Driving from the cache at 11,200 feet to Durango was one of the most spectacular drives I’ve taken. After the days and days of flatness, it was a relief to be back in mountains, too, which is my natural habitat.
I always get a kick out of being at the Continental Divide – it’s an existential meeting of east and west, history and future, humidity and desert. Ha.
a rest area at the side of the road surrounded by loveliness
This vista point was the highlight of an already incredible drive!
My late afternoon sojourn out there turned out to be all about the fog as it rolled in for the evening.
I started out with a quick cache near my bed and breakfast: What a Dump!
… then headed out to the lighthouse where I studied the exposed formations for an Earthcache: Point Reyes Conglomerate
On the way, I drove through the historic ranches:
This one has a striking position overlooking the ocean:
Not having much moss where I live, I always love to see it in large quantities, like here:
Access to the lighthouse was closed for the day already, so I’ll need to make sure to get here during open hours next time. It’s about 600 steps down… then back up!
The light wasn’t operational, but the fog horn was!
At the north end of the point is an abandoned dairy, now populated by informational signs on its history. It looks ghostly in the fog.
The Tule elk are in season, and the bulls make this screaming noise to gather their mates. This sounds extraordinarily creepy in the fog, like banshees or something. The effect really had me spooked, especially when I was strolling around the old (haunted?) dairy.
The nearby herds of cows were comforting in contrast. They are not scary at all. Whew.
I love going to Vegas, but I almost never go to casinos. The geocaching in the desert out there is far more compelling, and made this latest opportunity irresistible. I headed out for two days, joining f0t0m0m in progress as finished up a Delorme challenge and found his 29,000th cache. The scenery really speaks for itself. The caching was easy, with only 2 DNFs out of about 100, and there was a wide variety, from basic piles of rocks to a quirky flash mob.
