Room 28 Point Reyes Newsletter
The Earthquake Trail
by: Mea
We walked along the cement trail that lays over the San Andreas Fault. Where the 1906 earthquake started.
Along the way we saw many animals like fuzzy caterpillars, ladybugs, and even a garter snake.
Along the trail there were signs explaining about the earthquake. Did you know that the 1906 earthquake was powerful enough to rip a train from its tracks?
At the end of the trail there were poles showing where the titanic plates slipped.
I thought it was a really cool experience and it taught me a little more about earthquakes. I also love the feeling of standing where the plates slipped. I really liked this and I thought it was an important part of the trip.
Unnature Hike
by: Annika
The unnature hike was fun! This is how it went. Otak asked us to be silent as we started treading through the dirt and plants keeping an eye out for strange things… and suddenly I saw something! It was a bright red stencil tied to a tree.
It was probably the easiest one to see as we trudged along silently. I spotted a plastic whale, a jump rope, a baby bottle, and a pencil. The hike ended when we got to a bridge above a creek. Then, Otak asked us what we had seen.
People raised their hands and told us some other things they had seen including; a green duct tape ball and a plastic cup. We kept walking and then we saw the lodge as we all ran to cross the swamp…
Cross The Swamp
by: Sabrina
At Point Reyes we played cross the swamp. In cross the swamp there are 8 planks of wood. We had to cross a certain amount of space using only those 8 planks. Normally, it would have taken 16 planks at tops with out using a system.
Our system was having 7 kids cross at a time and handing the plank that no one was on then repeating the same process, until every one could get to the other side of the area which Otak, (our awesome teacher) had picked out. If someone fell off the plank he or she was standing on everyone would have to start all over.
Also, we didn’t get dinner until everyone had crossed the swamp. For our class, it only took 1 try to cross the swamp. Normally it takes 2-3 tries. Cross the swamp is really fun and so is going to Point Reyes. Maybe someday you will go.
Campfire
by: Grace
At Point Reyes we had a campfire. We roasted delicious marshmallows on sticks. The night was cold so we all wore warm jackets or sweatshirts. Otak lit a fire in a fire pit. We had a fun time but we didn’t get to make s’mores. We were lucky that the weather wasn’t dry because if the climate had been dry we would not have been able to have a campfire.
Sack Lunches
by: Kylie M.
A lot of our snacks at Point Reyes were not natural. We had chips and sandwiches, oreos, hard-boiled eggs, and vegetables, such as, carrots and tomatoes, were also available. But what I mostly ate was chips. This is how we put are sacks lunches together; we lined up in the lodge and each of us took a bag. Then we wrote out names on the bags and gave them to the grown ups who then filled it with what we wanted for lunch.
Staying in the Girl’s Cabin
by: Lauren
On Wednesday September 18th my class went to Point Reyes for 3 days. It was really a lot of fun! One thing that stood out to me was staying in the crazy, fun, wild, rustic but still very exiting girls cabin that I will never forget! Starting with the 1st night:
Everything was wild. Everyone was running to the bathroom with their flashlights bouncing up and down. It was kind of scary because the light was yellow so we all looked like vampires. Finally we calmed down and just brushed our teeth. Once again everyone was running in fright back to the cabin. Finally, we all settled down and went to bed. It was freezing but we made it.
In the morning we all ran out to breakfast and prepared for our long hike. But really, we just hung out in the cabin. We talked, climbed on the bunks, put out our pajamas and lay around in out bunks. It was really fun! A few parents had to come in and quiet us down. Whoops! The girls spent most of our free time in the cabin. But, it was super fun!
Description Of The Cabin
by: Lauren
The cabin is a big wooden cabin with sandy floors and creaky bunks. In the cabin, there are 6 bunk beds. 1 in each corner and 2 in the middle of the room. There are 4 single beds. We had no light or heat so it was tricky getting up and going to bed.
I did not find it easy to be there for 3 days. But, when I look back it is totally worth it! I love Point Reyes and will remember it forever!
Boy’s Free Time
By: Sean
When it was free time, we sometimes played in the cabin but mostly outside. For me it was one of my best times at Point Reyes. Inside the cabin we played card games with Hudson’s cards and went crazy. The card game we played was B.S. And Hudson did a lot of magic tricks. We saw a really big spider on the wall. We screamed and ran out the door. It was lots of fun playing B.S. in the boys cabin.
