Our Trip to Point Reyes

Last weekend (Saturday), the four of us - Mom, Dad, Mahi and I drove down to the Point Reyes National Seashore near San Rafael in California. It's located about 70 miles away from Fremont, and is West North West of San Francisco.

Point Reyes was originally named Punto de los Reyes ("Kings Point") by the Spanish explorer Sebastian Vizcaino as his ship, the Capitana anchored in Drake's Bay on the Day of the Three Kings (the end of the 12 Days of Christmas), January 6, 1603.

The entire Point Reyes Peninsula is a piece of the Salinian Block transported northward by the San Andreas Fault. The San Andreas Fault runs directly under Tomales Bay.

The drive to Point Reyes was quite nice. The last portion involves winding roads, and scenic vegetation. Vegetation native to Point Reyes includes Bishop pine, Douglas-fir, coyote brush, monkeyflower, poison oak, California blackberry, salal and coast redwood, among others.

We landed up at the visitor center to gather information for the local activities. We also so a 15 minute documentary on Point Reyes, local vegetation, things to do etc. Apparently, this is pretty much located right above the San Andreas fault line, and during the earthquake of 1906, the ground had shifted nearly 20 feet !!

January has plenty of activities in Point Reyes. On a nice, sunny day, the beaches and hikes are as pleasant as ever. Though once the sun goes down (which is early), it can get chilly.

January also brings unique opportunities to witness wildlife up close.

One can indulge in Whale Watching from the Lighthouse and Chimney Rock. This event is so popular that the Park Service closes the road to the lighthouse point and runs buses from the Drakes Beach Visitors Center ($5 per person). Apparently once can see the great gray whales on their migratory path. Also later in the year, the same whales migrate in the opposite direction towards Alaska with their calves, and move closer to the coast. We did try our best to see them, but sadly didn't get to see any, though a lot of people at the Lighthouse and Chimney Rock claimed seeing some.

At Chimney Rock one also gets to see elephant seals as at this time of the year, the come to the beach and breed. They are fun to watch as they lie and shift around in the sun. Pretty playful by nature, its fun to watch the young ones and their antics.

One also gets to see Tule Elk while driving from Point Reyes to the Lighthouse / Chimney Rock. A lot more information can be found here.

All in all we had a really good time. Mahi and Mom had also made sandwiches, and we had carried some juice, crackers, chips etc, so we also ended up having an impromptu picnic while waiting for the bus to go to the Lighthouse.

As for the lighthouse, this was definitely worth the visit.

Point Reyes was one one of the most Treacherous obstacles to mariners, solely due to the fact that it is
the windiest place on the Pacific Coast and the second foggiest place on the North American continent. In fact, weeks of fog, especially during the summer months, frequently reduce visibility to just hundreds of feet. The Point Reyes Headlands, which jut 10 miles out to sea, used to pose a threat to each ship entering or leaving San Francisco Bay. The historic Point Reyes Lighthouse warned mariners of danger for more than a hundred years.

The Point Reyes Lighthouse, built in 1870, and was retired from service in 1975 once the U.S. Coast Guard installed an automated light.

Here is a brief history of the lighthouse.

The Point Reyes Lighthouse lens and mechanism were constructed in France in 1867. The clockwork mechanism, glass prisms and housing for the lighthouse were shipped on a steamer around the tip of South America to San Francisco. The parts from France and the parts for the cast iron tower were transferred to a second ship, which then sailed to a landing on Drakes Bay. The parts were loaded onto ox-drawn carts and hauled three miles over the headlands to near the tip of Point Reyes, 600 feet above sea level.

Meanwhile, 300 feet below the top of the cliff, an area had been blasted with dynamite to clear a level spot for the lighthouse. To be effective, the lighthouse had to be situated below the characteristic high fog. It took six weeks to lower the materials from the top of the cliff to the lighthouse platform and construct the lighthouse. Finally, after many years of tedious political pressure, transport of materials and difficult construction, the Point Reyes Light first shone on December 1, 1870.

