Photo of the Weekend - 2008-08-17
You Mon Tsang August 17th, 2008
This is how I like to experience Point Reyes!
Tea & Pt. Reyes, originally uploaded by Briana Robertori.
Park Wavelengths, 2008-08-12
You Mon Tsang August 12th, 2008
The National Park Service publishes a newsletter about events, closures, natural history, and cultural history at Point Reyes.
The full moon rises on Saturday, August 16 - the “Collect Food for Winter Moon” for the Haida of the Pacific north coast. A few daylight low tides arrive just before sunrise:
Saturday, August 16 5:21 am -0.3 (sunrise at 6:27 am)
Sunday, August 17 6:06 am -0.2 (sunrise 6:28 am)
Monday, August 18 6:23 am 0.1 (sunrise 6:28 am)The best window for tidepooling is an hour before and an hour after the low.
It is a great time for all species to be collecting berries for immediate consumption, jams and pies etal. Berries of all colors sizes and shapes are ripe! Not for humans - Snowberries (solid white) and clear pink jelly berries from the Honeysuckle vine are excellent bird snacks. Humans have huckleberries and various blackberries to pick - the tiny native California Blackberry; the larger Cut leaf and Armenian (formerly called the Himalaya berry) blackberries are all ripening along trails and roadsides.
The first signs of seasonal changes are here- brilliant splashes of scarlet Poison Oak vines along roadsides and the beginning of the Tule Elk rut at Tomales Point - bulls bugling and thrashing vegetation; large groups of females - harems have formed.
Activity continues in the Muddy Hollow Trail area; biologists are netting fish from the ponds in anticipation of the dam removal; historically these ponds were maintained as animal watering holes and stocked with bass
A busy calendar of free events in the park over the next few weeks:
Curious about the Giacomini wetlands project? The contractor from Hanford will be on hand at 5th and C streets at 10:00 am on August 23rd to answer questions and lead a short walk through the site to explain the current state of the project. This talk is the first in a series that will continue in the fall covering birds, fish, wetlands ecology, etc. Large amounts of levee removal debris is stockpiled off Sir Francis Drake Highway on the west side of the marsh; awaiting removal to quarry sites in the park.
A special booksigning and lecture on marine photography is scheduled for Saturday, August 16th at 12:30 pm at Bear Valley Visitor Center by Marc Shargel who will showing slides and signing copies of his new book “Wonders of the Sea, North Central California’s Living Marine Riches”
Also on tap the Fall 2008 Ocean Film and Lecture Series begins on Thursday, August 21st with “Papa Tortuga” a film about one persons efforts in Veracruz Mexico to help save endangered Lora Sea turtles. It will be shown between 7:00-8:00 pm in the Red Barn Classroom at park headquarters.
Permits have been issued for a wedding at Limantour Beach on August 20th between 9:30am - 11:30 am and also on August 23 between 1:30pm and 3:30 pm. Both are 50 or less people so no parking congestion is anticipated.
Photo of the Weekend - 2008-08-10
Point Reyes Over Labor Day 2008
You Mon Tsang August 5th, 2008
Point Reyes is a great place to end the summer, whether you are visiting locally or in town for the Slow Food Nation confab in San Francisco. Besides the trails, beaches, camps and food, here are some things you can also do for Labor Day Weekend:
- Sand Castle / Sand Sculpture Contest at Drake’s Beach on Sunday, Aug 31. Fun to do or to watch. For details, check out the Point Reyes calendar of events for more information.
- Box Show at Gallery Route One in Point Reyes Station: 150 artists are each given a plain wood box; each donates time, materials and talent to create a unique art object. You’ll find every imaginable creation, from the sublime to the silly, from cleverly humorous to beautifully breathtaking, and each one started from an identical wood box.
- Farmers Market: Sat 9a to 1p at Point Reyes Station. A small but terrific farmer’s market featuring local produce and entertainment.
