Week 4 ~ Sep 9th 2006
I was bragging to my colleagues about my travels and the fact that I've pretty much covered San Francisco when one guy quipped "What about Point Reyes? Have you gone to the light house?". Point Reyes as I was to learn from him later was a national park which had a lighthouse close to the bay. I couldn't ferret much details other than the above. After a few searches in the net, I had all the details about Point Reyes. Point Reyes is a national park with redwoods where the San Andreas fault runs. The public transport to Point Reyes was limited and the only known transport was provided by the West Marin Stagecoach. To make matters worse, on the weekends the services are less frequent with a bus every 3 hours. I decided to take my chances
The first bus to Point Reyes started at 8:10 from San Rafael Transit Center which meant that I had to wake up at 5:30, finish my chores and head to San Rafael. San Rafael which lies in the marin county can be reached by bus from El Cerrito Del Norte BART. The Golden Gate transit runs bus#40 every half hour. I arrived in El Cerrito Del Norte (The ride to this station takes 3 minutes from El Cerrito Plaza by BART) in time to take the bus#40 at 7:07 AM. The bus reaches San Rafael via Richmond and San Rafael bridge. (Richmond is a predominantly African American neighborhood and has a high crime rate) On the way to San Rafael, I spotted many native Indians who were huddled in groups chatting. That seemed quite odd as to why would people gather and talk on a Saturday morning. I reached San Rafael Transit Center at 7:50 AM well in time to catch the 8:10 bus to Point Reyes. The transit center had more buses than people or so it looked. I was initially confused as to where the transit center lay as the one I got down didn't really look like a bus terminus. I walked down the city center but returned to the place where I got down as I was afraid I would loose my way. I inquired a man who wore the overalls of a bus driver about the West Marin Stagecoach. He stated that the West Marin Stagecoach does not stop in San Rafael Transit Center and would be doing so only from the next week. I was confused as the website as well as the West Marin customer service had clearly intimated that West Marin Stagecoach did indeed stop in San Rafael. I showed him the bus schedules and maps that I had downloaded from the internet and again queried him on the same. Though he empathised with me, he was emphatic that the West Marin Stagecoach does not stop in San Rafael. I conveyed to him my predicament on catching the bus by 8:10 else I had to wait for 3 hours to catch the next bus. He offered a way out by suggesting that I catch the bus in San Anselmo which was 30 minutes ride from the transit center. There were 2 possibilities. Either I could take his bus and reach San Anselmo within 8:45 (His bus took 15 minutes more than the normal ride) or wait for a bus which took a shorter time (30 minutes) to reach San Anselmo. I decided to ride his bus. He told me that I don't need to pay him but pay the Stagecoach directly as GoldenGate and West Marin Stagecoach enjoy transit arrangements. After a few minutes ride, he stopped the bus and got down to smoke. I was absolutely baffled as to what was happening. I was racing against time and here was a driver enjoying a quite smoke with passengers waiting. Only then did I notice that there was a new driver who walked in and started the bus. Apparently a change of shift was happening there. I politely inquired with the new driver even as we reached Lakespur ferry terminal whether the West Marin Stagecoach would wait till we reached San Anselmo. But he shrugged and said he didn't have the schedule details of the Stagecoach. We reached San Anselmo hub (a small bus stand) well ahead of the 45 minutes that I thought it would take. Once in San Anselmo, I called the West Marin customer service to see if the bus had left. I was told that the bus would arrive there by 8:43 (a full 5 minutes more...). I was at once elated with this heartening news. But what puzzled me was the fact that the customer service mentioning more than once that the bus was coming from San Rafael. I double checked with them and was told that the Stagecoach had a stop at the transit center (This was nothing new and had been happening for quite sometime!)
