Tomales Point Trail, August 21, 2012

Hike 6, August 21, 2012. Habitat: Grasslands / Pastoral Zone. Trail: Tomales Point Trail. Distance: 4 miles (estimated).

Tule elk on Tomales Point reserve

The second of our three consecutive August hikes was to be short and easy, a rest between two longer hikes. We chose to walk on Tomales Point to see and hear tule elk in rutting season.

Tule elk, once abundant, were extirpated at Point Reyes by the turn of the last century. They were re-introduced to a reserve on Tomales Point in the 70s and have made such a comeback that at one point contraception was tried. There are now herds in the Limantour and Drakes Beach areas as well, but the main population remains on the original reserve.

This walk in the northern portion of the park made a counterpoint to yesterday's excursion out of Palomarin in the south. Tomales Point Trail runs from Historic Pierce Point Ranch to Tomales Bluff, where Tomales Bay meets the Pacific. We'd done this walk sometime in the 90s and again in '07, both times walking the entire 9.5-mile round trip to the point. We remembered a golden landscape, heavy with sunshine and yellow lupine, and a romantic cliff at the end.

This day, we drove up Pierce Point Road into a thick, damp fog. When we got out of the car at road's end, Alice had a moment of panic when she thought she'd forgotten her fleece jacket. Couldn't imagine walking in this chill without it. False alarm: jacket remembered. We'd also remembered to bring the shofar with us, and we gave a quick toot in the parking lot, the traditional daily reminder to prepare for an accounting on Rosh HaShanah. (The toot, I mean, not necessarily the toot in the parking lot.) We had forgotten one thing: that the restrooms are down at the McClure's Beach parking lot. Back into the car we piled.

Scrub jay #1

Driving back from McClure's, we photographed two different large, exotic birds sitting in the willows alongside the road. Only when we got those photos downloaded and cropped did we identify them as two scrub jays, both molting. (Note: Jules Evens in revised first edition of Natural History of Point Reyes Peninsula names this particular willow stand as a a good birding location.)

Scrub jay #2

Despite the cold and the gloom, I was wearing sunglasses. I knew that meant there was significant glare off the cloud cover, and I knew that meant we should put on some sunscreen, but I just didn't feel like it.

Our object today was to see some tule elk and to take it easy. Last time we were here, elk were easy to see. As I remembered it, we'd seen lots of them around a waterhole quite close to the trail about a mile in, just hanging out, paying no mind to the gawking tourists. So a three-mile walk should get plenty of elk seen.

Monterey cypress windbreak

When the ranch was in use, Monterey cypress were planted around it as a windbreak. Park management later decided to maintain and restore these introduced trees.






Tomales Point is narrow, basically flat, and exposed to ocean winds, limiting the types and habits of its vegetation. Here, "grasslands and pastoral zone" in the fog appeared as a windswept wasteland.

Grassland trail

yellow wildflowers

Alice went into "documentary" mode, photographing each scrubby little plant she noticed. Lots of yellow wildflowers. (Even the California poppies were a yellow variety rather than the typical orange.) Coyote bush growing low to the ground. Stephen got tired with waiting, and the photos didn't turn out as interesting as they seemed at the time.


 

Zen view of the Pacific Ocean

 

Something I'd forgotten about this trail was the frequent views of the ocean. Today in the fog, these were mostly "Zen views," but they must have been stunning on our earlier, sunny trips.





The first elk we saw were far down in a canyon that opens toward Tomales Bay. (Coming back after the fog had lifted, we could see the bay beyond the canyon's mouth.) A group of hikers with kids coming up behind us borrowed our binoculars.

We headed onward. After a bit, we looked ahead and saw a small herd standing across the trail, a couple hundred feet ahead. Good time to stop for lunch.

Tule elk blocking the trail ahead

Other groups of hikers piled up behind and around us, peering through binoculars, watching and waiting. People were nudging each other and whispering. I thought the whispering was strange: like, they don't know we're here? Please! But later, when I bothered to read some park literature, I saw that quiet voices were indeed advised. My bad.

We wondered, what if the elk don't want to leave the trail? Well, that's their prerogative. At least we'll have seen them.

But they did move, and we all proceeded. We saw numbers of handsome animals, but little of that fancy male challenging behavior that's the most fun to watch, and we didn't hear the famous bugling. (The "blocking the trail" photo looks like a pair of stags locking horns, but I believe that's an artifact of camera angle: it was one herd with one stag.)

Clear view of distinctive heart-shaped rump markings

We walked on, still looking for that waterhole. Eventually we learned from a returning group that it was "about half an hour down the trail" -- at least another mile. I'd seriously under-remembered that distance. We didn't feel that strong and decided we'd seen enough elk. Anyhow, we'd meant to take it easy today.

Canyon of the first elk sighting

On the way back, a stiff ocean breeze blew fog across the trail and into Tomales Bay, clearing the air and the views on both sides of the trail. Now we could see all the way down the canyon of the first elk sighting into Tomales Bay. From the map, I think this is probably White Gulch.



We were back at the car in midafternoon, considering our next move. We guessed we'd walked about four miles. A mile-long ramble to McClure's Beach and back would net us another habitat. But we felt strangely lackadaisical. My face felt warm; Stephen's looked slightly pink. Um, right, we didn't use sunscreen. Well, anyhow, we'd meant to take it easy today.

We indulged in a celebratory dinner at Stellina's in Point Reyes Station and headed back to Samuel P. Taylor State Park shortly after dark. Arriving at our campsite, we found it occupied. We approached the campfire with apologies and asked the campers if they'd seen any gear when they arrived. They said they hadn't.

It transpired that the park had had us registered for two nights, not the three we thought we'd signed up for. The rangers had picked up our tent and deposited it together with its contents in a nearby "overflow" campsite. They didn't charge us for the "extra" night; we never did figure out the rights and wrongs of it.

Practical lessons for road and trail:
1. When you know exactly what you're doing, consider a little research.
2. The date on the tag they give you at campground check-in is the morning you're supposed to leave, not the last night you're reserved. If that number is not what you expected, look into it.
3. Momma says wear your sunscreen.

Total habitats visited: 4. Total miles hiked: 31.

Our fundraising page: Foothill Marmots in Point Reyes Trails Challenge