Outside we played chaos tag but Zeno changed the name to hunter tag. The rule was you can tag someone like in chaos tag, but you can use weapons like: a bow and arrow, swords, and an imaginary throwing knives. The weirdest thing was you could make partners. There are districts 1-12. It was really weird so I did not play it much. I had more fun playing cards and games inside the cabin.
Drive to/from Point Reyes
By: Hudson
When we were going to Point Reyes our car groups were created so kids could be with friends. I was with Javier and Clem. My mom was taking us; and she let us listen to music. I also brought my deck of cards. I had learned some magic tricks so I played it on the boys. It was a long ride so we had to talk to be distracted. Overall the ride wasn’t that bad, and before I knew it we were there.
When I drove back I had to leave early so it was just me and my dad. When we were driving on a quiet road my dad and I saw a grey fox. My dad instantly slowed down, but the fox didn’t run away; it casually walked right on the left side of the car. Then, my dad closed the window because he said he was afraid it might jump in the car and attack us.
And the whole ride we listened to music on my dad’s I-Pad which was plugged into the car so the music came out of the cars speakers. Then we decided to watch a movie. About thirty minutes later we were home.
Elk Hike
By: Avery
All who went on this marvelous adventure at Point Reyes National seashore enjoyed it immensely. We saw the elk before we even parked. We saw one or two at the beginning of our sight seeing, but that was nothing compared to the wonders that followed.
Elk are like big majestic deer with thicker hair around their neck. The males had huge antler, which made it easy to identify them, which was hard to do when they were in big herds. A bull’s antlers may reach 4 feet above its head, so that the elk reaches 9 feet tall.
A little ways onto the trail we saw a large herd and concealed inside the group was a young elk. We watched it through our binoculars for å while before moving on. A while farther we came across a small family of elk that were closer than all the others we saw on the trip. They would canter a little in front of us to the left of the trail and we would follow them. They continued with us until they reached a valley, galloped down into it and disappeared from our sight.
We saw more than elk on our adventure. We encountered a big snake as we continued along the trail. We decided that it was a San Francisco Garter Snake because it was brightly colored. There were many vultures swooping low over the hills in search of prey.
The hike itself was enough to make anyone want to go. It was a beautiful trail with gorgeous scenery every way you looked. To the right were the rolling hills, which concealed many creatures we were oblivious to. To our left were the crashing waves of the Pacific Ocean. Above us was a light blue sky full of wispy clouds, were many birds flew.
Slowly and sadly we said goodbye to the elk we had met. With freshly made memories floating in our heads. And I know that I will keep and cherish those memories for a long time, because memories like these are hard to come bye and are not easy to forget.
Interview With Kieran
By: Brody
Q: What did you do at Pt. Reyes?
A: I hiked, slept, read, and ate
Q: What did you like about Pt. Reyes?
A: Every minute!
Q: Really everything?
A: yep!
Q: So no dislikes?
A: yes!
Q: Do you think this a good family trip?
A: not on highway 1!
Q: What do you mean?
A: highway 1is scary
Q: Why?
A: it’s very narrow
Q: then did you like sleeping in the cabins?
A: Not really
Q: Why?
A: Dylan left food in there. B: There was a giant spider in there
[Actually Dylan didn’t he was wrong!]
Q: What animals did you see?
A: Quail
Only that?!
A: No but if I told you all of them you’ll be here forever
[Ok!]
Q: What was your favorite activity?
A: Free time… WAHOO!!!!!
Q: Why?
A: It was awesome!!
Q: DID YOU LIKE IT!!!!!?????
A: Yes!!!!
Yeah!!!!
Animal And Plant Study
By: Clem
At Point Reyes we saw tons of animals and even more plants. We had to pick one each for the animal and plant study. Last year, we made a mural by making paper animals and plants.
We also made posters filled with information about the plants and animals including some pictures. Did you know blue eyes grass attracts animals? It was lots of fun and I can’t wait to do it again!
Limantour Hike
By Pascal
When we went to Point Reyes one of the things we did was take a 2-mile hike to Limantour Beach. Even before we started hiking, there was a great deal of work to do. We had to pack the sack lunches, (see Kylie’s article for more information), fill up our water bottles, and make sure everything was in the parents’ cars for the beach clean up (see Charlotte’s article for more information). Then Otak and all 32 kids started the two-mile hike.
There is one thing you should know about hiking with Otak. If you go in front of him, he says “Snakebite!” and you have to go to the back of the line.
First we hiked down Limantour road, and stopped at a bird-banding station at the bottom (see Erik’s article for more information).
