Out and About with Ruthie (aka Nickie) and Jimmy: Salt Point St Pk

Showing posts with label Salt Point St Pk. Show all posts

20210731

To the Seashore! Wed, 7/28/21

Salt Point St Pk campground was one of those that had "no availability," even in its overflow parking, darn it. But we could (and did) park in the day use area for a few hours. A light fog drifted in from the water, filtering through the trees up yonder hill, enchanting really, and looking as though elves should step out of the woods. Never mind, back to reality. We ate our lunch in Tergel overlooking the ocean and then we were out the door to hit the trail and scamper over these amazing tafoni rocks.

A light breeze felt good to us as we walked along the shore path. Salt Point consists of rocky promontories, panoramic views, kelp-dotted coves, and a rugged coastline, plus some stellar grasslands.

Tafoni means cavern in Italian and Salt Point is riddled with the stuff. It's fascinating to look at, with different colors, shapes and sizes, often right next to each other! Next to each other, yet totally unalike.

No towering waves today; I think we were at neap tide. An hour later, the tide was definitely coming in. I believe I see a harbor seal at left on that big black rock out there. Maybe I can get closer.

Does this sandstone remind you of a sponge? A honeycomb? Swiss Cheese rock? Any of the above? Tafoni is pocked with intricate formations.

Good lord, turkey buzzards by the sea. Oh, yuck, they're the clean-up crew. Appears that a dead seal (of some kind) has washed up and is being dispatched by the three above. We had to walk quite a distance once we were downwind of this before our noses said, "whew, okay to breathe!"

Jimmy, above, on one of the paths we walked, but we clambered down to the rocks frequently. Fog fingers drift around the trees. "Fog comes on little cat feet ..."

I guess a sparrow and a lizard qualifies as wildlife?

A few wildflowers remained.

I love to poke around tide pools, but you have to work to get down to 'em. There's a green jacket at the red checkmark, and that's where Jimmy parked as I made my way to a series of tide pools.

Here's another harbor seal draped over the rocks. I backtracked so as to not disturb this one. Geez, that position looks truly uncomfortable, head hanging over the edge like that, but the thing is smiling. 😊 Behind the seal is a forest of sea palms.

I always look for fish and octopus in tide pools, but didn't see any today. Lots of different-colored sea stars and limpets instead ...

... as well as a slew of crabs.

As I eased over a few more rocks, this group came into view. I am quiet on my feet, but they must have ESP or something, 'cause the one (big spotted torpedo) in front raised it's head, as if to say, "what do you want? Go away." I moved along.

Jimmy and I rejoined and continued walking on the shore path. We stopped to watch this group of seven (probably) females with their pups. The tide was incoming and as we watched, a wave burst over the ones positioned lower on the rocks. Their heads raised in protest. You could almost hear them yell, "No fair, I'm getting all wet!" As we stood there, all seven inched higher on the rocks.

I would be afraid to kayak on the Pacific Ocean. Lots of rocks. And waves. This paddler was returning from his fishing (we could see the fishing pole). At upper far right, is one of two more kayakers.

And to round out our own adventure,

here's the brown pelican flotilla passing by.

I checked my watch. It was time for us to leave as we'd have an hour/plus drive to our next camp in Guerneville. While the distance is roughly only 30 miles inland, Hwy 1 and Hwy 116 are tortuous roads.

Well, we'd had a heckuva neat day already, first in the redwoods and then here. We put almost five miles on our feet, all good ones, full of wonderful sights, scenes and vistas. (And you know we were loving the cool temps!) So long for now, Salt Point!

20200222

Salt Point St Pk, 2/18 - 2/20/20

North from Point Reyes, through Bodega and Jenner, on Hwy 1, you'll eventually reach Salt Point State Park. Parts of the 63-mile drive are tortuous for rigs like ours, as the narrow road dives in and out of cove inlets, including a number of tight 15-MPH hairpin > turns. I had the wheel this morning and did okay, but my arms were tired by the time we reached the state park. No one was at the entry kiosk, so we drove down to the overflow camping at Gerstle Cove where we wanted to park Tergel, hoping it wouldn't be packed. We lucked out, as you see in the picture below -- the overflow lot was empty. Suited us to a T. Later on we toured the campground and it, too, was empty. The next day we were joined by two other campers, but overflow has plenty of room w/o crowding. No hookups, of course.

We've been fortunate this week weather-wise, with sunshine galore, no fog or rain; chilly nighttime temps, and warm/ish days. Kind of unusual for February, but great for us being Out and About!

Tergel sits alone, facing the wide blue Pacific. Bliss.