The Lighthouse provided mariners some safety by warning them of rocky shores and reefs and also helped mariners navigate by indicating their location as ships traveled along the coast. Each lighthouse has its unique flash pattern and mariners recognize them according to the flash pattern. On days when it is too foggy to see the lighthouse, a unique fog signal is periodically sounded to signal the location to the passing ships. Unfortunately, the combination of lighthouses and fog signals still didn't eliminate the tragedy of shipwrecks.

Because of this ongoing problem, a lifesaving station was established on the Great Beach north of the lighthouse in 1890. Men walked the beaches in four-hour shifts, watching for shipwrecks and the people who would need rescue from frigid waters and powerful currents. A new lifesaving station was later opened in 1927 on Drakes Bay near Chimney Rock and was active until 1968. Today, it is a National Historic Landmark and can be viewed from the Chimney Rock Trail.

The lens in the Point Reyes Lighthouse is a "first order" Fresnel (fray-nel) lens, the largest size of Fresnel lens. Augustin Jean Fresnel of France revolutionized optics theories with his new lens design in 1823.

Before Fresnel developed this lens, lighthouses used mirrors to reflect light out to sea. The most effective lighthouses could only be seen eight to twelve miles away. After his invention, the brightest lighthouses could be seen all the way to the horizon, about twenty-four miles as is the case in the Point Reyes lighthouse.

The Fresnel lens intensifies the light by bending (or refracting) and magnifying the source light through crystal prisms into concentrated beams. The Point Reyes lens is divided into twenty-four vertical panels, which direct the light into twenty-four individual beams. A counterweight and gears similar to those in a grandfather clock rotate the 6000-pound lens at a constant speed, one revolution every two minutes. This rotation makes the beams sweep over the ocean surface like the spokes of a wagon wheel, and creates the Point Reyes signature pattern of one flash every five seconds.

I'd like to bring to notice that keeping the lighthouse operational was by no means an easy job - it was tough and then some more. Keeping the lighthouse in working condition was a twenty-four hour job though the light was lit only between sunset and sunrise. The head keeper and three assistants shared the load in four six-hour shifts.

Every evening, a half-hour before sunset, a keeper walked down the wooden stairs to light the oil lamp, the lighthouse's source of illumination. Once the lamp was lit, the keeper wound the clockwork mechanism, lifting a 170 pound weight, which was attached to the clockwork mechanism by a hemp rope, nine feet off the floor. The earth's gravity would then pull the weight, through a small trap door, to the ground level 17 feet below. The clockwork mechanism was built to provide resistance so that it would take two hours and twenty minutes for the weight to descend the 17 feet. And as the weight descended and the clockwork mechanism's gears spun, the Fresnel lens would turn so that the light appeared to flash every five seconds. In addition to winding the clockwork mechanism every two-hours and twenty minutes throughout the night, the keeper had to keep the lamp wicks trimmed so that the light would burn steadily and efficiently, thus the nickname "wickie."

Daytime duties for the keepers included cleaning the lens, polishing the brass, stoking the steam-powered fog signal and making necessary repairs. At the end of each shift, the keeper trudged back up the wooden staircase. Sometimes the winds were so strong that he had to crawl on his hands and knees to keep from being knocked down. The highest wind speed recorded at Point Reyes was 133 mph, and 60 mph winds are common.

The hard work, wind, fog and isolation at Point Reyes made this an undesirable post. Even so, one keeper stayed for about twenty-four years, a testament to his devotion and love of Point Reyes!

The historic Point Reyes Lighthouse served mariners for 105 years before it was replaced. It endured many hardships, including the April 18, 1906 earthquake, during which the Point Reyes Peninsula and the lighthouse moved north 18 feet in less than one minute! The only damage to the lighthouse was that the lens slipped off its tracks. The lighthouse keepers quickly effected repairs and by the evening of the eighteenth, the lighthouse was once again in working order. The earthquake occurred at 5:12 a.m. and the lighthouse was scheduled to be shut down for regular daytime maintenance at 5:25 a.m. Although the earthquake caused much devastation and disruption elsewhere, the Point Reyes Lighthouse was essentially only off-line for thirteen minutes!

To get to the lighthouse, one needs to walk a half-mile from the parking lot to the Visitor Center, and then down 308 steps. The stairs are open 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Thursday through Monday. When wind speeds exceed 40 mph, the steps to the lighthouse are closed for visitors' safety.

