RON HENGGELER

April 6, 2017
The burned hull of the iconic Point Reyes, and a road trip to the Point Reyes National Seashore

On Monday, Dave and I drove north of San Francisco and visited the Point Reyes National Seashore.

The landscape at Point Reyes this spring is incredibly lush and intensely green because of the copious rains we had this winter.

Here are some of the photos from our day at Point Reyes.

On Fulton Street at Baker heading west with the steeple of Saint Ignatius at the top of the hill in the distance

The view from Fulton Street looking north up 33rd Avenue in San Francisco

34th Avenue in Lincoln Park on the approach to the Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco

A morning view of San Francisco from the exit off of Highway 101 at Wolfback Ridge Road in Sausalito

 

Morning sunlight in the redwoods on Sir Francis Drake Blvd. that runs through Samuel P. Taylor State Park

 

The Tomales Bay Ecological Reserve near Inverness viewed from the Sir Francis Drake Blvd.

The shipwreck Point Reyes, a local landmark in the Inverness and Point Reyes area

Point Reyes

A recent fire last year damaged much of the iconic Point Reyes and caused much saddness and controversy among the locals.

Iconic Shipwreck’s Fire Likely Caused by Light Painting Photographer

https://petapixel.com/2016/02/23/iconic-shipwrecks-fire-likely-caused-light-painting-photographer/

LOCAL LANDMARK SHIPWRECK IN CALIFORNIA BURNT OUT FOR INSTAGRAM

http://www.diyphotography.net/local-landmark-shipwreck-california-burnt-instagram-photo/

 

Interior of the Point Reyes

Tomales Bay and the stern of the Point Reyes

 

 

Interior of the Point Reyes

Interior of the Point Reyes

Bow of the Point Reyes

A view of Tomales Bay at Inverness

Wreck of the Point Reyes

Bow of the Point Reyes

 

A view on the Mt. Vision Road near the summit of Mount Vision

The road to Mount Vision in the Point Reyes National Seashore

Elevation 1282 ft.

The view from the top of Mount Vision of the distant Point Reyes, Drakes Bay, Drakes Estero, and the blue Pacific Ocean.

A view on the Bucklin Trail atop Mount Vision of the distant Point Reyes, Drakes Bay, Drakes Estero, and the Pacific Ocean.

A view of Tomales Bay from the Mt. Vision Road near the summit of Mount Vision

Mount Saint Helena is miles away on the horizon. Mount Saint Helena is a peak in the Mayacamas Mountains with flanks in Napa, Sonoma, and Lake counties of California.

 

A view from the Mt. Vision Road near the summit of Mount Vision

A view on the Mt. Vision Road within the Point Reyes National Seashore

A view from the Mt. Vision Road

The Home Ranch Road leading to the Drakes Estero Trailhead at Point Reyes

The Home Ranch Road at the Drakes Estero Trailhead in Point Reyes National Seashore

The Drakes Estero seen from Sir Francis Drake Blvd. inside the Point Reyes National Seashore

Cypress Tree Tunnel in Point Reyes National Seashore

The Cypress Tree Tunnel:
Planted around 1930, the Monterey cypress that now create the "tree tunnel" at the Point Reyes Receiving Station is a signature landscape feature that evokes some of the prestige that RCA placed in this profitable, historic operation.

The Receiving Station and "Tree Tunnel" are located at what is now the park's North District Operations Center.

https://www.nps.gov/pore/planyourvisit/kph_treetunnel.htm

The Cypress Tree Tunnel

South Beach, part of the Great Beach
The Great Beach—also known as Point Reyes Beach—is an incredible expanse of over 17 kilometers (11 miles) of undeveloped ocean beach visitors are welcome to explore. If you are looking for the drama of heavy surf this is the place to be.

https://www.nps.gov/pore/planyourvisit/beaches.htm

 

The view from on South Beach looking south towards the Point Reyes (barely visible on the horizon)

The view from on South Beach looking south towards the Point Reyes

The view from on South Beach looking north towards the Tomales Head

Ranching History at Point Reyes

When you cross Inverness Ridge toward the Point Reyes headlands, you leave the pine/fir forest behind and enter the stark beauty of the coastal grasslands, dotted with cattle and scattered ranches.

