And So It Begins: 2025

Today, January 26, at the Airport.

Where are we going?

That will be the subject of my next blog.

One clue - we're both over dressed for our destination!

Sunrise, January 1, 2025

We don't see much of the sky here in the Redwoods!

Rising sun reflected on the lookout at Barnabe Peak.

Creek still running pretty high on January 1.

But I am able to stand on a little island in the middle!

I can think of no better way to start the new year than to go for a long hike. This year I chose an organized group hike at Mt. Tamalpais State Park. There were several groups that started at the same location to hike at various speeds and on various routes to Mt. Tam's East Peak. The hike was a total round trip of about 7 miles without any steep parts, and had lots of beautiful views. The leader of my group didn't count her charges very well so 4 of us got left behind at a rest break, but all turned out well as we caught up. I mostly hike solo, but it was fun to walk with a group for a change and to get to meet other hikers. I exchanged contact information with one and hope to meet up with her to hike again some where.

Following the leader.

One of the many spectacular views.

See San Francisco's skyline to the right, and the Bay Bridge.

A huge outdoor theater, with a view, along the way.

Manzanita blooming in January.

I love all the harbingers of spring that appear early!

That's Mt. Diablo to the left in the distance.

A not so close view from the same location as the last picture.

On the way back to Camp Taylor I decided to take the shortest route back to a gas station in San Anselmo on the Bolinas Fairfax Road. This road, so, so close to civilization, is not for the faint of heart. However I much preferred driving it to being a passenger. Lots of interesting curves, some drop offs and narrow sections to navigate.

The beginning of my drive back to Samuel P Taylor.

On the second day of the new year I decided to head out to Point Reyes National Seashore to the Chimney Rock Trail for beautiful ocean vistas and to see the Elephant Seals which I had heard had begun arriving to give birth to this year's pups. The Chimney Rock Trail is on the ridge of a peninsula with lots to see.

The Trailhead of the short about 2 mile round trip trail.

Looking down to the Coast Guard Station.

Looking back into Drake's Bay.

Looking out to sea.

And yes, the seals are arriving and birthing new pups!

Beautiful view from the end of the trail.

Close up of the rocks below.

Looking back to where I came from.

More seals and pups.

This beach near the trailhead is very narrow.

We later learned that about 200 pups washed out to sea from this beach last year in storms.

Two Elephant Seal Bulls fighting for supremacy.

The Coast Guard Pier.

A mushroom at Camp Taylor, January 4.

I have not seen as many mushrooms as in previous seasons.

Perhaps because there has been little rain since our early heavy storms.

Some Salmon under the campground bridge.

The black structure in the water was placed this year to monitor fish that have been previously tagged.

Two of our children share the same birthday, January 6, three years apart. Shawn turned 49 this year and Erin 46. On Monday, January 6, we headed to Half Moon Bay to have lunch with Erin, and then in the evening we met Shawn in San Rafael for dinner. Happy Birthday Shawn and Erin! Sorry, no pictures of the birthday festivities.

The Beach at Half Moon Bay.

A sunset sky near us, January 7.

Sun peaking through the trees on January 8 on the Pioneer Tree Trail.

Three stray dogs confined in the backyard of a park employee residence.

The white dog is the mother of the other two.

On the afternoon of January 8, park visitors alerted staff that there were three large, but friendly dogs loose in the park, enjoying swimming in Lagunitas Creek. I, along with a park aide went to investigate and found these three. One of the residents offered her backyard to confine them while we tried to track down their owner. One of the dog's collars had the name of their ranch, Devils Gulch, and a phone number that turned out to be disconnected. The park rangers had a good number for the ranch and eventually the dogs were reunited with their owner. The rancher said the dogs had apparently followed someone servicing trail cameras that are set around Samuel P Taylor State Park, but when the trail camera folks got to their car over two miles from the ranch the dogs were left here to play. These three are very valuable livestock guardian dogs. Looking at the ranche's website it states that the guardian dogs they breed there will never leave the herd they are guarding. Well these ones did!

The water tank level is decreasing.

Water troubles have continued in the park, but finally the leak has been located with work to repair it scheduled for the week we'll be gone. The level in the tank pictured has lowered because water has been moved from it to another tank so that while the leak is being repaired the whole park will still have water. Rob and I will be out of the park the week when most of the work is being done, but hopefully when we return all bathrooms will be fully operational. However, this is not the first leak, nor doubtfully the last in a delivery system that is as old as the park. At Lake Tahoe where we host in the summer one of the campgrounds, D.L. Bliss, will be closed for the third summer in a row this year as work continues there to replace the aged water delivery system.

My latest puzzle complete.

This puzzle featuring the National Parks was lots of fun.

As I read the names of the various parks they brought back lots of good memories.

