I have heard so many wonderful things about Point Reyes, and I finally made my inaugural trip to an area called Bear Valley. (I know, late post; I hiked this in August.) As I was researching what kind of hikes I should go on, I discovered that Arch Rock was a main highlight. When I arrived at the Bear Valley Visitor Center, I discovered that Arch Rock was closed. Since I was already in the area, I decided to venture on the Bear Valley trail anyways. After being surrounded by the maddening drought situation, I was pleasantly surprised to see Point Reyes still lush and green. Some parts of the trail were still wet!

Usually, the North Bay Area is shrouded in fog or is cloudy at many times of the year. Sometimes it burns off during the day or comes back in the afternoon, making for some nice variable weather to hike in.

The day started warm and beautiful on the Bear Valley Trail.




The trail eventually reached a meadow. It's so interesting because in the first photo below, the clouds are slowly coming in and I can feel a bit of the ocean breeze and with a 180, in the next photo, the sky is clear.
Onwards! California doesn't have the natural and native cascading fall foliage of the East Coast, though there are some golden leaves scattered about.

And that concludes the Bear Valley trail (one-way; 3.1 miles). At the Baldy Trail junction, there is a sign warning about the Arch Rock closure. Stay tuned for part two!