The Temple, sea arch along the California coast at Point Reyes National Seashore

 The Temple is a sea arch along the Point Reyes National Seashore coastline. Sea arches form by erosion caused by wave action. The Temple is only safe to visit during low tide, because during high tide, the waves can reach the base of the cliffs along the one mile of beach that it takes to reach this arch.

The day was a little overcast, but we arrived here at mid-morning when the tide was going from low tide to high tide. We could tell that the water reaches the arch at those times. DO NOT try to find this arch until low tide, or you could be trapped!

Fuji GFX100S, f13.9, 1/50 sec. ISO 400, 45 mm (36 mm 35 equiv.)

Location: 37 deg, 58' 51.48", -122 deg, 48' 9.68"

            Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Alamere Falls in Point Reyes National Seashore, lit by flashlight at night

 

We attempted to determine if Point Reyes's Alamere Falls could produce a moonbow during the July full moon period. We hiked along the beach from Wildcat Camp while the tide was changing from high to low. This also was one day before the full moon, which means an earlier start to the moonbow, if it happens. We didn't find a moonbow, but we may have arrived too late. We still have hope that it can happen here. 

While near the base of the falls, we set up our cameras and tried taking moonlit images and light-painted images. Light painting involves using a source of light combined with a long exposure to artificially light up a night-time scene. This one worked out quite well.

Fuji GFX100S: 30 sec, f5.6, ISO 1600, 45mm (36mm equivalent)

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Deer mouse during low tide at Point Reyes National Seashore

During a night-time hike along the shore south of Coast Camp at Point Reyes National Seashore, we were using our flashlights to check out the creatures in the tide pools and the tops of rocks. At one of those rocks, we noticed something darting along from one side of the rock to the other. After shining our lights on the darting critter, we found this deer mouse settled into a spot where it seemed comfortable enough to pose for us to get several photos of it. What is was doing in a tidepool was a bit of a mystery, maybe it has a taste for mussels.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Point Reyes Lighthouse lit up at dusk

Our first backpacking trip was in Point Reyes National Seashore along the coast north of San Francisco, California.  The centerpiece of this National Park Service unit is the historic Point Reyes Lighthouse, constructed at the very end of the point stretching about 10 miles out into the Pacific Ocean. Once a month from spring to fall, the park leads visitors on hikes to light the historic lighthouse. It was also on our first time out to see the lighthouse that we saw a gray whale for the first time. It was in the surf approaching Point Reyes Beach in water shallow enough that we could see the entire animal.

The lighthouse was first operated in 1870, and was built after a level spot was blasted with dynamite, about 300 feet from the top of the cliff. It uses a rotating Fresnel lens that concentrated the center light source into 24 beams such that someone in a ship off-shore would see a flash every 5 seconds. Each lighthouse has its own distinct flash pattern, so a ship's captain would be able to identify which lighthouse he's seeing.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.