A Day Trip to Point Reyes Lighthouse

Prior to our third wedding anniversary falling on Monday, Ani decided to celebrate it on Saturday instead. He picked up the endmost point of California, Point Reyes Lighthouse located in Marin County. A lighthouse which is surrounded by the Tomales Bay; which first shone in the year 1870, have been a savior to many mariners and was once known as Lobes lighthouse.

This place is the windiest and foggiest location in the Pacific Northwest!

Point Reyes is also recorded as the cleanest seashore in all of California.

This lighthouse has been used as a location for the 1980 John Carpenter film The Fog. It is also the subject of a poem by Weldon Kees, "The Exposed Reef."

We drove like one hour from Walnut creek to reach our destination passing through amazing view of dairy farms, valley, grove of trees and picturesque landscape thereby forgetting the curvy and bumpy miles. Welcomed with dense fog and blur sights ahead we were definitely curious if this is the place tourist really rated it as a must visit spot?

No sooner did we parked our car(parking space being small you need to be lucky) when teeth tattering wind draped us. We did made a major mistake to choose the month of November when the climate is foggy. Somehow the board cheered us saying we had only 0.4 miles to walk to get to the most awaited glimpse!

Walking along with the other tourist sneezing and tugging our jackets we barely got to see anything clear through the fog. To make the matter worst there was 300 stairs to walk down to the lighthouse. 300!!?? Yes I react the same way. Climbing down is always easy, climbing up is always a load of leg work. Since it was too foggy we pondered if we really want to do this climbing? Ani decided to toss a coin when god actually listened to our prayers. With the quarter coin in Ani's hand the sky was clearing and the clouds part it ways for the mighty sun to shine. To our exhilaration we could see the deep green bay and the splashing of waves against the rocks.

We ran down the stairs.

THINGS TO DO IN POINT REYES

-Go camping (Reserve a spot here)

-Beach walk to Alamere Falls

-Drive through the Cypress Tree Tunnel

-Explore the farthest point in the park, the Point Reyes Lighthouse

-Explore the shipwreck of the S.S. Point Reyes, perched on a sand bar off the shoreline of Tomales Bay.

-Watch wildlife and birds

-Go hiking, backcountry camping, horseback riding, bicycle riding, and much more!

-Visit in the month of summer for a more perfect bay view and Whale Watching between January-May.

It is very close to San Francisco (only an hour’s drive) and definitely worth a day trip – any time of year! Ani and I really want to come back when it’s not cloudy and moody…

POINT REYES LIGHTHOUSE

Inverness, CA 94937

SUN-MON: 10 to 4:30P