marin headlands

Muir Beach Bliss

May 10, 2012 by Shelli

I was in the San Francisco area all last week for meetings and a presentation. It was a treat to return to the Marin Headlands, and area I fell in love with during my frequent trips to the area in the past for mycoaching courses.

Last week I was headed to the hotel gym when I remembered where I was. Why would I spend time on an elliptical trainer when Muir Beach is 20 minutes away? Duh.
I enjoyed a 6-mile trail run to start the day. I love being in the presence of the ocean.

Here’s a short clip:

Elk, Crashing Surf, Elephant Seals and a Lighthouse Make for Epic Day

March 17, 2011 by Shelli

On my most recent trip to the San Francisco, CA, region, I spent a day exploring the Point Reyes National Seashore region, located about an hour-and-a-half northwest of San Francisco.

The highlights were hiking to Tomales Point, which marks the end of land on the Pt. Reyes Peninsula, seeing elephant seals at Drakes Beach, and exploring the Point Reyes Lighthouse, which was (perhaps aptly?) shrouded in fog.

Point Reyes National Seashore is a 71,000-acre area located on the Point Reyes Peninsula, in Marin County. My hike to Tomales Point would take me to the north end of land for the Point Reyes peninsula, which is geologically separated from the rest of Marin County and almost all of the continental United States by a “rift zone” of the San Adreas Fault, about half of which is sunk below sea level and forms Tomales Bay. (Wikipedia)

P3030035 — The scenery on my hike to Tomales Point was breathtaking.

The hike to Tomales Point and back is about 9.5 miles. It’s rolling, and I was rewarded the entire way. Earlier in the morning, en route to the trailhead, I was getting rained on as I traveled over the Golden Gate Bridge. I packed my rain gear and planned on getting wet on the hike and yet hoping to at least catch a glimpse of the scenery.

P3030097 — Elk and ocean in the same view.

But I got lucky. When I arrived at the trailhead, it was all blue sky. I left the trailhead mid-morning and had the trail to Tomales Point all to myself. Well, not really. I shared the trail with hundreds of Tule elk.

I am from Wyoming and spend a lot of time in Yellowstone so seeing elk was not that shocking to me. However, hiking among so many of them certainly was a rare treat. The biggest deal about hiking among the elk on this hike was that I was also hiking amidst crashing surf of the Pacific Ocean. Now that was extraordinary! Many times I had both elk and ocean in my view, and that was really, really cool.

ELEPHANT SEALS AT DRAKES BEACH Just when I thought my day couldn’t get any better, I stopped at Drakes Beach. I was simply going to get a vantage of the ocean from a beach perspective since it was now a bit foggy above the shoreline. When I got out of my car I noticed orange ribbons and warning signs blocking people from accessing the beach, which was right in front of me.

There was a photographer nearby (Jim Coda) and I asked him what the signs were all about. “Probably to protect the elephant seals,” he said. Oh my gosh, I hadn’t even noticed them! There they were — three or four big creatures right in front of me lying on the beach. I had just figured they were big rocks or clumps of beach matter. I watched as the one right in front of me sighed and “waved” at me one time with his tail. It was an amazing experience to be so close to them.

P3030147 — Elephant seal on Drakes Beach.

According to the National Park Service website, elephant seals range from Mexico to Alaska and Hawaii in search of food. They spend 80 percent of their life in the open sea. Not only do they spend most of their life in the ocean, 90 percent of that time is spent underwater: eating, sleeping, digesting, and traveling.

They are built to survive continuous dives to depths that would squeeze the life out of any other mammal. The average dive reaches 1,000 to 2,000 feet, lasts close to half an hour and is followed by only 3-5 minutes at the surface to breathe. Seeing and watching the elephant seals were a major highlight for me and I couldn’t wait to share the news with my husband and three sons.