The Stagecoach was like a minivan and could seat upto 15 passengers. The genial driver welcomed me with a booming "Indeed we are going to Point Reyes. Please enjoy your ride". There were a handful of passengers, a couple of them with huge backpacks (may be camping equipments). The ride through marin county was quite scenic with wooded forests on both sides of the road. The ride to Point Reyes take 1:30 hours and the drop off is right at the doorsteps of the national park's visitor center. It should be mentioned that the drop off inside the national park is only on Saturdays. On the rest of the days, one has to walk a mile from the point where we are dropped. The Point Reyes visitor center is situated right at the entrance of the national park and has a few exhibits explaining the history of the park. I inquired about the park tours and was told that there was a guided tour around the San Andreas fault that was begin an hour and a half later. I was also told that Point Reyes light house was situated 23 miles from the visitor center and was accessible only by private vehicles. That ruled the chances of visiting the light house as I depend on government welfare in so far as the transport is concerned. The ranger at the visitor center pointed me to a couple of hiking trails before I could get in time for the San Andreas fault tour.
There were 2 trails that I was interested in. The Beer Valley trail and the Horse trail. I decided to take the Beer Valley trail first. This trail extends for around 3.5 miles intersecting other trails along the way. The trail was along a widened mud track with picturesque mountains and parched white grass all along. On the way, I saw the path leading to the Morgan horse ranch(The Point Reyes park has one of the largest horse ranches in California) with plenty of trailers parked. The hike was cool and relaxing with few hikers around. I walked for around 3 miles and decided to return back (surprisingly my cellphone had good signal even amidst the woods!). I arrived in time for the guided tour. Our tour guide was a bloke named John Golda who had a salt pepper beard. The tour did not elicit much visitors and at the end there were only 2 people on the tour. Just when we were about to begin a couple joined us which meant 4 people + the guide. John took us through a paved path explaining the history of the San Andreas fault. The San Andreas fault runs along the edge of 2 mammoth plates, the Pacific plate and the North American plate. This meant that one half of the park lied along the Pacific plate while the other half in the North American plate. The land here was undulating but other than that I could not find any difference between these plates. The 1906 earthquake which measured 8.3 on the Richter scale had resulted when both plates had collided releasing huge amount of energy. Due to the result of that collision, the NA plate has started sliding under the Pacific plate with the result that certain land masses are being pulled apart. It is said that in a few years San Francisco will be as far as 10 miles away from where it is now. John explained about the geographical conditions prevailing during and the aftermath of the eathquakes. Point Reyes did not record much damage during the Loma Prieta (1989) earthquake though the epicenter lay nearby. He recounted how horrified he was to see his wooden house tilt precariously during the 1989 quake. There was no recorded proof of any loss of life forms during the 1906 earthquake in Point Reyes (The national park came into existence in 1960 after the government started acquiring lands from private owners). The couple excused themselves after sometime as they were running late to visit the light house which left us 2 guys. The other guy was quite informative reeling statistics from different earthquakes (He was from Atlanta). John explained to us the concept of earth's crust, mantle and core by breaking peanuts and comparing their layout with that of the earth. In the process John doled out some peanuts which I devoured like a wolf. We also got to see some photos of a ranch which lies just along the San Andreas fault before and after the 1906 quake. The quake had moved the fencing by a few yards. (The entire San Andreas fault along the park has been lined with a blue fence).
We were nearing the end of our tour when a couple confronted him to ask about their chances of getting a park ranger job. The lady was a social worker and wanted to become a park ranger. John explained to them that getting a park ranger was turning difficult with competition though he didn't have much difficulties during his time (He studied history but got this job through a family friend). It was interesting to know that people are interested in a park ranger job which in India would have been discarded as a lowly one. There are 2 types of rangers in Point Reyes, one who facilitate the visitors and the other who look after the forest. John doesn't carry a weapon as he belongs to the 1st category. I took leave from John and started on my next trail.
