Along the Californian Coast to Point Reyes

We travelled further south, stopping first at the nice, small town Trinidad. In the harbour, I even saw a seal swimming by for a few seconds. On the scenic Avenue of the Giants through the Humboldt State Park, we could admire the redwood forest again. After that, we drove all along the Californian coast towards San Francisco. Most of the time, we didn’t see much because of the thick fog and the cool wind. But sometimes we could catch a glimpse of the steep, rocky cliffs.

The next day, we explored the Point Reyes National Seashore and its wonderful scenery. We saw a big herd of elk along the way to the lighthouse of Point Reyes. There were a couple of males who fought with their antlers and roared for the attention of the females. But their roaring didn’t sound very manly, more like a squeaking door. Maybe that’s why they didn’t seem to be successful while we were watching… At the visitor centre, it was especially interesting to see and touch whale baleen from up close. The harsh weather and the strong wind left their marks by bending all the trees sideways. When a hole in the fog opened up, we could see the ocean from the lighthouse for just a short time. Later, at the Elephant Seal Lookout, the fog was gone. Though they were far away, we were lucky to see some sea elephants relaxing at the beach. At first, we mistook them for rocks, but then one of the rocks moved and crawled into the water. On the hike to Chimney Rock, we could spot sea elephants again sleeping below the cliffs. This time, they were way closer, so we could watch them hopping into the water, (which looks so funny!), or fighting for the comfiest spot or just yawning and turning around. Besides, there were huge numbers of pelicans. It looks so cool when they glide smoothly just above the water, their wings almost touching the surface. To our great surprise, we saw 3 whales while having lunch at the viewpoint! It wasn’t the high season when lots of them travel along the west coast. Nevertheless, their blows or fountains from surfacing to breathe were clearly visible, as well as their dorsal fins. One even showed us his tail fin. Near San Francisco, the weather cleared up more and more, so we did a beach walk from Stinson to Red Rock Beach. After that, the Panorama Highway, a narrow, steep, and winding road, took us to the city.