While I’m a city girl at heart, one of the things I was most looking forward to when I moved to San Francisco was spending much more time outdoors, hiking and exploring the natural beauty of the Bay Area.
This from the woman who until last week still didn’t even own a pair of hiking boots!
But with views like these, any city-slicker can be easily converted…
Point Reyes National Seashore, where Tomales Bay is located, has become one of my favorite spots in the Bay Area. It’s only about an hour and a half north of San Francisco, depending on exactly where you’re heading and whether you get stuck behind a slow moving minivan on the curvy roads.
Last weekend, a few friends and I set off to experience a night kayak ride across the bioluminescent plankton-filled waters of Tomales Bay.
The first half of the ride was at dusk. We paddled past Hog Island and across the bay, hung out on a nearby beach and waited for dark. With no moon and only our guide’s dim red light to guide us, we kayaked back across the bay.
Every stroke of our paddles stirred up the bright glow of the plankton, and fish below the surface appeared and disappeared in streaks like shooting stars. My favorite part was when it began to rain. Each drop that hit the surface of the water created it’s own tiny bioluminescent puddle.
Paired with a clear view of the Milky Way above, it was breathtaking.
<< Click here if you can’t see the video above. >>
Sadly, the only part you can see in our pictures and the video above is before the sun goes down. The bioluminescence doesn’t photograph well. This video will give you a sense of what it’s like, and I wish we could have captured it, but some things are best experienced yourself. In person.
For more information:
Point Reyes Outdoors
Bioluminescence Paddles
(415) 663-8192
P.S. – I now own water shoes, in addition to my new hiking boots, and have learned that it would be really helpful to also have a waterproof outer layer! And, you can now follow my blog with Bloglovin, if you’re so inclined!