After that we started hiking along Muddy Hollow Trail. It started out as a wide dirt road but then narrowed to a single track. About two-thirds of the way I looked up and saw a great horned owl sitting in a tree 20 feet away! I told everyone and we stopped so that everyone could see. Some of the other things we saw included the following: a lot of sticky monkey flower, sticky tongue rock (aka sedimentary rock), lizards, cattail plants, red alder trees, a lot of poison oak, and a bunch of song sparrows.
Soon after that we came to the Limantour beach parking lot and got our lunches and ate. After that, we hiked down Limantour spit and did the Limantour beach clean up.
Overall, it was a fairly hard hike, but the view and plants were beautiful, and the ocean water at Limantour beach was some of the bluest I’ve ever seen.
Café Reyes
By: Dylan
Café Reyes is a place we went for dinner on the 2nd night. We had super delicious pizza! Everybody enjoyed it! It really was so delicious. The waiters there were super nice and comforting. They had a beautiful porch and root beer. There were many different types of pizza to choose from. It was a wonderful experience. I’ll never forget it in my life. Last year, when I went it was just okay experience but when I went this year it was totally awesome! I will absolutely go there again. My time there was wonderful and amazing!
Solo Sit
By: Zeno (Enzo)
The solo sit is when we (room 28) go outside in the dark and our teacher (Otak) gives us a spot about 10 feet away from each other. Then, we sit down and we close our eyes and if we are very, very quiet we are able to hear just about anything. If you are one of the last people to be given a spot then you will sit for less time. If you are one of the first people to be seated you will sit for more time. Some of us heard a bobcat. And all of us saw a barn owl when we were being seated.
The Beach Clean-up
By: Charlotte
At Limantour Beach room 28 did a beach clean-up. A beach clean-up is basically when you pick-up all the trash on the beach. We had lots of fun doing this. Lauren and I even found a dead jellyfish! It was really squishy and kind of gross.
My dad, Mike, brought his quad copter, which is a mini-helicopter that actually flies! It also has a mini Go Pro brand camera on it which takes videos. All the boys really loved it and crowded around the launch pad.
After we finished cleaning-up the beach, we were allowed to play in the water. Some people wore their swimsuits under their clothes so they could get completely wet. In the end, everyone got totally soaked and had had a lot of fun!
So, if you ever go to Point Reyes, you should definitely go to Limantour beach to do a beach clean-up!
Interview With Kylie L.
By: Sophia
Hi I am Sophia and I am doing an interview with Kylie L. about her trip to Point Reyes.
Q: How was the 2 hour drive to Point Reyes?
A: It was OK, I watched a movie called Eight Below, it’s a sad movie about huskies.
Q: How cold was it sleeping in the cabin at night?
A: The cabin was very cold, I even had to wear my big jacket, but I had lots of fun staying up late.
Q: Was the food at the lodge good?
A: Yes, especially the pasta, I also liked the hot chocolate with marshmallows.
Q: Did you like Café Reyes?
A: Yes, I liked Café Reyes and I had lots of fun! I had a delicious cheese pizza and a can of sprite.
Q: Did you like the hikes?
A: Sort of, but I saw lots of plants.
Q: Which hike was you favorite?
A: The hidden valley loop. Because it was fun and dangerous.
Q: What did you do at the beach?
A: We did a beach clean up and we also got to play in the water.
Q: On a scale of 1-10 ten being the best and 1 being the worst what would you rate our trip? And why?
A: 10. Because I had a lot of fun playing games and I liked the food that the parents made.
Bird Scientists
By: Erik
When our class reached the entrance to the Muddy Hollow trail on our hike to Limantour Beach we met a group of bird scientists who were studying the local population of birds. They were catching birds and banding them with a small metal band that fit around each bird’s leg. The band had a number that identified the bird.
Once they caught a bird, the scientists would look in a big book to see if the bird had been caught before. If the bird hadn’t been caught before, they would put a metal band on its leg. Then they put the bird in a film canister, if it was small enough, and weigh it on a small electronic scale to measure it’s weight in grams. They measured its wingspan and they blow on the feathers behind the neck to examine the skull to see if it was an adult or adolescent.
They recorded the information in a big book and let the banded bird go. Before they released one of the birds, they showed it to us up close. It was a song sparrow. It was very small. When the scientist released the bird, it flew quickly away into the bushes unharmed. The scientists talked to us quite a while and answered our questions. Personally I found it very interesting.
Interview With Sophia
By: Kylie L.
Hello everyone, I am Kylie Liu. I will be interviewing Sophia about our trip to Point Reyes.
