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- Sep 2, 2008
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I finally got to get outside yesterday; it was a simple outing that I enjoyed immensely:thumbup:.
My girlfriend and I headed over to hike the Tomales Point Trail at the northern tip of the Point Reyes Peninsula here in California. The area is notorious for dense summer fogs that can chill you quite effectively when combined with coastal winds, but the forecast for today predicted the fog would clear for most of the afternoon. We got started quite a bit late in the day (working on eliminating some serious sleep debt), so we did about 6 or 7 miles instead of the 9-10 miles it would have taken to get to the very end of the point and back. I timed it such that we could return to the car before the fog started rolling back in for the evening. I dont mind the cold, my GF not so much.
We were walking through dense fog for the first hour or two, and sometimes wed get a dim glimpse of the coast like this one:
Eventually the fog did burn off / blow off, and the world came alive with color and light. Tomales Point trail is a ridge trail, so we were gifted with excellent views of both Tomales Bay to the east,
and the Pacific Ocean to the west.
But the Tule Elk Preserve was the main reason we headed to Tomales Point. The trail runs right through the preserve.
Tule Elk are native to California and were quite widespread before destiny manifested excessive hunting and human encroachment on their natural habitats nearly drove them into extinction by the late 19th century. Luckily, the efforts of conservationists managed to save them from doom. In 1978 ten elk (two bulls and eight cows) were introduced to the former Pierce Dairy/Cattle ranch (now a historic site at the trailhead) and allowed to roam the nearly 3k acres of land on Tomales Point. There are now over 500 elk there. I wonder about over-population and over-grazing, still have to research it. So far Ive only found this.
Anyway, the Tule elk are pretty magnificent, even if smaller than other Elk species. Mating season has just begun, and will last until October-ish. The skin on the antlers of the bulls are already beginning to slough off. We didnt hear any bugling or see any battles, but we did see quite a few Bulls lounging amongst their harems. Excuse the poor pictures we never really got close to them. I need to buy a decent camera better suited to outdoor nature and wildlife photography. There ARE elk in each of the following pics though
.
Here's one from the net:
There was plenty of elk and mountain lion scat, but the elk and birds (Turkey Vultures, Hawks, Ravens, Sparrows) were pretty much the only wildlife we saw. I guess this beetle counts yum
My girlfriend and I headed over to hike the Tomales Point Trail at the northern tip of the Point Reyes Peninsula here in California. The area is notorious for dense summer fogs that can chill you quite effectively when combined with coastal winds, but the forecast for today predicted the fog would clear for most of the afternoon. We got started quite a bit late in the day (working on eliminating some serious sleep debt), so we did about 6 or 7 miles instead of the 9-10 miles it would have taken to get to the very end of the point and back. I timed it such that we could return to the car before the fog started rolling back in for the evening. I dont mind the cold, my GF not so much.
We were walking through dense fog for the first hour or two, and sometimes wed get a dim glimpse of the coast like this one:
Eventually the fog did burn off / blow off, and the world came alive with color and light. Tomales Point trail is a ridge trail, so we were gifted with excellent views of both Tomales Bay to the east,
and the Pacific Ocean to the west.
But the Tule Elk Preserve was the main reason we headed to Tomales Point. The trail runs right through the preserve.
Tule Elk are native to California and were quite widespread before destiny manifested excessive hunting and human encroachment on their natural habitats nearly drove them into extinction by the late 19th century. Luckily, the efforts of conservationists managed to save them from doom. In 1978 ten elk (two bulls and eight cows) were introduced to the former Pierce Dairy/Cattle ranch (now a historic site at the trailhead) and allowed to roam the nearly 3k acres of land on Tomales Point. There are now over 500 elk there. I wonder about over-population and over-grazing, still have to research it. So far Ive only found this.
Anyway, the Tule elk are pretty magnificent, even if smaller than other Elk species. Mating season has just begun, and will last until October-ish. The skin on the antlers of the bulls are already beginning to slough off. We didnt hear any bugling or see any battles, but we did see quite a few Bulls lounging amongst their harems. Excuse the poor pictures we never really got close to them. I need to buy a decent camera better suited to outdoor nature and wildlife photography. There ARE elk in each of the following pics though
.
Here's one from the net:
There was plenty of elk and mountain lion scat, but the elk and birds (Turkey Vultures, Hawks, Ravens, Sparrows) were pretty much the only wildlife we saw. I guess this beetle counts yum
, she was absolutely lovin it.
