California coast: Point Reyes

The Point Reyes National Seashore in Marin County is a wonderful place, of great scenic, historical, and geological interest.

We made our plans to see earthquake evidence, views of the beaches, and another lighthouse. And while we weren't completely successful in this multi-quest, we thoroughly enjoyed our visit to this area.

First up was their "Earthquake trail," a short loop that offers not only informational displays about the area's geology, but also some concrete evidence of the 1906 quake's power.

In the photo above you can see how a fenceline was displaced several feet by the movement of the fault in that large earthquake. The blue post is one of several that march along a hillside, marking the active fault location!

This is a little disconcerting! But we were also reassured by one of the displays we saw.

According to this, the National Seashore area (see the red line pointing to it) might be the safest place to be in a big quake! Look at all that bedrock!

One reason why this little spit of land is different from the surrounding land is that it's part of the Pacific Plate, not the North American Plate that we spend most of our lives on.

So during our hike out to the bayshore, we were tromping along the Pacific Plate!

Joan takes the lead, no matter which plate you're on

After our hike, we took a long drive out to the westernmost point of Point Reyes, where the lighthouse is situated.

Unfortunately, the further out towards the point we traveled, the thicker the fog.

It made for an interesting, atmospheric drive, but we were beginning to worry that we wouldn't be able to see the lighthouse.

And we weren't.

However, the spit of land where it's located is scenic enough, even at short range, that we were glad we'd made the trip.

you could *hear* the surf when you got close to the edge

this mosaic on the walkway seems to be swimming toward you out of the fog

Perhaps on a future trip we'll be able to see this lighthouse, but we read that the area is foggy at least two thirds of the year! So perhaps the odds aren't too good.

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Next up, I'll depart a bit from scenery and show you some west-coast-only signs. As I've said, we found that directional signage in the Golden State leaves a lot to be desired, but we saw all kinds of other amusing and unfamiliar signs, enough to inspire me to amass a photo collection of them.