June 25, 2021

Pirate's Cove

near Muir Beach

hikers:  Mark & Lecia

distance:  3.6 miles, out and back.  elevation gain 820 feet

difficulty: I would say it is medium hard because of the distance and it has some steep parts. The short scramble down to the cove is definitely difficult but  but doable. 

This is not a shaded hike. Wear sunscreen. The trail at the beginning is a road and it's pretty steep, and the short scramble to the cove is a very steep and rocky trail.  The rest is up and down the coastal hills. Not a good hike for very young children, but older kids, anyone who can walk 3 and a half miles, would really really like Pirate's Cove!  It is definitely worth it.  You should be aware of the tides as it is a small beach and I don't know what it is like at high tide.

This was a really fun hike because destination was so great!

Pirates' Cove isn't really that far down the coast from Muir beach, but other than by boat the only way to get there is to hike there!  That makes it a secluded and private beach.  But we weren't the only hikers and there were some other people there  besides us.  But is was definitely worth the hike.

We started at the Muir Beach parking lot.  There was a sign that showed us the nearby trails.

We walked across the bridge, as shown on the map, and instead of going down to the beach we turned left to go to the Coastal trail. The entire trail is near the coast but up above the bluff.

This pointed us in the right direction.  

We saw lots of California Poppies, the state flower.

This is the steep part of the trail that is a road. 

 A picture just doesn't capture the angle quite right.  

Not all of the trail is a road.  Much of it is like this.

As I mentioned there are a lot of hills.  You get to the top of one and see that the trail just goes on and on.

There are some beautiful ocean views!  That is what makes it a great hike.

 

We went over this picturesque bridge.

And had more fantastic ocean views!

Then we saw the trail goes on and on!   My  thought was "oh no we have to go up those stairs!"

But right before the stairs was the turn off to Pirates Cove!  

On the way down.

This is from the bottom looking up.

This little cove is the reward for hiking!  And it was well worth it.  There were a few other people there when we arrived, but we hardly saw them and it felt secluded.

And this was lunch!  We picked up some sandwiches at Panera before we headed to Muir Beach and this vegetarian sandwich and the kitchen sink cookie were excellent choices!

After spending some time at Pirates Cove we scrambled back up the trail to this point where the stairs go towards Tennessee Valley.  We decided to go up that trail a little ways after all.

So up we went.  Mark went further than I did.  

Then we turned around and headed back towards Muir Beach.  

There were other people on the trail but it was not crowded.

I believe that is San Francisco in the background.

And here is Muir Beach.  

We walked down to the beach and looked around before we left. 

We brought our kids to this beach many, many years ago and it has good memories!  

 June 24, 2021

Chimney Rock Hike at Point Reyes National Seashore

hikers:  Mark and Lecia

distance:  1.7 miles out and back

difficulty: easy since it is short and pretty flat.

The Chimney Rock hike is the short line marked in yellow.  It was about a 45 minute drive from the visitor center and the trail sits on the very eastern point of Point Reyes. It's quite remote but there is a house near the trailhead!  There are some ranches in that area of Point Reyes.  

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You don't get lost on this trail although there are opportunities to stray as you will see later.

The historic Chimney Rock lifeboat station as seen from the trail above, since we didn't walk down there.  

There are a lot of trails that leave the main trail and go closer to the edge of the cliffs above the ocean.  We saw people on some of these trails.  

They are all marked with a sign that declares they are unauthorized trails.  They obviously feel a need to put up warning signs.  hmmm. 

These are the kinds of view of the ocean you get from this peninsula.

Some kind of survey marker.

You can see that it was windy up on this peninsula above the ocean.

The view at the tip!

One really cool thing about this hike was the wildlife we saw.  Mark heard an owl and we were able to spot him in some trees.  There aren't many trees on most of the hike but there several near the house I mentioned earlier.  

I have never seen an owl in the wild and it was quite amazing!

Not too far from the Chimney Rock parking lot is a trail that goes to  a colony or community, whatever it is you call a lot of elephant seals!  The trail was closed this time of year, but we were able to see them from a distance.  Some other tourists pointed them out to us or we might have missed them.  This photo is really zoomed in .  If you watched closely you could see them moving and then you knew it wasn't just rocks!

 June 24, 2021

Limantour Beach

At Point Reyes National Seashore: 

from youth hostel on coast trail to the beach and back on Muddy Hollow Trail.

hikers:  Mark and Lecia

distance: about a 4.9 mile loop and 200 feet of elevation drop and then gain.

We parked near the hostel and headed down the Coast Trail, which is really a road.  You can park near Limantour beach if you don't want to hike.  But hiking is our thing and part of the adventure.  Here is a map with our hike in orange

This was the start of the coastal trail, just across the road from the hostel.

Besides the deer we saw other hikers going both directions but it wasn't busy.  When we got to the beach, it was pretty secluded.   It was the south end of Limantour Beach or maybe the Santa Maria Beach.  At least that is what I think after looking at the map afterwards.  While we were enjoying the view and the loudness of the waves, I didn't even know there was more than one beach, since it is all connected. I didn't realize how long of a beach it is.

It was very pleasant and we had a log to sit on and eat our picnic lunch from Subway.  It was an enjoyable place to spend some time and we were mostly by ourselves.  The sand was crusty and you could pick up a piece.  

When we were ready to go back we went on over to Limantour beach.  

This is the sign as you are heading to Limantour beach from the parking lot.  You also cross this bridge going from the parking lot to the beach.  

And there are restrooms here.  

But instead of going to the parking lot we took the Muddy Hollow Trail. 

This trail was very pretty.  

 

Prettiest dandelions I've ever seen!

After a while you leave the open areas and are in shady paths. 

 We saw beautiful wildflowers and lots of quail, the California State bird!

The muddy hollow trail connects to the muddy hollow road, as you can see 

on the map, and that crosses Limantour Road and you are back to the hostel!