I took some newbies, restarters, and two of us who are habitual backpackers and wanting to soak in the coast, to Point Reyes for four days, to ring in the new year. The restarters, who backpacked in days of yore, took to heart my admonishments to make the packs light as possible. Unfortunately the budget was slim and the packs weighed six pounds empty. But, nevertheless, we went onward, with reasonable mileage per day and a slower pace than usual.


Apparently all the rain they got the week before the trip brought out the fungus by the hundred. We saw more kinds of mushroom than I've ever seen anywhere else.



The first day was somewhat overcast, but it was fine hiking weather. The clouds dispersed as the day ended, leaving us with nice sunset views. We stayed at Wildcat and had a view of Alamere Falls.





Night temps dipped into the 20s - it was quite chilly. The following day we traveled the bluffs overlooking the ocean to Coast Camp.

Along the way, the scenery continued to stun and amaze.







The second day, as we hiked the 7.5 miles between Wildcat and Coast, an achilles tendon started to act up, and much ibuprofen was shared. It was dastardly cold that night. I busted out the pan bread from Packit Gourmet and it was good! And then we went to bed. At 6:30 pm. Because, COLD, and very humid, making it feel even more cold. I woke up with a damp footbox. All the tents were soaked inside and out.

The third day, we climbed three miles uphill to Sky camp. That was a decent distance for the group for that day, after a six mile day and a seven and a half mile day. The newbies and restarters weren't sleeping well. It was cold, and the 20 degree bags were not helping even though it didn't drop to 20. They wore jackets and layers to bed. By the time we started up the 1,000 feet of gain to camp, they were already a bit tired.



I took my Q Core, 3 season quilt, and the Goose Feet down booties I got for Christmas - the booties were overkill. But I love 'em. The first night I was chilled - didn't drink enough and probably didn't eat enough. Took a couple hours to warm up. The second and third nights I was fine since I upped my water intake during the day.

Our night at Sky the condensation was the worst. I had drips falling in my face. This was New Years Eve, and the parties in the other designated campsites stayed up laughing and talking. One group had an illegal campfire in their bbq. We couldn't even consider cheating.



(well, we didn't consider cheating. There was an attempt at an illegal campfire in the middle of our campsite, which we dispersed. Clearly college kids. They tried to start it with a scantron.)

On the morning of the fourth day, options were discussed. The sore ankle wasn't improved. I opted to hike to Bear Valley to the car we'd left there, to drive around to the Sky trailhead. The group would hike there (slightly over a mile, less than 400 feet of loss) to avoid aggravating the ankle any more by attempting the hike to headquarters (loss of more than 1,000 feet in three and a half miles) and I would pick them up, then we'd go to lunch in Point Reyes Station and return to Palomarin, the southern end of the wilderness, for the other car.

I took no pictures on this part of the trip, scenic as it was, as I made it to the car in an hour. I drove around to the road I was supposed to take to the Sky trailhead. It was closed.

As I sat in the pullout staring at the line of cones and signs, I got a call from the group - they were walking the wrong way along the road thinking I could get there the long way around. Which there isn't one. It dead ends near the beach. They then found a private road, and started down that. I started looking for private roads close by, to meet them if I could find the right one, and got another call - now they had gotten a ride from someone who lived on the private road, and I should wait in a parking lot. So I did. And the local told us the road had closed just that morning, after a culvert collapsed and dropped a section of the road, breaking up the asphalt. The picture on the Point Reyes website is impressive.

So after the good news, bad news, better news, good news, success story, we went and had grass fed beef at a local eatery, and headed for home. It was a good trip. The weather was fantastic, considering the forecasts had been for rain just last week... I wasn't exactly light weight this trip, but it was worth a little extra to have a game to play and extra food to eat, and margaritas for the new year celebration, brief as it was.

I am always amazed at your patience with newbies and willingness to take them out. Point Reyes is a great place for beginners. When I first moved to Sacramento, I went to Point Reyes in January with a 45 degree bag, not expecting the cold, and had to do laps up an down the beach to stay warm. The next year, given that experience, I went again in January all dressed in wool, and it was like jungle and I suffered in the heat and humidity. Nowadays, I check the weather report!

I usually take friends who are newbies on the slow trips. It's a pleasant way to spend the time, if they don't suffer too much! In this case I had a half and half group, two friends and two I had never met before.

The young newbie is already getting friends together to go to Zion - she may have been less prepared, but she has the resilience of the 20-something in her favor! My restarters departed with voiced intent to get back with me to talk about new packs and new clothes. And the ultralighter is signing on for a winter overnight in Yosemite, so we must have been tolerable company - this was his first trip with the hiking group.

I may end up taking the backpacking class back for a revisit in spring, if anyone signs up. (It's not really the season people think about backpacking... but I did say "no snow.")

Great report, Lori - sounds like a successful trip. I like introducing people to our activity (never sure whether to call it a sport, hobby, or pastime.) I figure the more people we can get out on the trails, the more certain we become that we will have trails in the future. More trails for us!

Sounds like a sweet trip minus the cold, ankle pain, and heavy condensation. It always good trip when a newbie wants to go back again. Point Reyes looks amazing too!!