Point Reyes Coast Camp

I've now been to Point Reyes Coast Camp once. Jeff's been seven times. Now I know why! It is luxury backpacking, just two hours from home.

We left Blake with Granny and Papa (thank you!!!!) and set out Friday morning for the coast. At the trailhead we prepared our packs:

Then set out on the two mile hike to Coast Camp:

Upon arrival at the campsite, we confirmed Jeff's report of the amenities available at this backpacker's site: pit toilets (actually were totally tolerable), trash dumpsters, water spigots, picnic tables, and bear boxes (because of the hungry, bold critters, not bears). Seriously luxury backpacking. Add to the amenities the fact that there is the beautiful coastline just a two minute walk from our campsite ...

... where I was reminded that there are few things as joyful as watching the joy of children playing in the waves of the ocean.

The kids, of course, got to-the-skin soaked in the cold water on the overcast afternoon.  We helped them change into dry clothes then went back to the beach for a campfire.  Jeff convinced me to bring sausages to roast on the fire ... um, gross ... and of course we did s'mores.
Meanwhile the very meditative folks from the group campsite next to us did their meditation thing.  I don't know how they could fully concentrate with Ben moaning "I want to go home" every 3 seconds, but perhaps they did.  We talked about how impressive it was for them to sit in that quiet, meditative, ponderous state for sooooo loooong.  I could learn a few things from them ...

We had a good night's sleep in our cozy tents ...

... and woke up to a foggggggyyyy morning:

But that didn't stop two particular children from putting on their cold, wet underwear and clothes and heading to the beach at 8:30am.

They lasted about an hour, mostly entertained by the game of fetch with a serendipitously acquired tennis ball.

Ethan wasn't as brave (or crazy?) and took a walk down the beach with Dad.  A purple starfish was one of his rewards:


 Summary: This was an excellent first backpacking experience for the family (minus Blake). It was so excellent that I got all excited about doing more extensive backpacking with them in the years to come. Car camping becomes so cumbersome with all the stuff we bring, mostly because there's room for it. I find so much joy in simplicity; backpacking definitely fulfills me because of its relative simplicity. And we didn't have a toddler in tow. That helped too.