Samuel P Taylor State Park

Today had it all, coast and redwoods and rain and sun and hills and more hills.

I woke early again & had a great breakfast of malt-o-meal with honey, raisins & yogurt and a cup of coffee. Looking on were three adorable feral cats. Cute as buttons but would have had their paws in my breakfast if I’d given them half a chance, I had to give two of them spritzes from my water bottle.

It had rained during the night, and packing up a soggy tent on the dune was a mess. I had to stop on the way out to spray my bike down to get some of the sand off her.

The day should have been a very easy one, 45 miles or so. Things started great. Highway 1 is very desolate near here, you go miles without seeing so much as a building. The very occasional farmhouse. I did start to see other cyclists, of the spandex-clad carbon-frame type, too intent on maintaining their lines or whatever to even grunt hello as they zipped past me. I realized it was Saturday & that’s probably one of the reasons for the uptick.

I passed again through several tiny towns, places with populations of 200-400, towns with a general store, a post office, and a restaurant to their name.

Along this stretch I was biking along the north side of Tomales Bay, which extends inland a long way and apparently has great oysters, judging by the number of very popular oyster restaurants along the way.

Then I got to Point Reyes Station, a charming tourist town and home of the Cowgirl Creamery, makers of most excellent cheeses. After exploring Point Reyes Station’s hardware store in search of white gas/Coleman fuel (in stock but only in gallon containers–my fuel bottle holds 30 oz) I stopped by the creamery/deli. I saw them making up a batch of something and quickly and easily opted to get some lunch there–the cheese & charcuterie place and a sliced cheesecake for desert. I ate them with a bottle of local hefeweizen at a little table outside, eventually joined by a couple and the husband’s parents, visiting from Australia to guess by their accents (and Darwin, Australia sweatshirt).

During lunch I was checking out maps for ideas about my afternoon. There was a lighthouse way on the end of Point Reyes National Seashore, looked like a fun side trip. It would about double the day’s mileage, but what else was I gonna do?

I thought maybe I could find the state park first so I could set up my wet tent to let it dry out a little, plus leave my gear so I wouldn’t have to schlepp it all to the lighthouse. But for one I didn’t know if I’d have time to do it that, but also I’m hesitant to leave anything where I won’t be able to keep an eye on it.

So off I went on the 42-mile round trip along the south side of Tomales Bay. It was a hilly ride, quite strenuous in places. I passes historic farms (with placards labeling them but offering no other info), still operational as dairies. Plenty of deer too, including a stag. I was glad to reach the top. But too late! I’d missed the cutoff to walk down to the lighthouse by about 20 minutes. Bummer, the lighthouse sports another amazing Fresnel lens and the original brass clockwork fittings to make it spin (though these aren’t actually used anymore). There was an amusing (to me) sign on the (locked) gate explaining that the rest of the trek to the lighthouse was strenuous, akin to climbing 30 flights of stairs. Good to know, certainly, but I’d just accomplished this tremendous physical feat just to get there.

It was already getting on & It was another two hours back, plus the time to find the state park–it’d be another late, dark entry. But as I was walking back to my bike I saw several folks looking over the side of the cliff, pointing down towards the ocean. I looked along with them, overhearing that they’d seen a whale. Sure enough, I saw it stick it’s head out of the water, blow a spurt of water up in the air, move it’s body and then tail up and back down into water. Then it repeated the procedure, making a dotted line through white surf. It was close to the shore, but I was so high up it was still very far off. Still, pretty amazing, I really hadn’t thought I’d see whales on this trip. From up there I also heard sea lions barking.

I stumbled just a step when picking up Sweet Liza Jane to turn her around to head back and ended up setting her down so one of the tines of the kickstand came right down on my foot, where it’s unprotected by sandal. Ouch! Tore skin off but amazingly didn’t bleed. Guess it gives me an excuse to get out the first aid kit. After that, the long, darkening ride back to civilization. It was enlivened by someone shouting out her window as she passed “That’s a real pretty bike!”

I stopped at a market in Inverness & asked the shopkeeper about directions to the town where my cycling directions to the park started & he have me a shortcut to the state park–helps to ask questions! He did warn me there was quite a hill though.

I found the turnoff I was pretty sure the shopkeeper had been talking about. And the hill. My maps were useless at this level of detail, my phone was dead, all I had were somewhat confusing directions from some guy, my tiny compass, and a vague idea what direction the park was in.

The shortcut totally worked out, and a good thing too, it was dark by the time I found the park. This is the sort of park that goes on & on before coming to the campsites, and there are no signs or anything about where they might be or even if they exist. But eventually flickering lights and the smell of camp fires gave it away.

Now I’ve got my tent all set up, in a tiny clearing among the redwoods. It’s gorgeous, though I did note that the redwoods house a number of large spiders.

After setting up camp I had to just take what portable food I had down to the bathroom and hang out waiting for my phone to charge. Ah the glamor of travel. Got to talk with both Margaret and Julianne though, and got the phone juiced up and read about what tomorrow might be like. Tomorrow is San Francisco!