Tule Elk Reserve

Tule Elk Reserve
2 miles
2 hours
Start: Pierce Point Ranch Parking Lot
End: Pierce Point Ranch Parking Lot
Includes: Tule Elk Reserve, Tomales Point Trail

Hike 60
January 14, 2014

The Tule Elk Reserve is at the northernmost tip of the Point Reyes peninsula. It is a demonstration of our human ability to change for the better. It is a place for the nearly extinct species of indigenous elk to live in peace and recover from our habit of mindless exploitation.

As I approached in the car, I kept my eyes open for the cattle guard and giant fence. The fence runs the entire width of the peninsula to keep the tule elk inside.

I didn't have to go far to find the elk grazing. I wanted to get a good, close look and hoped I would find more along the path.

A short way down the Tomales Point Trail, I stopped dead in my tracks. I could not believe what I was seeing. It was a long-tailed weasel! He poked his tawny head from a hole in the middle of the trail.

He jumped out and ran a little off the path and stood on his back legs facing me, his long body standing erect like a meerkat. Prior to this, I had only seen the stuffed specimen at the Bear Valley Visitor Center.

He jumped down another hole and popped up again in the path. For several minutes he ran from hole to hole until finally he scampered off into the brush. I stood for a moment feeling like I had been given a surprise gift; a unicorn couldn't have made me happier.

I continued on in the warm sun; it was like summer in January - another gift from nature.

About 45 minutes down the path, I found the line of stones that crosses the peninsula called the Spirit Jumping Off Place by the Miwok. I wrote about these rocks in my very first hike on the Fool's Journey.

I followed the line to the last rock and stood overlooking the dazzling Pacific ocean.

Looking left, I spotted an elk carcass decaying in the elements. This was a chance to see a tule elk very close-up. The tissue had rotted away to reveal the mandibular bone and teeth. The grinding molars were huge and the jutting, lower, front teeth made perfect sense for grazing.

History lay in striations before me. Geologic time was marked by the coast line stretching as far as the eye could see, human time intersected in the rock line of the Miwok Spirit Jumping Off Place and the transitory quality of present time lay in the elk carcass returning to its maker.

I followed the rock line to its other end and stood looking out over the smooth, blue surface of Tomales Bay. Nature was generous, offering this great bounty of wonders on one short walk.

Point Reyes is preserved as a park partially because of its wealth of biological diversity. In the kid's curriculum they look at Earth from space and narrow down to the state of California. They discuss that Earth is made of earth, water and air and that the configuration of these elements creates ecosystems and habitats.

Because of California's raucous geologic history, ecosystems exists in many forms. Life creeps in to fill every niche, nook and cranny. Point Reyes provides ecosystems on land, air, coast, ocean and bay. Forty-five percent of all North American birds are found here as are eighteen percent of all California plant species.

Thinking of earth pushing up, water flowing down and the continuous undulation of air helps clarify the jumbled picture of mind-boggling species diversity. We are how we are because of the elements. They set they stage for life.