Walk in the Woods and Sunset on the Beach

Muir Woods and Stinson Beach, California

Grand old trees

After visiting the Point Reyes lighthouse we started our drive to Muir Woods National Monument, described as `an old-growth' coast redwood forest, meaning the forest has grown naturally undisturbed for hundreds of years. The drive was a scenic one through wooded areas and was topped by the winding hilly coast-hugging drive via Stinson Beach.

San Francisco in the distance shrouded by a light haze

We got stunning views of the San Francisco coastline from the road and every now and then stopped to appreciate the beauty (and take photographs of course). As beautiful as the ride was for me, it was torture for my friend who gets dizzy on hilly roads. Almost the entire trip to and fro was spent with her eyes squeezed tightly shut, taking deep breaths and saying `this is torture'! She absolutely refused to take the same route back to San Francisco the next day. We may have another hill holiday in India planned for her this year in India. Don’t tell her! I plan to have tons of the travel nausea pill Avomine on hand. 

Reach up up up to the sky

Before starting out, we stopped by at Perry's Deli in Tomales Bay and picked up an array of sandwiches, cookies, pies and whatnot to eat on the way. The stuff was not cheap but the sandwiches were very nice and mine had almost an inch of black forest ham in it and a good amount of mustard on soft white bread. I could not get through more than half in one sitting. Perry's Deli is great for foodstuff if you're in that area and are heading off for a picnic. 

Old growth forest

Our lunch ended up being an inadvertent stop in the middle of nowhere on our way to Muir Woods when we realised that almost an entire bottle of water had leaked out and flooded the floor of the back seat. So we stopped by the side of the road, pulled out our food and ate on the trunk of the car. 

Stinson Beach

Made it to Muir Woods just about an hour before its 5 p.m. closing and walked the shortest trail through the tall redwoods and other trees. The redwoods there are as old as 800 years and the tallest is 258 feet. The woods are beautiful and interesting with some of the trees having such fascinating `architecture’.  There was one tree which actually had a cave built in to its base making it seem like something out of an Enid Blyton book. 

The end of a lovely day

There are many trails one can walk on depending on how much time you have to spare around that area. Unfortunately (as usual) we didn’t have much of that luxury. It had got quite cold by then and my light sweatshirt didn’t quite cut it. Somehow I never seem to get it right with winter clothing. I always take too little on a holiday and even if I have the right item, it’s never around me when I need it.

Now you see it..

Right, back to Muir Woods. I did mention it’s an old growth forest, and by that, it means it’s largely undisturbed by human hand and that dead trees are not cleared away but are allowed to fall back on the ground and enrich the soil and provide a whole ecosystem for a large number of birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, insects and plants. For those who are really interested in nature and want to learn more about what the term describes, this web page explains it very well. 

...now you don't

 As our time at the woods ended, I was quite disappointed that we had so little of it but at the same time happy to get into the warmth of the car. Would hope to go back there and spend some quality time exploring and walking the trails. We then headed back to Tomales Bay with a stop at Stinson beach where we watched the sun go down. It was also fascinating to watch the patterns made by the flow and ebb of the tide on the shore as the waves crisscrossed each other. 

We ended our day by tucking into pizzas baked in a wood fired oven at Cafe Reyes in Inverness. Good friends, great travel and junk food, what more could a girl want. 

Thirty Storey Lighthouse Trek - Point Reyes

Point Reyes Lighthouse, California

Point Reyes Lighthouse

Having just one whole day in Tomales Bay made us want to see everything we could in and around that area, so we drove about 30 minutes to Point Reyes National Seashore on a beautiful clear sunny November morning and made our way to the lighthouse situated at the tip of the peninsula. 

Scenic Walk 

The park, covering 71,028 acres in Marin County, California, is about a one and a half hour drive from San Francisco and is characterised by rolling hillocks mostly lightly covered by green or brown grass and every now and then you'll come across an opening between the hillocks where you catch a glimpse of the clear topaz blue waters of the Pacific Ocean. 

Deep Waters

The walk from the car parking area to the lighthouse steps was picturesque with gnarled trees along the side of the road. We also got a beautiful view of the expansive stretch of beach which would have been ideal for a long lazy picnic on such a beautiful day. The tree branches were low and beckoned to me like low hanging fruit, so I thought I'd try and sit on one. 

Huffing and Puffing up the Equivalent of 30 Stories

Well, lets just say I’m not as agile as I may have thought I was, living a city life for the last gazillion years, so that ended up being quite an effort and the sight of me with well fitting jeans trying to get a leg up provided a fair bit of amusement for my husband and friends. Managed to hoist myself up though, and even got a picture on the branch with my friend - who somehow didn't seem to have as much trouble getting on herself!

The Beach 

Getting to the lighthouse from the station is a challenge for the lazy and the trek up and down the 308 steps is guaranteed to give your glutes a solid workout. Visitors are cautioned that negotiating the stairs is equivalent to climbing a 30 storey building so not that appropriate for the fragile. However, there is a welcome respite every hundred steps or so in the form of rest stops with benches which we happily availed of on our way up. 

And Who Are You Looking at? 

Looking inside the lighthouse and the standing on the wraparound porch you realise how vast the ocean is and how quiet and peaceful it is around there. One of the rangers we met there said that t's quite an isolated life and sometimes they go days without seeing anyone. If you're lucky, you can spot dolphins and whales in the water but we had no such luck that day. Also, given our limited time available, we needed to get going to our next destination, Muir Woods.  

Between the Rocks

We just visited the lighthouse at Point Reyes, but the park has many other activities available such as hiking trails lasting less than one hour to six hours, the beach and culinary pursuits around.