A Walk at Pt. Reyes National Seashore

Pt. Reyes National Seashore
January 24, 1992

It's ten in the morning on a midweek day in January. Rick Lyttle and I are standing at the marker at the Palomarin trailhead, which reads: "Bear Valley --12 Miles." It's clear but chilly, a good day to walk, and we'll warm-up as we go. 

For a mile or so, the trail hugs the coastline with the Pacific Ocean always in view. A couple of miles farther and we pass five fresh water lakes, none more than a half-mile from the beach. Then we come into Wildcat Camp, one of the few areas designated for overnight camping. It would be deserted but for one backpacker who is leaving as we arrive. Midweek in January and you have things almost to yourself. I see a white fallow deer on the hill above. They are a nonnative species introduced years ago. The Forest Service culls the herds because they are more prolific breeders than our native blacktail deer.

We turn inland. Just up ahead a bobcat is crossing the trail, and it doesn't seem to give a damn that we are approaching. Finally, it saunters off into some scrub brush. The trail is climbing now. The landscape is varied, a mixture of wooded, mountainous terrain, contiguous with long, flat stretches of sandy beach; a photographer's paradise.

Glen Camp is our lunch stop. I make my sketch here and decide to include Rick in the scene. I note that he looks literary, in deep thought, while resting against a big tree trunk. How else should a writer appear, if not literary? Rick is the author of numerous books. We met in a drawing class and sometimes hike together and expound on various topics, our work, or whatever. It's therapeutic and, occasionally, we even stumble onto a subject and know what we are talking about.

Leaving Glen Camp, we pick up the Bear Valley Trail, which takes us farther inland and back to the Visitor Center and the car. The trail passes through meadows frequented by blacktail deer, and like the bobcat we saw earlier, they ignore us as we pass. We arrive at Bear Valley at five o'clock. As we drive back to Palomarin and the other car, a brilliant red and yellow sunset paints the cirrus clouds over the Pacific. 
 

< Back | Next > 

Logan's Home Page | Profile | Guest Book (comments) | Links