Point Reyes

We woke up bright and early at 5:00 am to hit the sunrise. From Mill Valley it was roughly an hour drive.

We took Mt. Vision Road up to the top to watch the sunset. We parked the car and then walked down a path for a while just to explore. We didn’t have much of a plan, but the one path eventually ended and it was a perfect spot to watch the sunset from.

My friend climbed up the tree in this photo to get a better view, but I was very content to stay on the ground. We did go just a little bit further than the path and walked on some dead trees that had fallen, but we didn’t stray too far. The path got a little bit worn down at the end anyways and it was hard to see where it started/ended. Don’t be scared to have some unexpected hiking or spontaneity if you decide to adventure here!

This was one of my favorite adventures to date. The excitement of waking up so early in the morning and driving in the dark made everything so much more special. It took a fair amount of effort to wake up at 4:40, (considering we needed to depart at 5) but it paid off. On the drive over we listened to some Jazz. Ugetsu (meaning fantasy in Japanese), Passion Dance, and Blue in Green were some of our favorites.

We then departed Mt. Vision Road and headed down to the lighthouse. As the sun rose higher and higher, it illuminated the dew and light fog on the grass. The fog was so low on the ground, but it always stayed just a tiny bit above the blades. It was a small and unexpected detail, but made me very appreciative of nature.

Get out of the car and explore! This was on the way to the lighthouse, at The Point Reyes Lighthouse Visitors’ Parking Lot. Instead of continuing straight (roughly a 10 min walk to the lighthouse), we walked around the parking lot and found some random paths to go down.

Coastline view. The waves seem endless. It can get pretty windy. I recommend sitting down and watching the waves for at least few minutes. It was very peaceful, and nature is a strong force. This was also another highlight from the journey. I had seen photos of this beach online, but to actually experience it was super pleasant. There was no noise of car engines, or phones, just of the water and the wind.

Final destination was the lighthouse. Before I went on this adventure I had always associated Pt. Reyes with just the lighthouse, but compared to all of the other moments, (the sunrise and the endless ocean) the lighthouse did not stand out as much as it used to. Regardless it is still very picturesque.

My main takeaway was that I need to take more advantage of my time. We got back to Marin around 9:00, and my sister was still sleeping. I realized that I had had an entire adventure before she even woke up.