The Horse trail runs around the Morgan ranch where I got to see the feeding and the training places. The park authorities have recreated a Miwok village near the ranch. The Miwoks were a native Indian tribe who habitated the forests. The village had plenty of huts where the Miwoks worshipped Pagan gods (this looked like a tunnel) to their houses. I circled along the village and lost my way only to reach the visitor center by a round about way. I still had 1 hour for my return bus and I decided to spend it at the visitor center. The visitor center was previewing a 20 minutes video show on the history of the park. This video was on demand. I decided to watch the video but slept through most of the 20 minutes as I was exhausted by the long walk along the trails. By the time my bus arrived, it had turned very cold in the park and I was shivering (it was only 4:00 PM). Overall the trip was satisfying as I got to learn a lot about nature
The first bus to Point Reyes started at 8:10 from San Rafael Transit Center which meant that I had to wake up at 5:30, finish my chores and head to San Rafael. San Rafael which lies in the marin county can be reached by bus from El Cerrito Del Norte BART. The Golden Gate transit runs bus#40 every half hour. I arrived in El Cerrito Del Norte (The ride to this station takes 3 minutes from El Cerrito Plaza by BART) in time to take the bus#40 at 7:07 AM. The bus reaches San Rafael via Richmond and San Rafael bridge. (Richmond is a predominantly African American neighborhood and has a high crime rate) On the way to San Rafael, I spotted many native Indians who were huddled in groups chatting. That seemed quite odd as to why would people gather and talk on a Saturday morning. I reached San Rafael Transit Center at 7:50 AM well in time to catch the 8:10 bus to Point Reyes. The transit center had more buses than people or so it looked. I was initially confused as to where the transit center lay as the one I got down didn't really look like a bus terminus. I walked down the city center but returned to the place where I got down as I was afraid I would loose my way. I inquired a man who wore the overalls of a bus driver about the West Marin Stagecoach. He stated that the West Marin Stagecoach does not stop in San Rafael Transit Center and would be doing so only from the next week. I was confused as the website as well as the West Marin customer service had clearly intimated that West Marin Stagecoach did indeed stop in San Rafael. I showed him the bus schedules and maps that I had downloaded from the internet and again queried him on the same. Though he empathised with me, he was emphatic that the West Marin Stagecoach does not stop in San Rafael. I conveyed to him my predicament on catching the bus by 8:10 else I had to wait for 3 hours to catch the next bus. He offered a way out by suggesting that I catch the bus in San Anselmo which was 30 minutes ride from the transit center. There were 2 possibilities. Either I could take his bus and reach San Anselmo within 8:45 (His bus took 15 minutes more than the normal ride) or wait for a bus which took a shorter time (30 minutes) to reach San Anselmo. I decided to ride his bus. He told me that I don't need to pay him but pay the Stagecoach directly as GoldenGate and West Marin Stagecoach enjoy transit arrangements. After a few minutes ride, he stopped the bus and got down to smoke. I was absolutely baffled as to what was happening. I was racing against time and here was a driver enjoying a quite smoke with passengers waiting. Only then did I notice that there was a new driver who walked in and started the bus. Apparently a change of shift was happening there. I politely inquired with the new driver even as we reached Lakespur ferry terminal whether the West Marin Stagecoach would wait till we reached San Anselmo. But he shrugged and said he didn't have the schedule details of the Stagecoach. We reached San Anselmo hub (a small bus stand) well ahead of the 45 minutes that I thought it would take. Once in San Anselmo, I called the West Marin customer service to see if the bus had left. I was told that the bus would arrive there by 8:43 (a full 5 minutes more...). I was at once elated with this heartening news. But what puzzled me was the fact that the customer service mentioning more than once that the bus was coming from San Rafael. I double checked with them and was told that the Stagecoach had a stop at the transit center (This was nothing new and had been happening for quite sometime!)
The Stagecoach was like a minivan and could seat upto 15 passengers. The genial driver welcomed me with a booming "Indeed we are going to Point Reyes. Please enjoy your ride". There were a handful of passengers, a couple of them with huge backpacks (may be camping equipments). The ride through marin county was quite scenic with wooded forests on both sides of the road. The ride to Point Reyes take 1:30 hours and the drop off is right at the doorsteps of the national park's visitor center. It should be mentioned that the drop off inside the national park is only on Saturdays. On the rest of the days, one has to walk a mile from the point where we are dropped. The Point Reyes visitor center is situated right at the entrance of the national park and has a few exhibits explaining the history of the park. I inquired about the park tours and was told that there was a guided tour around the San Andreas fault that was begin an hour and a half later. I was also told that Point Reyes light house was situated 23 miles from the visitor center and was accessible only by private vehicles. That ruled the chances of visiting the light house as I depend on government welfare in so far as the transport is concerned. The ranger at the visitor center pointed me to a couple of hiking trails before I could get in time for the San Andreas fault tour.