New links section

Hey People,

so as you can see, I've added a new links section on the right. Yes aunty, before your eyes pop out, it is the link to your blog!! I've been meaning to do this for a while, never got around to doing it !! The second link is www.johnchow.com. This guy is just amazing. I really like the technique he applies to his thought process. Do read through, if you have the time. It's a site brimming with fresh content - always!!!


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The Boston Duck Tour

Boy ! Too many things, too little time!! I seem to hardly have time to write about anything nowadays. Anyhow, here's my earnest effort to try catching up with the latest stuff. Last week, Mahi & I were in Boston, attending Focus 2007, Sierra Atlantic's mid-year sales conference. We were put up at the Marriot, in Norwood - pretty close to our office there.

As part of the recreational activity, we all went out on the Boston Duck Tour. At the outset, let me assure you that it was in no way related to any ducks or birds. The Duck which is actually the DUKW is a six-wheel-drive amphibious truck that was originally designed inside General Motors Corporation during World War II for transporting goods and troops over land and water and for use approaching and crossing beaches in amphibious attacks.

Duck tours are generally very liberally spiced with humor, and ours was no less. Our driver was Seargent Meatball, and he had a Hawaiian hula skirt around him, over his clothing. He kept rattling off details about all the places that we visited as part of the tour, and had several anecdotes about each.

The duration of the tour is 90 minutes, in which he took the DUKW through several key landmarks in Boston, including the place which had the infamous Boston Tea Party. Towards the end, he drove into the Charles river, and then continued the tour from there. It's at this time that one also get a chance at navigating the DUKW. A couple of our colleagues did try their hand at it, and it was a whole lot of fun!!

Our 5 mile walk

Well it's been a while since I updated, and we have been busy. In fact to an extent, Mahi & I have created a sort of reputation in office. We are officially labelled as people who love to go out, explore, be adventurous and generally have a great time. It's kind of reached a stage, where people ask us as to whether we plan to do Mission Peak over the weekend......again!!

Anyhow, a week or two back, we did the 5 mile walk near Garin Park. This was a really nice walk / trek. Unlike the Mission peak trek, where there is a complete lack of shade, this path takes you through wooded areas, over hills, across streams and creeks too. The 6 of us - Anil, Smitha, Joel (their cute little 2 year old son), Dennis (Anil's neighbour), Mahi and I took part in this. We were also joined by Vikas, Kiran and Vamsee (3 of our colleagues). Dennis was the resident pro here, as he and his wife Dana have been over this umpteen number of times.

Garin park is a part of the East Bay Parks association. The Visitor Center displays artifacts from the ranching and farming history of the Hayward area. There is a blacksmith shop, a tool shop and several ranching-related displays to explore. They also have an interesting collection of antique farm machinery outside the barn, which used to be horse driven - though is rusted now. Inside the park, they also have about 200 different varieties of antique apples. I really couldn't figure out the concept of antique apples, but that's what they are. In the months of September, they have apple picking activities as well as apple tasting activities too for the public.

The park also has a pond inside call the Jordan Pond. It's pier was constructed in 1987 by Park District crews using materials provided through the generosity of the Hayward, South Hayward and Mt. Eden Lions Clubs. the Jordan Pond is inhabited by largemouth bass, bluegill and sunfish. The Park District also plants channel catfish in the pond once or twice a year.

The attached map has the major trails marked out. To give you an idea, we started in the bottom left at the Tamarack Entrance, then moved up on the Meyer's Trail, cross the Meyer's Ranch, diverted left onto the Dry Creek Trail, went across the Jordan Pond, across the 4 picnic areas (Cattlemens, Pioneer, Buttonwood, Ranch Side), looped around, went out on the main road across that house icon, then back onto the orange trail, joined up with the High Ridge trail, all the way back to the Tamarack Entrance.....whew!!!

Our trip to Monterey Bay

This is going to be one long post - you have been warned!!!!

On Saturday, the three of us - Aditya, Mahi & I decided to drive down to Monterey Bay. In a way, it was one of the longest drives that we have done in the US - about 100 miles each way - a total of 3 hours up and down.

