Backpacker Magazine – May 2009

Rip & Go: Glen Camp Loop - Point Reyes National Seashore

Hike across forested hills to gape at ocean vistas just one hour north of San Francisco.

by: Joanna Nasar

Tags:
• California
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• Destinations
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• RipGo
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See This
The San Andreas Fault
Detour from the Bear Valley Visitor Center on the .6-mile Earthquake Trail to see the famous rock fracture that bisects Point Reyes Peninsula, which shifted 20 feet northwest from the mainland in a magnitude 7.8 earthquake in 1906.

Camp Chat
Hear that loud croaking outside of your tent? It's a non-native East Coast bullfrog. California red-legged frogs once hopped all over this area, but in the late 1800s, the red-leggeds became popular cuisine in Bay Area restaurants and were hunted nearly to extinction. The East Coast bullfrog was introduced to meet consumer demand, but has also become a predator of the still-endangered red. Discuss: Have you ever eaten frog legs? And if so, is this delicacy really that good?

Locals Know
"Take time to scan the Pacific Ocean at Chimney Rock or Lighthouse Point for gray whales, Pacific white-sided dolphins, harbor seals, northern elephant seals, and killer whales," says Ranger Doug Hee. From the overlook, search for migrating grays swimming with their calves near the shore in late April and early May as they migrate to Alaska. "It's easy to spot grays at Chimney Rock. The adults have white barnacles and they swim very close to the cliffs. There's no other whale on the Reyes Shore that behaves this way," says Hee.

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