There were 2 trails that I was interested in. The Beer Valley trail and the Horse trail. I decided to take the Beer Valley trail first. This trail extends for around 3.5 miles intersecting other trails along the way. The trail was along a widened mud track with picturesque mountains and parched white grass all along. On the way, I saw the path leading to the Morgan horse ranch(The Point Reyes park has one of the largest horse ranches in California) with plenty of trailers parked. The hike was cool and relaxing with few hikers around. I walked for around 3 miles and decided to return back (surprisingly my cellphone had good signal even amidst the woods!). I arrived in time for the guided tour. Our tour guide was a bloke named John Golda who had a salt pepper beard. The tour did not elicit much visitors and at the end there were only 2 people on the tour. Just when we were about to begin a couple joined us which meant 4 people + the guide. John took us through a paved path explaining the history of the San Andreas fault. The San Andreas fault runs along the edge of 2 mammoth plates, the Pacific plate and the North American plate. This meant that one half of the park lied along the Pacific plate while the other half in the North American plate. The land here was undulating but other than that I could not find any difference between these plates. The 1906 earthquake which measured 8.3 on the Richter scale had resulted when both plates had collided releasing huge amount of energy. Due to the result of that collision, the NA plate has started sliding under the Pacific plate with the result that certain land masses are being pulled apart. It is said that in a few years San Francisco will be as far as 10 miles away from where it is now. John explained about the geographical conditions prevailing during and the aftermath of the eathquakes. Point Reyes did not record much damage during the Loma Prieta (1989) earthquake though the epicenter lay nearby. He recounted how horrified he was to see his wooden house tilt precariously during the 1989 quake. There was no recorded proof of any loss of life forms during the 1906 earthquake in Point Reyes (The national park came into existence in 1960 after the government started acquiring lands from private owners). The couple excused themselves after sometime as they were running late to visit the light house which left us 2 guys. The other guy was quite informative reeling statistics from different earthquakes (He was from Atlanta). John explained to us the concept of earth's crust, mantle and core by breaking peanuts and comparing their layout with that of the earth. In the process John doled out some peanuts which I devoured like a wolf. We also got to see some photos of a ranch which lies just along the San Andreas fault before and after the 1906 quake. The quake had moved the fencing by a few yards. (The entire San Andreas fault along the park has been lined with a blue fence).
We were nearing the end of our tour when a couple confronted him to ask about their chances of getting a park ranger job. The lady was a social worker and wanted to become a park ranger. John explained to them that getting a park ranger was turning difficult with competition though he didn't have much difficulties during his time (He studied history but got this job through a family friend). It was interesting to know that people are interested in a park ranger job which in India would have been discarded as a lowly one. There are 2 types of rangers in Point Reyes, one who facilitate the visitors and the other who look after the forest. John doesn't carry a weapon as he belongs to the 1st category. I took leave from John and started on my next trail.
The Horse trail runs around the Morgan ranch where I got to see the feeding and the training places. The park authorities have recreated a Miwok village near the ranch. The Miwoks were a native Indian tribe who habitated the forests. The village had plenty of huts where the Miwoks worshipped Pagan gods (this looked like a tunnel) to their houses. I circled along the village and lost my way only to reach the visitor center by a round about way. I still had 1 hour for my return bus and I decided to spend it at the visitor center. The visitor center was previewing a 20 minutes video show on the history of the park. This video was on demand. I decided to watch the video but slept through most of the 20 minutes as I was exhausted by the long walk along the trails. By the time my bus arrived, it had turned very cold in the park and I was shivering (it was only 4:00 PM). Overall the trip was satisfying as I got to learn a lot about nature
posted by Prakash at
9:09 PM
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