We spent the first few days of our trip driving across Nevada and hanging out in Sacramento.  On Sunday we stocked up on goodies at Trader Joes then drove to Samuel P. Taylor State Park to camp for the night.   With no public land remotely close to the bay area a $35 a night car camping spot is about as good as it gets.  Those of us living in Utah where there’s so much public land available for free camping don’t realize how lucky we are really are.   While $35 is pretty steep I would still consider camping there again on a future trip. This my fist time camping under redwoods and it was definitely a cool experience.   We spent the night and then wandered around the campground before heading off to Point Reyes.

Jumping on the Salt Flats

Samuel P. Taylor Campground

Massive Trees in our campsite

First stop of the day was the required photos of the The Point Reyes in downtown Inverness. I absolutely love this boat and the kids get a kick out of it as well.

We called the Roots who were just leaving Davis and still planned on meeting us at the Point Reyes light house for a short day hike before we started backpacking so we stopped at Drakes beach for a few hours to let the kids run around while we waited.

After Drakes Beach we drove to the lighthouse trail head and met up with Tyler and family. We made the hike down the 300+ stairs to check out the lighthouse and then drove to the visitor center to pick up our reserved backpacking permits before driving out to the Coast Camp trail head.

Once at the trail head it took us about a half hour to get our packs ready and start out on the 2 mile hike to coast camp. This was the first backpacking trip with all 3 boys  and it was a perfect test run for some future trips we have planned for later this year.   We made it to our site, set up camp,  and then headed down to the beach for sunset.  It was pretty windy and a bit cold but still fun. There were too many clouds for star trails but I did take a few long exposures from the ridge above our campsite.

April and boys on the trail

San Francisco light pollution over Point Reyes

Around midnight it started to rain and it kept going all night and into the morning.  We stayed in the tent and packed up everything, put on our rain gear, and April started packing out with the boys while I packed up the remaining gear. I figured I would soon catch up but our boys are such great hikers and had a  blast stomping in the mud and splashing in every puddle during their hike out that I didn’t catch up a until few hundred yards before the trail head.   It took us at least 30min to unpack our bags and repack the car then we headed up the road to find a spot where we could get internet access and check the weather.   Forecast was nothing but rain for the next 24hours so we called it quits and headed south along the 1 making quick stops at Agate beach,  Sausalito,  then over the Golden gate to San Francisco.

Bowen came REALLY close to grabbing this pelican in Sausalito

Lucky for us my brother was working in San Francisco all week so we got to crash in his hotel room in downtown San Francisco 1 block from union square.  The boys were utterly thrilled about the VIP lounge that was always filled with snacks and had amazing views of the city.  One of the first things I did was figure out the safety latches on the windows so I could shoot photos of the city.

We spent the next three days doing cheap touristy things around San Francisco. Baker Beach, long walks downtown, cable car museum, Ocean beach,  golden gate park, and a few trips for sunrise and sunset at Crissy Field. It was actually a nice pleasant change of pace from our usual trips.

The Golden Gate from Crissy Field.

Sunset from Crissy Field

On our last night in SF I was able to catch some lighting (from what I understand a pretty rare occurance in the bay area) from the window of our 15th floor hotel room).

We left SF and made a long stop in Sacramento before driving across Nevada and back to Utah.  Even with only two nights of camping it still was pretty fun to get out and see the city.

Less than two miles into our hike we left our heavy packs on the side of the trail and made a 1.5 mile hike up Sleepy Hollow to the dry fall at the end of the technical section of the canyon. The mouth of Sleepy Hollow was pretty scrubby but the middle portion of the canyon had some excellent alcoves and crystal clear pools so it was definitely worth it.

The end.

After a quick rest we were hiking down Coyote Gulch on our way towards Hurricane Wash and Jacob Hamblin Arch.

Jacob Hamblin Arch

We set up camp under the huge alcove between the bends of Jacob Hamblin Arch. Before dinner I did a bit of wandering around the area taking photos of the Arch. I was able to scramble up into the arch from the west side and take a few photos before climbing back down the east side. After dinner and the canyon was dark I set up my camera for a series of star trails and did a bit of light painting.

Thursday morning I was up early and ready to see some waterfalls. I took a quick photo of our campsite then Shay and I were off hiking down the canyon towards the Swiss Cheese falls. Camp under the large alcove near Jacob Hamblin.

The area around the Swiss Cheese falls and the choke point did not disappoint and I spent almost two hours shooting photos of the water flowing over the sandstone. I took a few portraits but with the long shutter speeds (1/3-1/2 sec.) that came out pretty blurry. This was by far my favorite area in Coyote Gulch.

After my nice long photo break we were back on the move. We hiked down canyon beyond the Choke Point and Coyote Bridge in search of a campsite for our second night in the canyon.

The Choke Point of Coyote Gulch

Coyote Bridge

We set up camp in a little alcove just over a mile down canyon from Coyote Bridge just beyond the first set of falls. I set up my camp and started making some food while everyone else prepared for a day hike down to the Escalante River two miles down canyon. I ate my late lunch and took a quick power nap before I loaded up my day bag with camera gear and worked my way down canyon shooting photos of all the waterfalls. I made it to within one mile of the Escalante before I ran into Charles who was returning back from the river.

Yet another power nap and more snacks at camp and I was hiking back up canyon to shoot photos of the falls we passed earlier that day.

After shooting waterfalls the entire afternoon I wandered my way back to camp just before dark. The last of our group had returned from their hike, they ended up hiking well beyond the Escalante and inside of Stevens Arch. I must admit I am still pretty jealous of their hike but shooting all the falls was still a pretty good time. Camp in the dark

Day three I was up bright and early and the first one out of camp hiking up canyon towards Coyote Bridge. I took a few selfies before I headed back up canyon to the Swiss Cheese falls for more photos.

We spent the rest of the day wandering our way up canyon and eventually back to the car and into Escalante for some grubbin mexican food. We decided to make the long haul back to Utah county and made it home around 1:30.

Map of the trip

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