Archive for December 2006
You are browsing the archives of 2006 December.
Bodega Bay Camping
(Click photo for all 111 photos)
Maria invited me to join her for a weekend of camping in Bodega Bay at the Doran Regional Park, a stretch of beach that acts as the sea break for the harbor. We headed out Friday morning and set up camp in the Cove Campground, just steps away from the ocean. The weather was wonderful ocean weather, slightly windy and not too cold. After setting up camp and Maria scooter-ed around for a bit, we went geocaching as a way to explore the park. Maria fixed a lovely dinner and after awhile we retired to the luxury of a large, non-backpacking tent, to enjoy a movie on the laptop–it’s tough to rough it! Duane found his way to the park and met up with us late in the evening. Saturday morning started with a hearty breakfast and after making sure the tents were secure enough to withstand the wind, we headed over to Bodega Head for a leisurely hike around the point across the bay from our camp. We saw Bodega Rock where all the seal lions where hanging out at and making noise to be heard for miles. In the other direction we headed over to the Horseshoe Cove Overlook and saw the Bodega Marine Laboratory. On our way back to camp, we stopped and checked out the Bodega Hole in the Head, a spot where PG&E was going to build a nuclear power plant in the 1960’s but was stopped by community activism. After another sumptuous dinner, Duane built a roaring fire and we enjoyed a nice evening around the campfire. We had a gopher pop up next to us, but after seeing us all looking at him, he changed his mind, reburied his hole and was gone. Saturday night was extremely windy, probably 30 mph wind gusts, and both Maria and I woke up to make sure things weren’t flying down the beach and they weren’t, but it sure was loud all night long. Sunday morning, we packed up camp, said good bye to Duane and then Maria and I drove down historic highway one. Not the most efficient way to head home, but it took us past Cowgirl Creamery (yum yum for fresh cheese) and along a very scenic route towards the Bay Area to stop by say Merry Christmas to an old friend of hers. A very wonderful and relaxing weekend.
Año Nuevo Elephant Seals
(Click photo for all 101 photos)
Last winter when we went to see the elephant seals at Año Nuevo State Reserve, it was late in their mating cycle, so it was mostly mothers and grown pups that were on the beach. This year we wanted to see the males and hopefully catch them as they battled for turf and dominance. They come ashore starting at the beginning of December and the park starts tours on December 15, so our hopes were high. Tersha, her niece Brianna, Augie, Linda and I headed out on the tour, glad for the wonderful nice weather we were having. Angie was our tour docent and our group included folks from London and a family from Amsterdam with their rambunctious young sons. We enjoyed the walk down to the beach and enjoyed seeing the bulls lounging on the beach. Unfortunately the bull seals considered the nice brisk 50′F temperatures, that we were thankful for, to be extremely warm so they were being very inactive in order to not overheat. But it was still a fun time. Afterwards, we stopped at the Pigeon Point Light Station State Historic Park before heading home.
Hidden Falls Regional Park
(Click photo for all 21 photos)
It was a typical valley winter day, gray and bright–even though you didn’t see the sun directly, and Tim and I headed over to Hidden Falls Regional Park to hike a bit. Definitely less people today than when I visited on opening weekend in November. Using the only park map I’ve found, Tim and I headed towards the waterfall, which I didn’t see last time I was here. I introduced him to the geocaching game and he’s a natural… he actually found half the caches once we got near them; we found 6 caches today. It was a fun day and we met some other geocachers out on the trails too. As we were heading out, we ran into Eric and his girlfriend, who were just starting their hike to some of the geocaches. It was a nice rain-free day exploring more trails in this new park. 
GPS Stats: • Odometer: 4.90 miles • Total Time: 4:51 • Moving Time: 2:25 • Overall Average Speed 1.0 mph • Moving Average Speed: 2.0 mph
Backyard Wildlife
(Click photo for all 13 photos)
I had an unusual visitor in the backyard this morning. A hawk came and sat in my tree for a couple of hours. My friend Lisa identified him as a Red-Shouldered Hawk. He just watched and preened. Very cool!
