California Adventures: Hiking Tomales Point
A holiday Monday, temps in the upper 60s and living in San Francisco often leads to one general activity: hiking - and it certainly helps that there is no shortage of amazing trails that abound both within and a quick hop skip and a jump from the city.
For our latest adventure I scouted out what - to me anyways - was an ambitious almost 10 mile hike on the Point Reyes Seashore on the Tomales Point Trail. The out and back trail - while lacking in strenuous climbs (yay!) - was said to feature beautiful scenic vistas and wildlife viewing with Tomales Bay to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Tule Elk Preserve and it did not fail to deliver. We happened upon two groups of majestic elk but none of the whales and sea lions that one may catch if one is quite lucky. Nevertheless it was an very enjoyable and beautiful hike, although on the trip back the fog and subsequent chilly breezes had rolled in quite heavily so I would recommend getting an early start if possible and definitely either or wear or bring extra layers like a windbreaker for if/when the temperature drops.
I'm not TOO active of a hiker although I walk around 5-10 miles in the city on any given day, I was certainly a bit sore the day after and also regretted forgetting my socks like a dummy. I'd also recommend packing a blanket and a small lunch to enjoy when you reach the point (we had hella trail mix and water bottles but not much else and by the time we got back to the car I was just a wee bit hangry) so you have more reason to pause and enjoy the fruits of the trip you've just made before heading back. Since the hike had taken us a little over 4 hours we weren't able to make it to our original oyster destination but stopped for a quick tasty bite at Olema Farm House Restaurant which satisfied my blue cheese burger craving and still provided us with delicious fresh oysters to boot.
