Now that the winter rains have finally found us here along the central California coast, my attention focuses on finding weather windows for walks in the wild. During a gentle shower, or a just after a stormy squall, the forests and fields are freshened and it’s a fine time to take to the trail.
Tag: Point Reyes
Point Reyes Walkabout, Trails, Wildlife
A Bobcat Day in Bear Valley
The Bear Valley trail, heading southwest from Park Headquarters to the coast, is one of the emblematic walks, and the most traveled trail, on the Point Reyes Peninsula. Jules covers about 10 miles and encounters a bobcat, an alligator lizard, early-blooming milkmaids, and very late-blooming Indian paintbrush.
Winter Issue 2011
In the Third Kind of Fog
For San Francisco Chronicle columnist Jon Carroll, it all happened at Limantour.
Fall Issue 2009
A Pasture Becomes a Rich Birdwatching and Kayaking Area in Point Reyes
Wildlife thrives at Giacomini Wetland at the south end of Tomales Bay.
Spring Issue 2009
Up and Down at Point Reyes
If the Sweet Lumber Company had had its way, the landscape of Inverness Ridge in West Marin would be more tree farm than forest. In the 1950s the company built a mill pond and started logging the giant Douglas fir … Read more
Fall Issue 2008
Book Review: Natural History of the Point Reyes Peninsula
by Jules G. Evens. University of California Press, 2008, 384 pages, $24.95. This is a wonderful book for getting an overview of the Point Reyes peninsula, whether you’re a first time or repeat visitor to the area. I loved learning … Read more
Wildlife
Tule Elk Rutting
You can still see tule elk, the smallest of North America’s elk, fighting for territory, mating, and raising their young in the Bay Area.
Wildlife
Video: Recovering the Tule Elk of Tomales Point
Recovering from near extinction in the 1870s, California’s tule elk populations have increased substantially. They can be appreciated at the preserve in Tomales Point at the Point Reyes National Seashore.
History, Wildlife
The Cattle Baron and the Elk
The 19th-century cattle baron Henry Miller (not the noted California author of the same name), who once had an estate on Mount Madonna (the subject of our July-September 2007 On the Trail feature) is not generally remembered for his conservation … Read more
Fall Issue 2006
Got Wheels?
Purisima Creek Preserve The shaded understory at uncrowded Purisima Creek Redwoods Preserve on the Peninsula is a delicious place to ramble in hot weather, especially when berries start to appear in early summer. Mature second-growth redwoods, mingled in places with … Read more
