Cypress Tree Tunnel

About 35 miles north of San Francisco is the Point Reyes National Seashore. It's some sort of recreational area that has great beaches and cliffs and is very large.

Smack in the middle of it is a fairly famous tree tunnel. It was #19 on a list of top tree tunnels in the world, which I think is a reasonable distinction. It's also the only Cypress tree tunnel I know of, which gives it a certain look that I like.

The tunnel itself stands in the middle of nowhere with empty fields all around it. It's not part of a forest. The road in the middle leads to an old radio station that served maritime needs.

Of course, as with anything semi-famous or pretty, people flock to it. We approached it and to my dismay there were perhaps 8 cars parked along the side of the road, each containing a family with kids, all walking up and down the road cluttering up the picture.

One family stood in the middle of the road for almost a half hour, taking pictures of themselves, completely oblivious to photographers like me who wanted to take a photo of the tree tunnel and not them. I almost went over and asked them to leave, but it wouldn't have helped. Once they moved another family would have taken their place.

I spent nearly an hour here, walking the tunnel (which was behind a closed gate but I was far from alone in trespassing), waiting for people to get out of the way. I took numerous photos, not one of which were clear of tourists.

We then drove out to a mountain point (Point Reyes, presumably) that had a great romantic view of the sunset. The sun went down and we left, driving back the way we came. (There were tons of cows and even a cow hotel, but that's for another posting. Later.)

On the way back I stopped at the tunnel again. There was only one car parked there now! I got out, and there was one couple walking hand in hand down to the end (awwww....) and that was it! I waited... and waited... they walked slowly... the light was disappearing... they reached the building, then went around to the side and were out of view!!! Hooray!!!

So I took the photo above. There was still some sunset light which lent the tunnel a bit of a more unique and warmer look than when the sun was high. I was glad I stopped again.

Below is one of the photos I took earlier, the first time I dropped by. We see a family walking down the center-- this is probably the fewest people to be seen while I was there. There were another couple of girls that were walking the tree line, but they were actually aware I others were trying to take a photo and walked on the outside of the trees! I could have kissed them. Or hugged them. Or something. As it is, the family that is in this photo lends it a bit of flavor, so it's OK.

This photo is actually taken from the other end ( near the radio station, north end looking south).