I fed the boys and had them take the tent apart, but did all the rest of the packing for our trip to Olema. I noted that we rode down the Cross Marin and passed a family of 4 to 6 kids all of which were riding bikes. I took pictures of Devil‘s Gulch, which apparently has a campsite.
We looked at Jewel trail, but we didn’t want to do the work. The family passed us at Tocaloma. On platform Bridge Road a few motorists passed us. I pointed out Black Mountain to the boys. From Platform Bridge to point Reyes Street Station I knew there would be traffic and conflicts. The first segment is down but at a slight angle. I immediately had to cross and pull off for a dump truck.
As we moved along, I managed the cars and noted that there are a few straight aways but a couple slight inclines. Then, on the last rise, I crossed over to let people queue at the intersection with Highway One. Then I passed the queue and descended to Point Reyes station. I was disoriented at first, then we sat at Station House for brunch – French toast with croquettes and a grilled cheese. The popovers were good. The meal was wonderful
We went to the grocery store and got enough for a couple of days before checking in and setting up at Olema Campground. Then we rode to Bear Valley the Visitor Center. As we headed up the trail, we took took care to be polite to the hikers and when we reached the spot where bikes are not allowed to bike, we started walking.
We saw slugs in a rivulet and passed a few hikers. There were a few downed trees and I tried referring to the last two trips we had made to remind the boys that we had been there before. We passed through this one downed tree where a lady was going the other way and I wanted to chat with her but it was a fleeting moment.
Another hiker told us the beach was 2 miles away, which I was incredulous about, but after a shady forest , the trail signs only said Coast Camp or Stuart Trail. I noted that, in retrospect, we should’ve gone down Stuart Trail. I also noted that the coast Camp Trail used to have a trail to Arch Rock but I discovered that Arch Rock had fallen apart or toppled a few years previously so the trail was gone.
Eventually , we started back. The only route to the beach that way was another mile from there and all of us were tired. We started looking for spots we remembered from the descent: the shady forest was cool, there was an open hillside, the downed tree. Along the way, one of the boys had picked up tree branches, all of which looked like a gun. We passed the rivulet again.
I was relieved when we had made it back to the bike because all of us were tired. We climbed up Bear Valley. We passed a bunch of hikers. The trail crosses the valley a few times but it is only Bear Valley Creek. I noticed also that none of the crossings seemed to be bridges. We passed a few more hikers. There was this giant log of which I took a picture.
We passed the Bear Valley Visitor Center and one of the boys dropped their sunglasses. A car almost crushed it. We went to eat at Due West in Olema and ordered a few things that were good. The boys were staring at a tennis tournament on the TV. They kept saying that it was the Olympics, but I knew it was the Open.
I had salad because I thought they wouldn’t eat, but they did so I didn’t have much to eat and I was generally displeased as we prepared to go to bed. I had a headache. So directed the boys brush their teeth and we went to sleep as soon as the sun went down
I woke at five in the morning on the day that I wrote this and felt a bit better. The boys got up and they played with one of the kids in the camp that morning and we made plans to return to Samuel P Taylor.
This is an occasional series chronicling my life.
This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.
No comments:
Post a Comment