Monterey Bay is located south of San Francisco, and is sort of a semicircular shape. It is home to many species of marine mammals, including sea otters, harbor seals, and bottlenose dolphins; as well as being on the migratory path of Gray and Humpback Whales and a breeding site for elephant seals. Many species of fish, mollusks such as abalone and squid, birds, and sea turtles also live in the bay. Several varieties of kelp grow in the bay, some becoming as tall as small trees, forming what is known as a kelp forest.

The prime tourist attraction here is the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It is located in a former sardine cannery and a former brewery on Cannery Row in Monterey and is one of the largest aquariums in the world. It has an annual attendance of 1.8 million and holds 35,000 plants and animals representing 623 species.

Among the aquarium's numerous exhibits, two are of particular note. The centerpiece of the near shore wing is a 33-foot (10-m) high tank for viewing California coastal marine life. This tank was the first in the world to simulate tidal currents on a large scale, enabling the aquarium to keep live California Giant Kelp (water movement is a necessary precondition for keeping Giant Kelp, which absorbs nutrients from surrounding water and requires turbidity).

The second exhibit of note is a one million gallon tank in the Outer Bay Wing which features the world's largest single paned window (crafted by a Japanese company, the window is actually 4 panes seamlessly glued together through a proprietary process). Besides the above-mentioned million-gallon tank, another of the exhibits included a school of 3000 anchovies (a fish that was once the foundation of Monterey's economy), swimming against the endless current of a toroidal tank.

We had a great time watching all the different exhibits. We also got to see the feeding of the penguins, where 18 different penguins are individually fed by two of the personnel. What is amazing is that if while feeding, one of of the penguins happened to drop it's fish, no other penguin would grab it up. Each penguin is able to identify it's own fish. Each penguin too is tagged with a clip on it's flipper, and that's how the staff are able to maintain a record of their diet.

Incidentally, in the 33 foot tank, which is also known as the kelp forest tank, we also saw the Mahi fish - and you can be sure - Mahi was thrilled to see and hear about it!!! We also saw several different types of jellyfish, including a type which emitted rainbow colored lights. We also saw a type of fish called the sunfish. The largest one that they had weighed approximately 800 pounds - over 360 kilograms.

All in all, the trip to the aquarium was really well worth it. After that we stopped for breakfast, and treated ourselves to an all American breakfast - eggs, muffins, etc.

We then proceeded towards the Fisherman's Wharf, which had a lot of stores to look through, a replica of the customs office from 1859 and a whole lot of seafood. This is where once can pick up tickets to go on whale watching trips. Ideally these trips are about 2 to 3 hours, and one goes a good number of miles away from the shore to see whales. We didn't indulge in this as we had just had breakfast, and the last thing you would want to do after having food would be to go on choppy waters!!!

We then proceeded towards the famous 17-mile drive. This is a scenic road through Pacific Grove and Pebble Beach, much of which hugs the Pacific coastline and passes famous golf courses and mansions. Entry into Pebble Beach costs US$9.00 per automobile.

The road runs adjacent to beaches and up into the coastal hills, providing scenic viewpoints. There are numerous turnouts along the road to stop, take pictures, or get out and stroll along the ocean or among the trees. Each visitor receives a small map that points out some of the more scenic spots.

There are many spectacular view points along the route; Bird Rock seems to always be covered with pelicans and other birds, seals and sea lions. Seal Rock Picnic Area is a beach area with a view of Bird Rock. Fanshell Overlook attracts harbor seals and is closed during harbor seal pupping season April 1 to June 1. Cypress Point Lookout provides a great view of the dramatic Pacific coastline along with an idea of the view enjoyed by some of the gated mansions along the route. Probably the most famous tree in the United States, The Lone Cypress has clung to its rocky perch for over 250 years and serves as the symbol of Pebble Beach Company—the developer of the 17-mile drive through Pebble Beach and the Del Monte Forest.

Just outside the lower Pacific Grove gate to the gated community of Pebble Beach is Pacific Grove's Sunset Drive (which becomes Ocean View Boulevard), which follows Pacific Grove's scenic coastline and is called by some the "poor man's 17-Mile Drive."