This open, working landscape is known as the Pastoral Zone. At first glance, open pastures and rolling fencelines are punctuated by windbreaks, stockponds, and feedlots arrayed around a ranch core. There, the mix of nineteenth century redwood homes and barns with twentieth century aluminum and steel utility buildings becomes evident, suggesting the evolution of the dairy industry. In fact, the National Seashore visitor has happened upon one of the earliest and largest examples of industrial-scale dairying in the state of California.

https://www.nps.gov/pore/learn/historyculture/people_ranching.htm

A view of Sir Francis Drake Blvd. running through the Pastoral Lands in the Point Reyes National Seashore

A glimpsed view of the distant Drakes Estero from Sir Francis Drake Blvd. running through the Pastoral Lands in the Point Reyes National Seashore

The Alchemy of Grass Turned to Gold

The 1849 California Gold Rush brought an influx of capitalists, merchants, professional practitioners, laborers, and agriculturists, amongst others seeking alternative wealth along the shores of San Francisco Bay. Some of those who vainly sought mineral gold in the Sierra Nevada foothills came further west, finding gold of another kind at Point Reyes. With their dairying skills honed in their previous homes, they could envision production of golden wheels of cheese and casks of butter to provision the growing population of nearby San Francisco. The treeless coastal plain beckoned with opportunity.

The early American settlers of the 1850s were impressed with the cool, moist climate of Point Reyes, providing near-ideal conditions for raising dairy cows. Abundant grass and forbs, a long growing season, and sufficient fresh water supplies promised productivity well in excess of domestic need. Unknown to the early ranchers, the expansive coastal prairie was most likely the byproduct of burning, weeding, pruning and harvesting for at least two millennia by Coast Miwok and their antecedents.

The Franciscan missionaries set the stage for the explosion of dairy in west Marin with the introduction of feral cattle in 1817. They established the San Rafael Asistencia, near San Francisco Bay, as an annex to Mission Dolores in San Francisco, serving as a recuperative center for ailing Coast Miwok and Ohlone natives. Secularization of the missions following Mexican independence from Spain led to land grant subdivision and the expansion of cattle ranching on the peninsula.


https://www.nps.gov/pore/learn/historyculture/people_ranching.htm

A view of the far distant Point Reyes seen in the midst of the Pastoral Lands at Point Reyes National Seashore

 

A view of Drakes Bay and Chimney Rock on the Horizon

A view of Chimney Rock seen from Sir Francis Drake Blvd. leading to the nearby Kenneth C. Patrick Visitor Center at Drakes Bay at Point Reyes National Seashore

Kenneth C. Patrick Visitor Center

https://www.nps.gov/pore/planyourvisit/visitorcenters.htm

 

Chimney Rock seen from Drakes Beach on Drakes Bay

Drakes Beach
A wide stretch of beach backed by dramatic white sandstone cliffs makes this a very popular place. Drive-up access, a small café and a visitor center add to its appeal. The sands of the Drakes Bay cliffs were deposited in a shallow sea 10–13 million years ago, compacted, then uplifted. Erosion has revealed the striations of this story in the cliff faces.

https://www.nps.gov/pore/planyourvisit/beaches.htm

Drakes Beach on Drakes Bay at Point Reyes National Seashore

Drakes Beach on Drakes Bay at Point Reyes National Seashore

To see my photos of the Elephant Seals with their pups hauled out on Drakes Bay in 2015, go to:

http://www.ronhenggeler.com/Newsletters/2015/2.18/Newsletter.html

Early European Explorers at Point Reyes

The ancient home of the Coast Miwok people, the dramatic landscape of the Point Reyes peninsula with its wave battered cliffs, remained undiscovered by European explorers until the late 1500's. Sir Francis Drake probably first sighted and mapped the fog-shrouded headlands in 1579, at which time he is thought to have camped along the beach which today bears his name. Drake's quest for new lands and riches had taken him around South America to the Spanish trade routes of the Pacific Ocean. His ship, the Golden Hinde, was full of gold and luxuries such as porcelain, taken from Spanish galleons traveling from the Philippines to Acapulco.

During the summer of 1579, Drake came ashore somewhere in California to careen his ship to repair the hull. The ship's chaplain complained in his log of "the stinking fogges". The nearly omnipresent fog at the Point Reyes headlands throughout the summer, along with the chaplain's descriptions of the inhabitants, the landscape and the wildlife, indicate that Drake's Estero may be the location of Drake's camp. Drake claimed the land for Queen Elizabeth before setting sail southwest to complete his circumnavigation of the globe before returning to England in 1580.

https://www.nps.gov/pore/learn/historyculture/people_europeanexplorers.htm

During the late 1500's, Spanish galleons were making numerous voyages between Mexico and the Philippines. To sail across the north Pacific, ships from Manila would sail north before catching the prevailing easterly winds, arriving along the North American coast north of Point Reyes. It is likely that numerous Spanish crews saw Point Reyes as they sailed south along the California coast toward Acapulco and other Mexican ports where Asian luxury goods such as porcelains and spices were then shipped to Europe. We do know that in 1595, Sebastian Cermeno anchored in the calm waters of what is now called Drakes Bay. As his crew was ashore seeking fresh water, their Manila galleon stuffed with silks and spices, was wrecked in a sudden storm. The crew managed to return home by rowing their long boat to Mexico.

