Bodega Bay and Point Reyes Jaunary 15-17 2001

Day 1: Meet Penny at Point Reyes Station around 12:30.  Bike Ride the most beautiful roads in Marin County past incredible scenery, and past wonderful bakeries and restaurants. It's a 35 mile loop and the last bit on Highway 1 was hard but well worth the effort.  Anton and Penny quit at mile 7 from physical pain and traffic terror respectively.  We met up again a few hours later and drove to Bodega Bay, where Penny's parents have a rental house that we were fortunate enough to be able to stay at.
Below is the loop.  I was recommended to do it counterclockwise, so I had the wind with me on my way back to Point Reyes.  Thanks Jen for the great tip. 

Day 2:
We hiked around Penny's house to the beach and walked there.  The weather was sunny but cold.  The fog had cleared out.  Then home for a quick lunch, then we drove to Bodega point and hiked there.  Some of the trails are in sandy dunes, some on the beach, and some are through low shrubs and coastal flora.

Here is my artist rendition of the Bodega Head loop we did in the afternoon.  It was about 7.5 miles of fun walking.

Day 3:
Best day of them all: hiking at Point Reyes.  Sunny, possibly in the neighborhood of 65 degrees, but it felt warmer.  Stopped at Bovine Bakery for croissants and tea.  Anton had caffeinated Chai and some ibuprofen BEFORE the hike and was completely pain free.  He felt so good he left ME in the dust, walking ahead of me and making me huff and puff.  Stupidly, we didn't take any photos of the hike.
Below is the map of our loop.   We started at the park headquarters and headed south on Bear Valley trail.  Then headed up Old Pine Trail, took at right on Sky Trail on the ridge, checked out Mount Wittenberg, then needing to head home to feed dinner to the horses, we headed back down on Z Ranch trail, then back down Horse Trail back to the station and the car.  We left Point Reyes at 2 and got back to Winter by 4 in time to feed horses, chickens, and collect eggs.
The best part was that the Valley had been under a blanket of fog the entire weekend, while we enjoyed sunshine on the coast.

 

On the way to Pt Reyes, from Bodega Bay

Prius, trusted faithful steed

Morning fog burning off, Pt Reyes becoming visible

Fiske Peak Hike 1/23/11

Fiske Peak, we made it.

Cache Creek Regional Park off highway 16 in Capay Valley.


We left late, almost noon, and Anton go wasn't overly excited about the hike, but once we got there he could not resist the place.  Besides the fact that he likes and knows the area already from dirt biking around here, this area is pretty remote and so beautiful.

The peak is 2886 feet tall.  We started at 700 feet, so it's a 2100 feet elevation change plus the ups and downs.  It's 4 miles or so of very steep switchbacks and some straight uphill sections, in the beginning through the trees, then through mostly chaparral and rocks.   It took us about 2 hr and 15 minutes with some stops for stretching and checking out the view.  At the top, there is a box with a pad in it and you can read what other hikers have written in it and leave your own blurb.  Anton did too. 

Anton intently leaving a note in the peak book.

 The views from the peak are amazing.  The day was pleasant, though kinda hazy.  We could see the Buttes for a little while, then they got swallowed up.  Sierras were majestically there, covered in snow.  Tahoe very recognizable, the other peaks we couldn't recognize very well because we are lame.  Off to the north (near Ukiah) we could see Goat mountain with some snow at the top.  (in picture below)

Looking North from Fiske Peak

The trail head and parking lot where we started is off highway 16, right by the creek.

 We are definitely thinking about coming and camping out here.  From Fiske Peak the Blue Ridge trail continues south and loops back around to Rayhouse Road and back up to Cach Creek Park.  It should be about 16 to 20 miles.  During one of the next sunny weekends it would be great to backpack in, then spend the night an loop back.