January 3, 2025
The Return of the Raven, day 3
Layover in Nicasio
How can I think about what I need to work on in myself for the entire year when I awaken in such a place! The cabin is above the mists. It lingers in the valleys and crevices of hills, among the tall trees, slowly moving around which constantly changes the scenery from the cabin. I grew up in a house with a great view of a lake which too was constantly changing but I never thought of a wilderness scene in constant change.
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Our hosts, Gregg and Bo, gave us a whole array of possible nearby explorations for the day. I didn't care, they all sounded great. The only thing I wanted to include was visiting a place I had seen a photo of; the cypress tree tunnel. It was enroute to Point Reyes which turned out to be our ultimate destination anyway. Easy.
We drove back through Nicasio, once more amused by the tiny historical society building and the Druids Hall and then over to Hwy. 1 and the town of Point Reyes Station which has lots of very large old buildings, some of which have been beautifully restored. We followed along the western shore of Tomales Bay (has got to be a fault line) and then headed towards the ocean over barren but very green rolling hills. That's when we came upon the cypress tree tunnel which leads to an abandoned radio station; KPH maritime radio receiving station. It's a big, square, white, art deco-style building built in 1930 for ship to shore Morse code communications. All the Morse code radio stations that were along all of our coasts are gone except this one. This one was called the Wireless Giant of the Pacific. It's largely abandoned but the equipment is still inside with the doors locked. The Monterey cypress trees were no doubt planted when the building was built but they look older than that.
If I were to teach a beginning photography class the abandoned radio site would be the place to let students loose. It has everything a budding photographer could want to aim their camera at: rusting equipment, groups of telephone poles, shadows, reflections in water, graffiti, weathered plywood, a big white building and that long line of trees.
We rolled across the hills to Point Reyes where there are trails overlooking beaches and many steps down to the lighthouse; down because if it was on top there would be too much fog for the light to get through to the ships. It was a beautiful day and many people were out enjoying it. On the platform just up from the lighthouse were lots of people with binoculars looking for whales. Nobody was seeing any. I convinced myself that the whales must have already migrated to Baja and were basking in its warm waters. Andrea talked to the ranger and found out I didn't know what I was talking about. That was nothing new to Andrea. I just thought that if I was a whale I'd want to be down there by now for prime basking weather. I guess I don't think like whales do. But maybe some of them are thinking this migration thing is dragging on too long and are even thinking of making their nudge word, "Sooner" as in, to leave Alaska sooner. But, I don't know. I'm just not sure.
The sun was getting low and as we made our way back across the barren but green hills we spotted a herd of male elk, whatever that might be called. I didn't know males all hung out together but there they were waiting for photographers. On an opposite hill we saw about 50 female elk together in a group and one male lying there proudly. What!! That group of males need a nudge. As a group they could easily overpower that one lone male. I guess I don't think like elk do.
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1 week ago
1 week ago
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Like these are the last three elk on the planet or something..
How does it feel to you?
1 week ago
6 days ago
We drove into Point Reyes Station and walked around town a bit and then drove the scary road back to the cabin. It was such a beautiful day of exploration in a part of the world that is gorgeous and with two people we just hadn't spent a lot of time with in that way. Most of the time we have spent with Gregg and Bo has been in various concerns about Burma and the plight of the Burmese via text or emails. Gregg, along with the writer Jeff Greenwald, founded the organization Ethical Traveler in 2002. https://ethicaltraveler.org
In the past when we have had enough layover time in the San Francisco airport on our trips to or from SE Asia, Gregg and Bo have come to the airport bearing coffee, homemade baked goods and snacks where we have a little get together. One time we had enough time to leave the airport and have breakfast in a restaurant before we flew directly to Burma for our bicycle adventure called Unmettled Roads. Little snippets of time we have spent with them but never as long as this stay so it was about time it happened.
We were going to leave their cabin the next morning to continue our trip north with the Raven but wait, we still hadn't seen the much talked about studio, also on the property. That would have to happen before we left in the morning. Also much talked about were all the sticks that needed to be picked up on the property due to a series of severe wind storms. I thought there might be time to pick up sticks but it sure wasn't happening.
Bruce
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1 week ago
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1 week ago
Not often I "like" photos, but maybe if I find time I can go back and scroll through for some special ones.
6 days ago