Beautiful filtered sunlight, Pioneer Tree Trail, January 11.

West Marin County, including our state park here, has hundreds of trails to explore in an area of extraordinary beauty. Many of the folks who camp at Samuel P Taylor never explore our park as they use it for a home base for exploring Point Reyes National Seashore. Over the past few years I have explored outside the park, but I do most of my hiking by stepping outside our RV door. In our first four years, though I did hike elsewhere, by the end of our stay I regretted I hadn't explored more outside the park. This year I am determined to get out more - by out I mean outside the park, and especially to Point Reyes National Seashore. On Monday, January 13, I headed to the north trailhead for the Estero Trail, planning to just hike a mile out and a mile back since I wanted to do it between morning and noon rounds. I ended up going a little further and hiking about 3 miles round trip and wished I'd gotten an earlier start so I could have gone further.

When I arrived at the trailhead I was the only car there.

The road into the trailhead was paved, but narrow.

I was happy not to encounter any cars going the opposite way.

Definitely not a trail I'd take on a busy weekend.

The first critter I encountered was this coyote that was on the trail but left as soon as I appeared.

It was in the same area on my way back - hunting rodents I think.

From this spot I looked back to wide open country.

And looked forward to going into tree cover.

Looking to the estuary and the bridge that was my originally planned turning around point.

The beautiful estuary adjacent to Drake's Bay.

White birds in a tree across the water.

Not sure what they were.

Two deer on my way back to the car.

A barn for one of the many ranches within the confines of Point Reyes National Seashore.

The Nature Conservancy has been negotiating with the ranchers for some time in closed meetings. It was just announced that all but two of the ranches will no longer exist within 15 months as ranchers have accepted what is reported to be generous settlements. These ranches have been leased from the National Park Service since it was created, and there has always been tension between the ranchers and the park. The news of the dissolution of most of them has met mixed reviews. This move will be better for the Tule Elk, giving them more room for their growing population, but means the ending of a way of life for many of the ranchers, and the displacement of 90 farm workers. We have heard that the Nature Conservancy is assisting the workers in finding new housing and jobs.

After my hike I headed to Drake's Beach to see what Elephant Seals had arrived there. On January 13, the baby Elephant Seal count on Drake's Beach was 4. When Rob and I returned on January 25 the count was 22, with many more expected. It is only in the past couple of years that the seals are giving birth in this location. They have been running out of room on other beaches so have been expanding their territory. Drake's Beach has a Visitor Center and large parking lot and has been a popular spot to access the beach and trails, but not during Elephant Seal season! The park service recently installed a very heavy duty fence to keep the seals out of the parking lot. Two years ago we saw seals in the parking lot. The seals, especially the males, are sometimes right up by the fence so one can get a pretty close up view.

See the baby by its mother.

Sunning itself near the fence.

Some more seals.

Two males fighting.

January 14-16 was the Gathering of Spiritual Leaders where active and retired clergy in the California-Nevada Conference of the United Methodist Church come together to worship, learn and fellowship. I was delighted that it was held at Asilomar Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove.

Tide pools on the Asilomar Beach.

The water was so clear here!

Sunset over the Pacific on the morning of January 14.

A Sea Star on the beach on my morning walk, Wednesday, January 15.

Moon set, January 15.

One of the many deer on the Asilomar grounds.

And another.

Sunset, January 15.

More sunset, January 15.

A Curlew.

Yes, these penguins were in Monterey, but they're from Arica.

On the way home I stopped at the Monterey Bay Aquarium because the retired clergy got free tickets!

Two Coho Salmon

Back at Camp Taylor, January 17.

This is pretty much the end of the spawning season for the salmon.

Tomales Bay State Park is about a half hour drive from Samuel P Taylor, and we had explored there our first year of camp hosting, but hadn't been back. On Saturday, January 18 I headed over there to explore at Heart's Desire and Indian Beaches. I was delighted by the calm bay, the wild life and all round beautiful outing.

Two deer near Indian Beach.

The bridge leading to Indian Beach.

The view across the bay.

A Moon Jelly.

There were lots of them on the beach as I was there at low tide.

I walked about a half mile along the beach exposed by the low tide.

A tree "sculpture" on my way back to the car.

We headed to Colfax January 19-21 to retrieve mail and suitcases. We needed the latter for our next travel venture which I'll record in my next blog. Spending two nights in our Colfax house felt like a vacation of sorts, but we were happy to return to camp.

Paper White Daffodils in the front yard at the house.

Our youngest granddaughter, Naomi, turned 9 on January 22, so we joined her, her sister Sophia, her parents, and her cousin Jacob for a birthday dinner at Mel's Diner in Pinole. Both girls had their birthday dinners there last year - looks like it might be the beginning of a tradition. I think the big appeal is breakfast for dinner!