The Spanish had been sending ships along the Pacific Coast and overland explorations throughout North America for many years. In an age of empire building, the Spanish expanded their domain up the California coast from Mexico. Point Reyes officially entered Spanish maps on January 6, 1603 when Sebastian Vizcaino sighted the headlands on the Roman Catholic feast day of the three wise men. Following Spanish tradition, the headlands were named after these religious figures: "la Punta de los Reyes" or the Point of the Kings. Spanish expeditions along the north coast continued. Later, sailors eventually found and entered Tomales Bay, where they would have seen the Miwok village at Segogolue or Toms Point. Amongst the kotças (sleeping shelters), the Spanish traded goods made of metal for finely woven Miwok baskets.

https://www.nps.gov/pore/learn/historyculture/people_europeanexplorers.htm

A view of the far distant Point Reyes seen in the midst of the Pastoral Lands at Point Reyes National Seashore

 

A view from the Sir Francis Drake Blvd. running through the Pastoral Lands in the Point Reyes National Seashore. The distant Point Reyes is seen on the horizon.

 

A view from the Sir Francis Drake Blvd. running through the Pastoral Lands in the Point Reyes National Seashore.

 

 

The one lane road leading to the Chimney Rock Trailhead

A view of the coastal cliffs from the Elephant Seal Overlook near the Chimney Rock Trailhead

 

Drakes Bay as seen from the Chimney Rock Trailhead

 

Drifting sands on Sir Francis Drake Blvd. leading to the historic Point Reyes Lighthouse

Lighthouse History at Point Reyes

Point Reyes: A Treacherous Obstacle to Mariners

Point Reyes is the windiest place on the Pacific Coast and the second foggiest place on the North American continent. Weeks of fog, especially during the summer months, frequently reduce visibility to hundreds of feet. The Point Reyes Headlands, which jut 10 miles out to sea, pose a threat to each ship entering or leaving San Francisco Bay. The historic Point Reyes Lighthouse warned mariners of danger for more than a hundred years.

The Point Reyes Lighthouse, built in 1870, was retired from service in 1975 when the U.S. Coast Guard installed an automated light. They then transferred ownership of the lighthouse to the National Park Service, which has taken on the job of preserving this fine specimen of our heritage.

https://www.nps.gov/pore/learn/historyculture/people_maritime_lighthouse.htm

 

To view my photos of the Point Reyes Lighthouse, with interior views, and close-up shots of the lens, go to:

http://ronhenggeler.com/Newsletters/2014/9.24/9-24-14index.html

The Great Beach seen from near the Point Reyes Lighthouse

 

The far distant Drakes Bay seen from Sir Francis Drake Blvd. leading away from the historic Point Reyes Lighthouse

For photos of the Lighthouse, go to:

http://www.ronhenggeler.com/Pt_Reyes/Pt_Reyes_Index9.html

 

A view on McClures Beach near the Caldron. The Caldron is a dangerous stand of rock where several people have died because of the powerful rogue waves that churn and crash on the face of the Caldron.

A view of the distant Elephant Rock seen from the Caldron on McClures Beach

A view looking south on the Tomales Head Trail looking down to McClures Beach and the Caldron

To see my photos of the mysterious man-made 820 ft. straight line of stones that cross the Tomales Head Trail in the Tule Elk Reserve in Point Reyes, go to:

http://www.ronhenggeler.com/Pt_Reyes2/Pt_Reyes_index12.html

and

http://www.ronhenggeler.com/Pt_Reyes2/Pt_Reyes_index11.html

Tomales Bay near Inverness

A view of the Bolinas Lagoon, seen during our return trip along Highway One coming back to San Francisco from Point Reyes

The Bolinas Lagoon

Bolinas, Stinston Beach, and the Bolinas Lagoon as seen from near the West Ridgecrest Road

A view of the Golden Gate Bridge on our return from Point Reyes National Seashore

 

 

 

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