Postcards from Point Reyes Peninsula

With the temperatures topping over 100 degrees this past weekend, my husband surprised me by suggesting we beat the heat and head for the coast. We grabbed our backpacks, threw them in the back of the truck and headed out of town. We decided to head north of San Francisco to Point Reyes Peninsula - a place we had visited for a short time a couple of years ago, but it had been cold, windy, and foggy and so we didn't stay long. This time it was different. Clear blue skies with just wisps of fog and warm weather (not as warm as the Sacramento Valley) greeted us.

Point Reyes National Seashore is one of 25 regions of the world where biological diversity is most concentrated and the threat of loss is most severe. Unique geology, soils, and climate conditions make it a highly variable landscape. The seashore encompasses over 70,000 acres of dunes, sandy and rocky beaches, coastal grasslands, Douglas fir and Bishop Pine forests, wetlands, chaparral, and wilderness lakes.

The broad range of plant communities supports over 900 species of vascular plants. 

There are approximately 80 species of mammals,

85 species of fish, 29 species of reptiles and amphibians, and thousands of aquatic and terrestrial invertebrate species.

Nearly half the bird species of North America, 490 species, have been spotted in Point Reyes.

The campsites are only hike-in the backcountry. We reserved a campsite at Sky Camp and hiked to our spot where we had a beautiful view of the ocean.

More to come about Point Reyes in the following days.