North of Bolinas Bay, all the shore is part of the Point Reyes National Seashore. Much of the land here is wilderness area that is only accessible by hiking trails . (Or by sea!) Marty and I hiked out here from the trail head for a 3 day trip several years ago. One result of all this wilderness is the fact that there are few places to get my kayak close to the water. Between Bolinas Bay and Limantour Beach is a 16 mile stretch, which would use up a whole day, even if the afternoon wind never came up and blew me back. I've sort of decided to save that trip for next summer, and do an overnight kayak trip: Camping at Wildcat Beach, where the GGNRA rangers will let you reserve a campsite. Then finishing the trip to Limantour Beach the next morning. From there, around the point, and up to McClues Beach there are roads going to the beaches every 6 miles or so, so they can be done as single morning trips. Then there's a long stretch up to the northern tip of the bay and across to Dillon Beach that I'll talk someone into helping me do as a one way trip. As I make these trips, I'll report them here as they happen.
When Marty and I were approaching Wildcat beach campground the time we camped there, I saw a glint of light off of something very reflective across a meadow from the campground. The sun was right to reflect very bright light at us as we came over the ridge and headed down to the coast. I assumed that it was an aluminum can, and it annoyed me to think someone left it in these beautiful surroundings. So when we were settled in, I walked across the meadow to pick it up. It turned out to be the aluminum top of a TV dinner entree thing, with a white plastic tray and a bunch of other instant soup and noodle cups and bags. I packed it all out myself so the next guy in here would not have to see it from up on the cliff. I came upon a bobcat sitting on his haunches like a house cat, not more than 50 meters from me! I froze before he saw me, and he had trouble seeing something that was not moving. The breeze blew my sent away, so he stared suspiciously in my direction for a while, and then slinked off into the brush. I felt like I had received an incredible reward for my litter collection trip!
On the way back, I also found a Boy Scouts jacket lying in the middle of the meadow. It was tattered and falling apart from exposure to the weather, but it looked like it had been stained before being discarded. At first I was pissed that a Boy Scout would leave his trash in the park, but I've calmed down and a think something else happened. I'm hypothesizing that food got spilled on it, it got hung outside a tent, and some animal hauled it out here in the night. I tore all the merit badges off of it, and I'm planning on tracking down the troop (Troop 212) and sending them all back to their owner one day. Should make a cool story to tell around the campfire.