June 10, 2007
June 10, 2007
After a lazy morning we drive over to Patrick’s Point State Park on the California coast to see the seals we have been listening to all night. We first stop in the visitor center to get a map and recommendations. When Aimee asks the volunteer ranger whether it is always rainy here, he responds “no, but when it isn’t raining, it is foggy”. He also tells us that the average high here in the warm summer months is 67F. Aimee and I are starting to get homesick for some hot dry sunny weather.
After this introduction we park the RV at one of the day use sites and hike along the Rim Trail to the west side of the park. The coast here is a very rugged with high cliffs, lots of rocks, and pounding surf. The rocks below are scattered with seals and sea lions. An interpretative sign helps us identify them. The Harbor Seals are the smaller brown ones that aren’t moving much. The Sea Lions are the larger cousins that won’t shut up.
.jpg)
From the point we hike down to the surf on the side opposite the seals. It is almost low tide and this tidal basin is supposed to be teeming with life. I look around and all I can see is a bunch of kelp that was washed onto the rocks. I convince Aimee to tiptoe out onto the rocks to help me. She is usually better at spotting wildlife than I am. With her help we soon identify lots of sea snails, crabs, hermit crabs, anemones and two sea stars. I am starting to feel like a naturalist.
We are getting hungry so we walk back to the RV, have a sandwich and drive to the other side of the park. From there we hike down to Agate Beach where we are supposed to be able to find agates in the sand. Unfortunately I am not quite sure what an agate is. I ask a couple local ladies searching the beach to show me what one looks like. After a little guidance Aimee and I give it a shot. This beach is all multi-colored pebbles. Finding an agate is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Nevertheless after a half-hour I find two nice specimens. Alas I also found a big kink in my neck. Next time we will search the rock store instead.
After a lazy morning we drive over to Patrick’s Point State Park on the California coast to see the seals we have been listening to all night. We first stop in the visitor center to get a map and recommendations. When Aimee asks the volunteer ranger whether it is always rainy here, he responds “no, but when it isn’t raining, it is foggy”. He also tells us that the average high here in the warm summer months is 67F. Aimee and I are starting to get homesick for some hot dry sunny weather.
After this introduction we park the RV at one of the day use sites and hike along the Rim Trail to the west side of the park. The coast here is a very rugged with high cliffs, lots of rocks, and pounding surf. The rocks below are scattered with seals and sea lions. An interpretative sign helps us identify them. The Harbor Seals are the smaller brown ones that aren’t moving much. The Sea Lions are the larger cousins that won’t shut up.
.jpg)
We are getting hungry so we walk back to the RV, have a sandwich and drive to the other side of the park. From there we hike down to Agate Beach where we are supposed to be able to find agates in the sand. Unfortunately I am not quite sure what an agate is. I ask a couple local ladies searching the beach to show me what one looks like. After a little guidance Aimee and I give it a shot. This beach is all multi-colored pebbles. Finding an agate is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Nevertheless after a half-hour I find two nice specimens. Alas I also found a big kink in my neck. Next time we will search the rock store instead.
We spent a lot more time in this park than we had planned so we decide to find an empty campsite and stay the night. We don’t have a problem finding a site but surprisingly the park is pretty crowded. Camping is very popular in California.
posted by Mike and Aimee at 9:39 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home