet one another.  We took the Bear Valley trailhead out to the coast, over Meadow Divide toward Painted Rock near Point Resistance, a four and a half hour round trip walk from brown to green to blue.

The trail followed the path of a small mountain creek and where there was water and shade the ferns and lichen took over from more weather beaten meadow or rocky outcroppings.  Douglas fir rose up from the mountain sides and leaned in the direction of the hikers, forcing a look over the shoulder here and there to make sure there was no tipping.

We had planned to turn around half-way, at meadow divide, located at the apex of the trail but the allure of the panorama at the sea cliffs was overwhelming and despite just barely enough water and two sandwiches in a paper bag, we kept going...

... and there it sunk into the walking legs that there is no such thing as a free lunch or pristine view.

Eyeing along the coast north, past the major inlet at Drakes Beach, you could see Point Reyes lighthouse, a 45 minute drive from the Bear Valley trailhead and a trip to take next time.  We sat up on the sandy dune like mountain prairie and listened to the seacoast crash below on beaches that they highly recommend visiting only if you are willing to keep tabs on the tide schedule so as not to get trapped against the cliffs.  As we walked back we realized the great reward of returning back to the car and the promise of a watering hole at Point Reyes Station, a boutique mountain town five miles inland.