CowTownRenegade14: February 2015

Outside of the Sierra Nevadas my favorite place to backpack is Pt. Reyes National Seashore. The terrain is awesome to hike thorough, the views are just fantastic, and the backpack camps are well kept and clean and a pleasure to camp in. But even better, for a history buff like me anyway, this national park is ground zero for one of the hottest debated topics in the historical world: did Sir Francis Drake spend five weeks on these shores during the summer of 1579?

It is well documented that on June 17, 1579 Drake stopped somewhere to make repairs to his ship, the Golden Hind. It is also documented that the Golden Hind traveled well north in search of the Northwest Passage before turning back and looking for a safe harbor to make repairs. This is where the debate begins: did Drake and the Hind make it far enough south to shelter at what is today known as Drake's Bay on the shores of Pt. Reyes National Seashore or did he stop in Oregon, more specifically Whale Cove in Depoe Bay?

There is no question that he sailed as far as Oregon. It is well documented that he went north, possibly as far as Alaska, before turning back. But the case for him summering in Oregon is circumstantial at best: a few artifacts from the time period and a mysterious "W" carved on a rock above Manzanita. It is known that within a hundred years other Europeans - especially the Spanish whom were already sailing the Pacific before Drake made his voyage - sailed the same route and even pirates were known to haunt the shores of Oregon and Washington. For those of you old enough to remember the Goonies -- part of that was based on truth of old legends from that area.

Now the evidence for Drake's Bay in Pt. Reyes is almost overwhelming. Not only is the location written in the ships log (38 30' North Latitude), but the local Coast Miwoks tell stories of the visit. The descriptions in the published accounts match the bay almost exactly with one notable exception. One account describes "snow covered mountains" to the east. While this does sound like the colder climate of Oregon, let me remind the reader that during a cold summer Mt. Diablo, the highest peak in the bay has been to known to have snow at the top, even today. If Drake landed during a cold summer, and by all published accounts it sounds as though he did, then it is very possible snow may have covered the higher peaks.

So what does this have to do with my backpack trip? Absolutely nothing. I just find the area interesting and when I stop to think about it, I do get a chill up my spine knowing that I am walking some of the same ground that Drake and his crew walked while they visited the various Coastal Miwok villages that were scattered throughout the area. And that first night as I stood on the bluffs above our camp and looked out toward Drake's Bay and the estuary just beyond I could almost see the Hind pulled up on the beach as his men worked by firelight to chalk the beams. It wasn't hard to imagine the canvas tents that would have been set up further down the beach and a mess set up with cooking fires and men scattered among the beach as they bedded down for the night...

Coast Camp by far is my favorite camp in Pt. Reyes. I still have two more to visit, Glen Camp and Wildcat Camp which is another beach camp further south along the coast, but I don't think either will hold the fascination that Coast Camp does, since the bluffs do look down on the very beach where the Hind would have been resting while the crew made their repairs. For me, this view alone makes the trip well worth it and a trip I will take advantage of every chance I get.

The Bear Valley Visitor Center. All trips into Pt. Reyes National Seashore start here.

My son Gavin next to a elephant seal.

At the trailhead. I wanted to do a longer trip up and over Mt. Wittenberg but Gavin wanted a shorter trip so instead of the 7-mile trip to the campsite we settled on a shorter 2-mile trip. From the Visitor Center we drove 20 minutes to the Laguna Trail and started there. We would come back on the longer 3-mile Coast Trail which started just down the road.

Gavin at the trailhead.

The trail started with a short climb to the ridge just above the coastline. This is looking back at the trailhead. The parking lot is just past the stand of trees.

Looking back after the climb. You can still see the leftover flooding from the rains that hit this area the week before.

We had originally planned to hike this the weekend before Christmas, but the area had been hit with such a heavy storm that some of the roads had flooded and the trail between us and the Coast Camp was nearly impassable. You can see where the trail was flooded just few days before. The ground is essentially mud.

We had to take a off-trail detour to get around this section. The detour started just over to the left of the photo.