POINT REYES LIGHTHOUSE After completing the hike, I went to see what all the fuss was about with the Point Reyes Lighthouse. Point Reyes is the windiest place on the Pacific Coast and the second foggiest place on the North American continent. As you probably know, lighthouses provide mariners increased safety by warning them of rocky shores and reefs. They also help mariners navigate by indicating their location as ships travel along the coast. Mariners recognize lighthouses by their unique flash pattern.

On days when it is too foggy to see the lighthouse, a fog signal is essential. Fog signals sound an identifying pattern to signal the location to the passing ships.

According to the National Park Service website, the Point Reyes light first shone in 1870. Its lens and mechanism were constructed in France in 1867. The clockwork mechanism, glass prisms and housing for the lighthouse were shipped on a steamer around the tip of South America to San Francisco.

Meanwhile, 300 feet below the top of the cliff, an area had been blasted with dynamite to clear a level spot for the lighthouse. To be effective, the lighthouse had to be situated below the characteristic high fog. This is all fascinating for this “land-locked” Wyoming girl. 🙂 I hiked the short distance to the lighthouse, although don’t have any great photos because it was so foggy. I’m including a very short clip near bottom of this post to prove it was foggy and that I was there, though.

OTHER MARIN HEADLANDS HIKING BLOG POSTS:
From Surf To Top of Mt. Tamalpais
Surf, Rolling Hills, Lung Busting and Zen

VIDEOS:

TOMALES POINT HIKE – BREAKING SURF CAPTURED FROM STEEP, EXTREME CLIFF

TOMALES POINT – “RICH” AT TOMALES POINT

THE ENTIRE TOMALES HIKE COMPRESSED INTO (12 MINUTES)

ELEPHANT SEALS AT DRAKES BEACH

POINT REYES LIGHTHOUSE (UNDER FOG)

Surf, Rolling Hills, Lung Busting & Zen

January 7, 2011 by Shelli

Those of you who know me and/or who read my blog, know that I live on the frontier of Wyoming and that I LOVE Wyoming and my “back yard”, the beloved Wind River Range.

1-small-P1061058_2 — Greetings from Muir Beach.

But, I am also falling in love with the San Francisco area — specifically the Marin Headlands.

Don’t worry, friends and family, I will not leave my heart here in San Francisco. My heart is in the Wind River Range of Wyoming.

What helps me love this place are days like the one I experienced Thursday.

(Note: I am here for my third of five weekends of learning and developing my life coaching skills at The Coaches Training Institute.

Because it can be, well, difficult, to get this girl out of the frontier and often travel doesn’t go as planned, I build a buffer day into these trips. I depart out of Riverton, WY, on Wednesday afternoon and arrive here Wednesday night. Thursday is a free day to allow for travel if plane doesn’t show up on Wednesday afternoon to take me out of the frontier.

Fortunately, I was able to get out and arrived here Wednesday night, which meant Thursday was all mine and I wanted to further experience the outdoor beauty of this area.

Last month, I hiked from surf to summit. Read more about that amazing hike from Stinson Beach to top of Mt. Tamalpais.

The adventure started at Muir Beach, and it was cold! I quickly learned that 41 degrees and windy, at sea level, is colder than same conditions in my high and dry Wyoming. Fortunately, I had packed some “Wyoming winter clothing.”

I hiked from Muir Beach, along the Coastal Trail, to Pirates’ Cove, to Tennessee Valley, up to Coyote Ridge and then to and through Green Gulch organic farm and Zen Center back to Muir Beach. All told, it was about seven or eight miles and 1,600′ or so of elevation gain.

It was a spectacular hike. By my standards, which are high due to the beauty and ruggedness of the Wind River Range, I rate this hike as “epic” for many reasons, which I’ll share with you here.

P1060997 — The Coastal Trail is awesome. It took me right over the rugged shoreline.

Despite the cold start, there was blue sky as I hiked the “shore-hugging” Coastal Trail. This stretch provided awe-inspiring scenery, with the Pacific Ocean surf “crashing” against the shore below and a trail that provided just enough lung-busting to keep me warm. The wind was howling but invigorating all the same.

