If you live in Southern California then you know how miserably hot and humid it has been here. So, tired of the LA heat and having worked rather long hours lately we decided to use the days leading up to the Labor Day holiday to head north and visit Point Reyes. The only question I now have is "Why didn't anyone tell us about this place before ?" The answer may lie in the unspoiled beauty of this under populated part of Marin County and the desire to keep it so. This state park offers a wonderful variety of vistas and eco-climates, not to mention an abundance of wild life. We took a hike down “Muddy Hollow” and then veered off at Estero Trail and were privileged to spot a herd of Elk and one amazingly beautiful stag who was calling to his harem.
The terrain is so varied and runs the gamut from sheltered small beaches with shallow calm waters like the "Heart's Desire" beach shown here
to the tempestuous and rugged coastline of Chimney Rock located on the northern Pacific edge of this peninsula.
The tree life follows suit and is equally varied with shrub and eucalyptus trees bordering the dunes and sandy beaches while wind-whipped Cyprus trees often laden with lichen are further inland.
Nearer the dunes we used binoculars to spot sandpipers, egrets and heron in the small inlet that surround Limantour Spit.
As you can see, the countryside is beautiful but the towns of Point Reyes, Inverness and Olema were all charming and quaint with great restaurants like Osteria Sellina and the nostalgic Sir and Star in Olema. We stayed just outside of Point Reyes in a Swedish styled B&B appropriately named Lingonberry Farm. The hosts, Susan and John, made us feel at home with homemade muffins and granola with berries for breakfast and port appropriately decanted in the evenings. Our room was bright and beautifully furnished with folk art from the Skane area in Sweden.
If you are looking for a wonderful escape from the heat and city life, we highly recommend a visit to Point Reyes. But one last, very important, tip. If you are hiking we suggest you pick up a sandwich from Perry's Deli to sustain you if, like us, you start out on a 2 mile hike and find yourselves doing a 7 mile hike instead. You will find that that sandwich comes in handy!