On Tuesday, after paying (state parks are getting costly, but we DO have an expansive ocean view), and getting Tergel set where we wanted, we were out the door, on our way to the water. From where Tergel sits, several trails cut through the grass to the water. A path runs along the cliff, between and over tumbled rock piles, with easy access in many spots to get right down to the water's edge and tide pools. Oh my, this is such a scenic park!

Clumps of Calla lily were a bright surprise.

Being able to hop from boulder to rock to shelf helps if you're trying to get to the water. Just pick the right route! You can see the tippety-top of Tergel at the red check mark.

Nice perch, Jimmy!
Watching a mountain goat (me) clamber over the rocks.

This type of rock is called tafoni, and it's fascinating. Enlarge the photo for a closer look at the above sampling (use your back arrow to return here). Tafoni typically develops in coarse-grained sandstone or coarsely crystalline rock types, often occurring in groups that can riddle a hillside, cliff, or other rock formation. This natural phenomenon is common to the sandstone near the ocean's edge here at Gerstle Cove. "An Italian word for cavern, tafoni refers to a honeycomb-type erosion caused by seasonal wetting and drying of the sandstone, weakening it into pits, knobs, ribs and ridges." Definitely seen at Salt Point (above and below)!

We were entertained by a pair of Northern Harrier hawks, either sitting atop a rock pile or hovering o'er the grassy fields like helicopters, hoping to hear a mouse rustle below.

Gerstle Cove State Marine Reserve allows recreational diving, kayaking, and underwater photography. With all the bull kelp growing, I'm sure the water would be teeming with life.

Mussels? barnacles?

An ocean full!

While I was looking at that interesting knob at top, I became aware of a white blob on the rocks close to the water, like a fat tube of toothpaste. Aha, harbor seal resting comfortably (how is that possible on barnacles?), waiting for the tide to come in, which was happening. I altered my course, so as to not disturb it. Looks pretty comfy, below, huh?

Oops, she/he heard me and is now awake. The tide has risen, and high tide can't be far away, so, it slid, like silly putty or syrup spilling onto pancakes, into the water, below.

And, there it sat for a few minutes,

like we do when we first wake up.

The clear, cold water makes peering into tide pools a lot of fun.

So much marine activity to see.

Weirdest configurations ever. Not always easy to get from place to place, but rock hoping is still a favorite of mine! I try to be extra careful these days since I'm no longer 30 years old (though I feel like it when I'm scrambling around) ....

We enjoyed a brief orange sunset, but the photo is gone. The next day (Wednesday) we spotted whales spouting as soon as we were out, which is always exciting! We decided to walk on the ocean's edge path in the other direction today, to Stump Beach Cove. What a wonderful time we had, ambling along, over rocks, up and down to the water, watching harbor seals and the incoming waves exploding against the rocky shore and the Harriers stalking mice in the fields. At the Cove, we spied more seals with only their heads poking above the water, and sea otters stooging around the kelp, and Pelagic Cormorants clinging to nests on the cliffside. We passed our binocs back and forth as one of us eyed something new. Super morning!

After lunch, we hopped in Smartie so we could explore a few Sonoma County beaches further north. We stopped at Black Point Beach first, photos above and below lifted from the 'net. It's a sandy shore of black pebbly sand reached by a steep wooden staircase. It curves for a quarter mile along the base of sea cliffs. We walked to the southern end to peer into what seemed to be caves, but the rocks were so slippery, I gave up before reaching the cave. We saw lots of sea stars and anemones and a couple of saucer-sized crabs.

We drove further north (into Sea Ranch, an unincorporated community) to Pebble Beach, below (photo also from the 'net), descending another long staircase to the sand. A family was plying the tide pools (just past low tide), looking at all the Abalone clinging to rocks, more urchins and sea stars and anemones. Lots of hermit crabs. Jimmy and I joined the ranks on the slippery rocks to peer into the tide pools. We found a "vacated" abalone shell and brought it home, which is legal. It's kind of beat up, but the nacre is so pretty. Eventually we tired and found our way back to Tergel. This was the best day! I took loads of A+ pictures, and when I imported them into the computer, I forgot (good grief) to save them in the computer, and then deleted the pics from the SanDisk (because I was in a hurry). Apparently these pics are gone forever, which is heartbreaking because I think they were some of the best. OH WELL.

We left Salt Point on Thursday morning, not hooking together till we got to Bodega due to those hairpin turns, arriving home late afternoon and began the unloading process. Really, really nice week-plus Out and About in Tergel. I'm writing this on Saturday, and guess what? We tried the dinette slide earlier today, and it went out just like it's supposed to and came back in like that, too. So ... we hit a bad patch on the slide for a week, and now it seems to be fine. OH WELL!

Life is good and we are grateful.