We reach our first junction a mile in. The last time we were here we stayed at Sky Camp, a thousand feet higher and closer to the summit of Mt. Wittenberg.

The trail up to Sky Camp and around the mountain back to the Visitor Center.

We can begin to smell the ocean breeze.

A small pond next to the trail. We saw plenty of elk sign, just no elk.

Our first view of the Pacific. The trail heads downhill from here. We are less than a mile from camp.

Heading down to the junction with the Coast Trail.

Our first view of the camp and the Coast Trail. The camp is straight ahead just under the bluff.

We reach the junction with the Coast Trail. We are just a hop, skip and a jump away from camp.

The Coast Trail heading north back toward the parking lot. We would take this trail back to the car the next morning.

The Coast Trail south, toward camp.

A look back: we had come up and over the pass in the distance.

I had read about this rock formation in a blog post by another group of hikers. I call it the mini-Easter Island. This was sitting just above our campsite.

Our campsite, number 10. The Coast Trail runs right through the center of camp.

My new backpack: the Gregory Balfour 65. This was my first test-run with this pack and it handled even better than I thought it would. I lost a little bit of room when I switched packs, but the way it carried the weight much easier and with more storage pockets made the purchase well worth it.

My son Gavin is 15 and currently goes through growing spurts. This weekend was one of those spurts. When we reached camp he set up his bedroll and was out like a light. I tucked him in and went exploring.

Found this in the shrubs just outside of our camp. The bones look like a small deer or elk. I'm just not sure what could be big enough to take one down in this area...

Oak tree on the other side of the bluff. This is on the way to the small path that leads to the ocean.

The path down to the ocean.

I reach the ocean. A mix of fresh water streams and the Pacific Ocean.

Santa Maria Beach.

The bluffs of the north coast. When the sun goes down they take on a golden color.

I found this as I was walking south on the beach. At first glance I thought it was still alive. Then I got closer and noticed the lack of eye stalks. This poor guy has been eaten from the inside out.

Santa Maria Creek.

I found this guy on the bank of Santa Maria Creek. Like the other one it had been devoured from the inside out and placed in this position by the high tide.

Sculptured Beach.

Santa Maria Creek; just above in the center is the rock formation I nicknamed mini-Easter Island.

Santa Maria Creek empties into the Pacific.

Sculptured Beach. I can imagine some of Drake's crew wandering among the rocks as they picked up mussels and clams for the cook.

As I was looking for seashells I came across this little guy. He was missing a arm. I did throw him back.

I didn't want to leave, but the incoming tide cut my wanderings short.

I was in the mood to seek out new territory so instead of hiking back down the beach I decided to follow Maria Creek to the Coast Trail.

I crossed over the creek then just a few yards in I hit the jackpot: an animal trail that went up onto the bluffs above.

I almost enjoy hiking animal trails more than man-made trails. Animal trails go with the flow of the land and take the easier of all routes. This one was no exception and I made my way to the top of the bluffs in no time at all.

Mt. Wittenberg.

Mt. Wittenberg: Sky Camp is just below the summit to the left of the photo.

On the bluff. The trail was easy to follow and led to what I can only describe as a highway of trails.

A bedding place for elk or deer.

A fishing trawler on its way home.

Drake's Bay with the estuary just beyond. From this view it is easy to see why this would have looked promising to Drake and his crew. A wide flat beach for the ship and plenty of fresh water within walking distance. Fresh game was in abundance and their are tales of Drake and the crew going on hunting parties with the local Coastal Miwoks.

I reach our camp under the bluff.

Gavin is still sound asleep. I let him sleep a little longer while I set up camp and woke him up in time to make dinner.

Gavin wakes up long enough to grill our New York steaks. I made mashed potatoes for the side and we each enjoyed a Capri Sun fruit punch pouch before heating up water for our evening tea.

Six in the morning. I had trouble sleeping because the moon was so bright. It was a nice night, temps stayed in the 40s - perfect weather for sleeping outside.