Pebble Beach has seven public and private 18-hole golf courses. Pebble Beach Golf Links, The Links at Spanish Bay, and Spyglass Hill are owned by the Pebble Beach Company and are all public courses. The other four courses in the town are Poppy Hills which is public, the private Cypress Point Club, and the private Monterey Peninsula Country Club's two courses, the Dunes Course and the Shore Course. Several of these courses are widely celebrated, especially Pebble Beach Golf Links, which is the most famous course in the Western United States, and the only course which has even beaten Pine Valley Golf Club to top spot in Golf Digest's biennial list of America's 100 greatest courses.

Aditya was very keen and excited to be at Pebble Beach Golf Links, so we snapped up a couple of pictures of him with the Pebble Beach Golf Links logo in the background.

We finally wrapped up by evening about 4 pm , I guess, and then drove back home. All in all a good trip.

With Aditya in SFO

Just a quick note here. Aditya is in town, as in - SFO (San Francisco). Met up with him yesterday and the day before. Marriage seems to be doing good for him.

We had him over for dinner last night, and dropped him back. The previous day, we had gone over to SFO to meet him, and did a little bit of sightseeing, post dinner at Chevy's (An all Mexican restaurant). Showed him the Golden Gate bridge - though it was shrouded in mist and thick fog at that time. Also showed him Lombard street, which is the world crookedest street. Here's a photo of how it looks!!! Click on it to see it in detail....

Also, this was the first trip that I was driving in SFO, and it seemed like an altogether different ballgame. Too many one ways, signs, narrow roads, rules, lanes, by lanes.....you get the picture. But I must say, this city has character and it virtually oozes out of each of it's buildings!!!

Anniversary with Sierra Atlantic

Today, I completed 7 years with Sierra Atlantic. It's been a really long and nice journey. On behalf of the company, they sent a basket of flowers home.

It was a nice gesture on their part. As you can see, I went ballistic with the photographs, as I really didn't expect a basket to be at our doorstep when we got home....

Our jaunt in San Francisco

On Sunday, Mahi & I made a trip to downtown San Francisco. As she was keen to travel by the B.A.R.T (Bay Area Rapid Transport) the local metro rail, we drove down to the local BART station, parked our car and took the BART. It's about a good 40 minute ride, with the train actually travelling underwater in the tunnel under the bay. Your ears tend to receive the kind of pressure that you would get in a flight. We got down at Embarcadero station, and then decided to walk to Pier 39 - one the the major tourist hot spots.It was a good 30 minute walk - starting from Pier 1 to Pier 39. While walking we chanced opon this strange tree which had one truck, but two tops!!!

Pier 39 has over 110 stores, 14 restaurants and a whole lot of fun activities. Our first stop was at the Aquarium of the Bay. There one can see all the different types of fish that can be found in the bay including the sharks too!! We also saw the clown fish and others too from the film - Nemo. Inside the aquarium, one also gets to walk through a clear plexi-tube, with the fish swimming overhead. All in all a really nice experience.












Post that, we then checked out Turbo Ride. This is a 3D/4D ride, where people are strapped onto seats (with seat belts), have 3D glasses on, and then go on a ride of their lifetimes. Similar to a 3D setup, except for the fact, that the seats rock and roll in sync to the picture. There are primarily 3 rides here - Dino Island II, the Haunted Mine Ride and the Extreme Log Ride. Of the three of them, the Dino Island II was the easiest, while the Extreme Log Ride really rocked and rolled !!!

Pier 39 is also home to a lot of street performers. We chanced upon one of them - a gentleman by the name of Mitch Barret. He was really funny and had a great sense of humor. In fact one of his acts included balancing on a rope while juggling inflammable rods!!

Another attraction here, is the San Francisco carousel. Handcrafted in Italy, and meticulously hand painted,it depicts famous landmarks such as the Golden Gate bridge, Alcatraz island, California sea lions etc.It has about 1800 twinkling lights and is pretty impressive.

By this time, it was really cold at the Pier, owing tot he wind chill factor and the proximity to the bay - so we grabbed a quick cup of hot chocolate and headed back to the BART station, and subsequently home.


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