Elephant Seals at Point Reyes: One-Minute Video
You Mon Tsang August 4th, 2008
The folks at OpenRoad.tv do a compelling, peaceful one-minute video of the elephant seals at Point Reyes.
via blip.tv
Photo of the Weekend - 2008-08-03
You Mon Tsang August 3rd, 2008
A lovely moody shot of Pierce Point Ranch.
Point Reyes CA, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.
Park Wavelengths, 2008-07-29
You Mon Tsang July 29th, 2008
The National Park Service publishes a newsletter about events, closures, natural history, and cultural history at Point Reyes.
Early morning low tides accompany the new moon’s rise on Friday, August 1st
Saturday, August 2nd -0.9 feet 6:23 am
Sunday, August 3rd -0.5 feet 7:01 amThe annual Perseid meteor shower approaches with showers to be seen throughout the week of August 10, peaking on Tuesday night, August 12th. They appear to radiate from the northeastern sky and the constellation of Perseus, named for the son of Zeus who rescued wife Andromeda from a sea monster! A bright waxing moon may interfere with viewing but early risers should be able to catch the show of falling stars.
The peak harbor seal molting season is now when they are particularly social, massing in large groups on shores and sand bars such as the Bolinas Lagoon. While molting they look brighter as they lose their old fur which comes off in large patches. In the autumn they will return to their more solitary life at sea.
Flags are half staff in the park to honor Olympic National Park firefighter Andrew Palmer (18 years old) who died in the line of duty this week at Shasta Trinity National Forest. Park staff have been sent to assist at Yosemite National Park; if you are heading that way, check the park website at nps.gov/yose or (209) 372-0200 for an update on travel conditions.
Exotic color along Bear Valley Trail are the brilliant orange-red Crocosmia sp./Montbretia or South African Lily, a colorful migrant from South Africa. Huckleberries are abundant this year; larger than usual it seems. Lots to be found along Old Pine Trails and in Tomales Bay State Park.
A special booksigning is coming up for the new edition of “The Natural History of Point Reyes Peninsula”; author Jules Evens will be signing copies on August 2nd at the Red Barn Classroom at Bear Valley at 2:30 pm.
Thanks to the NPS Park Service.
Tour of California To Bypass Point Reyes in 2009
You Mon Tsang July 28th, 2008
Every year in the wintertime, I would grab a beach chair and find a space in Point Reyes Station and wait for the Tour of California to pass through. I would try to time it right, but inevitably I would wait for about 60-90 minutes and then many, many support cars come through, then a few bike leaders fly through and then the large group of bikers (peloton) whizzed by sounding like a torrid bunch of robot bees! It was brief and noisy but pretty cool.
The MarinIJ reports that the 2009 Tour of California will bypass West Marin next year.
Instead, the third stage of the nine-stage event will begin in Sausalito and immediately leave Marin, working its way across the Golden Gate Bridge and finishing in Santa Cruz. The stage is to take place on the Presidents Day holiday, Feb. 16. …the tour has targeted a race over the Golden Gate Bridge since the event started in 2006. He called it “a great gift” for cyclists to race across it. … For national and international television coverage for the event, racing over the Golden Gate Bridge is a scene-stealer. “One of the iconic images of Northern California is the Golden Gate Bridge, so to have the race actually going over the bridge is a coup for the race”…
That’s too bad, I looked forward to the race each year.
Photo Jef Poskanzer
Photo of the Weekend - 2008-07-27
Point Reyes Is Slow Food
You Mon Tsang July 22nd, 2008
The Slow Food movement is defined:
Slow Food is good, clean and fair food. We believe that the food we eat should taste good; that it should be produced in a clean way that does not harm the environment, animal welfare or our health; and that food producers should receive fair compensation for their work, and that all people should have access to this good and clean food.
Given the agriculture and culinary experiences in West Marin, slow food proponents should love the Point Reyes area and indeed they do. A huge Slow Food confab over Labor Day weekend will happen in San Francisco and two of the ten “slow journeys” will head to West Marin.
The Marin Creameries tour, which features cheese, oysters and wine (count me in!) is already sold out (oh no). As of this writing, the Mysterious Bolinas tour, which features the wonderful and quirky farms of Bolinas still has some room.
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