January 29, 2005 - Pt. Reyes

Checking out the GPS.

The first five pictures are from the White House Pool trail, where I set the GPS to 18 feet (after a brief foray to 11,000). That's Black (aka "Elephant," "Knuckle") Mountain in the distance, and a red-shouldered hawk almost entirely hidden by the trees.

The Bear Valley Trail is one of the main arteries, and probably the most popular trail in Point Reyes. It starts right near the Visitor Center, following a year-round creek up to Divide Meadow, then down to the ocean at Arch Rock. Several trails branch off from Bear Valley, including the Wittenburg, Meadow, Fire Lane, Glen, Baldy, and Coast trails.

According to my hand-held GPS, the trailhead is at N 80 degrees 02.366', W 122 degrees 47.994', at about 61 feet elevation.

Divide Meadow is at N 38 degrees 01.152', W 122 degrees 48.056', at 267 feet elevation.

At Divide Meadow, a Bobcat honored us with its presence, hunting at the lower west end of the meadow, oblivious to the sounds of other hikers. We shared the view through our binocs with some of the others, as it patiently hunted. Just as I was trying to line up an impromptu "digiscope" shot, it caught what we think was a "Dusky-Footed Woodrat," and sauntered off into the brush for a well-deserved dinner.

Along this trail, we have also seen Osprey, various Hawks, Spotted Owl.

Also see April 2, 2004.

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