With the long winter behind us and my lack of motivation for weekend hikes, I decided I needed to do a backpacking trip to see what I could do. While early summer is NOT the best time to backpack at Pt Reyes (weather-wise), it was the best choice at the time.

So, I packed out my gear for a 2 night trek from the Palomarin Trailhead to Wildcat Camp. This was a fairly simple hike, even with 30+ pounds on my back. Six miles one-way with moderate elevation gain and descents.

The trek to camp was easy and straightforward. Even got a little sunlight along the way. Unfortunately, that sunlight didn’t last too long and while the sunset was nice, it was muted due to the clouds.

The next day was mostly a hike down the beach to Alamere Falls, a beautiful waterfall that drops directly into the ocean at high tide. I went down early to avoid the day hiker crowds.

After enjoying the view from the bottom in solitude, I scrambled up the cliff to see the middle and upper parts of the falls. Very nice, as always.

The day hikers did start to filter in from above, so I eventually made my way back down to the beach where more people joined the throngs. Not much else to do than to make my way back up the beach. While I did have the whole day available and could have done some day hikes from the camp, I decided to stick to exploring further up the beach and just be a bum around the beach and camp for the day.

A little more light for the sunset that night, but I never expected stunning sunsets during this trip. You have to go during Spring or Fall for the great sunsets at Pt Reyes.

The next morning, I packed up my gear and headed back to the trailhead. A fairly successful test of my readiness to backpack this summer. Unfortunately, the huge snow pack in the Sierras was still making it hard to plan for any treks up in the higher elevations.