About 1.5 miles into the hike, after a short downhill hike to the shore, is Pirates’ Cove. From my understanding, this is a location where people would bootleg liquor during the Prohibition. (As far I could tell, today there no is hooch to be had.) I stood for a few minutes just to listen to and feel — to fully experience — the ocean’s power and sounds and smells. This is a great little cove and worth the side trip.

From there, I continued toward Tennessee Valley, a lush, rolling valley that is home to some big raptors and other wildlife. This part of the hike was surreal, as I hiked in and out of low clouds and mist.

P1061030 — That's a glimpse of Tennessee Valley Cove.

Next, I left the Tennessee Valley Trail and headed up to Coyote Ridge. From top of the ridge, I had panoramic views that were a little tempered by low moving clouds and fog. This was a long, sustained, pretty steep uphill, which suited me just fine. I hiked pretty steadily up for 20 or so minutes before reaching an intersection of trails.

Once up the hill, I continued toward Middle Green Gulch before finding the Green Gulch Trail. I had a tip from a friend, Chad, who is a local, who described the Green Gulch Farm, home also to a Zen Center, as “well…very…Zen…very, very special!!!”

After hiking up and around some ridge-tops and hills and through a string of Eucalyptus trees, I arrived at the Green Gulch Farm & Zen Center. Here, I won’t lie, I felt a little lost and like I was trespassing, not sure if I was “on the right trail,” but was greeted by a nice gentleman who provided some great interpretation for me.

I learned that Green Gulch is an organic farm and Zen Center, that among other things, hosts about 70 Zen students at a time. I stopped in the small store where a nice woman and man were working. I bought some tea and before continuing on my way, I asked, “Well I’m from Wyoming and I’m trying to fully experience this area today. Is there anything you can offer me in terms of Zen enlightenment or tips to take with me?”

This was great! One told me to “breathe.” The other suggested, “Don’t believe everything you think.” Wow, glad I asked! One of these would have been enough to think around, so I was particularly grateful.

Next, I stopped into the Zen Temple. Unfortunately there was no meditation until later in the day so I couldn’t experience that, which I’m sure would have been an amazing experience. But I talked briefly to an Asian monk there. He didn’t speak English but after trying my best to communicate what I was doing and that I was “sorta lost… I’m from Wyoming and hiking through here … do you have any thoughts for me?” he said, in a very friendly way, to “Just Be.”

What a perfect way to end an amazing hike. I hiked through the farm fields and was soon back to the start, Muir Beach.

To cap the hike, again on a tip from a friend, Sean (also known as S.O.S.), who’s a local, I stopped by the historic and wonderfully quaint Pelican Inn, a bed and breakfast, complete with dining room and pub, that is right near Muir Beach. Capturing the spirit of 16th Century England west country, this place is incredible and should be a must-see for anyone who visits the Muir Beach area. Here, I had a wonderful salad of organic greens and a cup of spearmint tea.

P1061064 — Stepping back in time at the pub in the charming and historic Pelican Inn.

It was a perfect day that included new and awesome scenery, some great exercise, invigorating, fresh, coastal air, solitude, Zen and culture!

But wait, still not over. The day was capped when I visited some friends for dinner, which included delicious fresh salmon (a real treat for this Wyoming girl!), and other great eats, completed by some great conversation.

The only thing that could have made this day better would have been to have my husband, Jerry, and our three sons, Wolf, Hayden and Fin, with us. So, I’ll be working on reliving this day with them the next time…

But, like I said, I’m starting to fall in love with this place.

Videos:
MUIR BEACH TO PIRATES’ COVE:

TENNESSEE VALLEY TO COYOTE RIDGE:

GREEN GULCH FARM & ZEN CENTER:

Acknowledgements:
Thank you Josh Steinitz, Chad Herst, Doug Peck and Sean O’Sullivan for providing tips that helped me have this amazing experience while visiting your neck of the woods.