Q: Did you enjoy the food at the lodge?
A: Yes, it was delicious! I really liked the pasta.
Q: How did you sleep in the cabin?
A: I went to bed really late but it was really fun staying up and totally worth it!
Q: Did you like the hikes?
A: Yes except my heel did hurt ):
Q: What was your favorite trail?
A: The hidden valley loop trail. Because it was tropical.
Q: Did you like Café Reyes?
A: Yes, I loved the pizza there and I got a root beer float.
Q: Did you play any games at Point Reyes?
A: Yes, my favorite game was wren-tits and scrub-jays.
Q: How was your experience at Point Reyes?
A: Great!
Interview With Dylan
By: Zeno (Enzo)
Q: “Dylan, what did you do for your free-time in Point Reyes?”
A: “I played Hunger Tag which is Hunger Games mixed with Chaos Tag.”
“Q: I see how do you play this game?”
A: “You start out with a weapon and special ability you try to tag people and you might get a sponsor package and get revived.”
Q: “Did you do any hikes? If so, can you tell me what the names of them are and how long they are?”
A: “Yes we did we went on the Muddy Hollow Trail to Limantour Beach.”
Q: “And how long was it?”
A: “It was about an hour and thirty minutes.”
Q:” And did you do anything at the beach?”
A: “Yes we did a beach clean up.”
Q: “Did you go to a restaurant what was it called and if you did what did you eat and was it fun?”
A: Yes we went to Cafe Reyes and the pizza was amazing.”
Q: “Did you sleep in tents?”
A: ”No we slept in the old rustic cabins.”
Q: “Were they mixed gender cabins?”
A: No we had a boys cabin and a girls cabin
Q: “Were there parent chaperones?”
A: “Yes we had a bunch of them come along.”
Q: “What did you have to eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner.”
A: “For Breakfast we had cereal for lunch we had sandwiches and for dinner we had spaghetti and meatballs.”
Q: “Did you do a total cleanup?”
A: “ Yes we did and we had to clean the bathrooms and the cabins.”
Q: “Approximately how much time did it take?”
A: “Around fifteen minutes.”
End: “Thank you I think that’s it for the questions today”.
Wren-Tits And Scrub-Jays
By: Jonathan
Wren-tits and scrub-jays is a game where you are a bird either a wren-tit or a scrub-jay. Wren-tits go through a feeding frenzy and get beans A.K.A food. If you have 4 beans you get a baby at the mating season. If you have 8 you get 2 babies. If you have 2 you get 3 (etc…)
Wren-tits hide their nest and scrub-jays carry their nests dumping in any food they find from the wren-tits if any species finds a pinto bean they subtract 4 beans.
Interview With Brody
By: Kieran
Q: How was you experience at Point Reyes?
A: AWESOME!!!
Q: Was anything bad?
A: Only sleeping in cabins!
Q: Sleeping?
A: Cabins are colder than outside.
Q: Anything else?
A: Nope!
Q: You sure?
A: Yes
Q: What activities did you like?
A: A lot of things one was crossing the swamp.
Q: Would you recommend Point Reyes as a family trip
A: Yes!
Q: Are there any hikes that you didn’t like?
A: Nope!
Q: How was lunch?
A: Good.
Q: Was there any root beer at Café Reyes?
A: Yes, there was root beer!
Q: Did you like it
A: Yeah!
Well, there you have it — Brody’s experience at Point Reyes!
The Sunset Hike
By: Javier
The sunset hike was on the second day of our Point Reyes trip (Point Reyes was founded as a national seashore in 1962). The hike was about five minutes long and the trail we went on was steep. We saw lots of poison ivy, stinging nettle, and poison hemlock. We also saw a golden crowned song sparrow. Otak took some pictures of the sunset because it was wonderfully colorful. I liked the hike because it was very calming and relaxing.
Hidden Valley Loop Trail
By: Dana
During our time at Point Reyes we went on many hikes .One memorable hike was the Hidden Valley loop trail. This hike was a skinny path with stinging nettle creeping all along the side with occasional poison oak. We crossed a bridge and soon came to the part of the trail where grapevines cover your head and the air felt damp and cool as you walked through the trail with the stinging nettle at your feet. This hike is about a fifteen minute loop and I would recommend it if you ever go to Point Reyes
Interview With Javier
By: Noah
Q: How was Point Reyes?
A: It was really fun!
Q: Did you have any free time?
A: During free time we played hunger games and chaos tag.
Q: How many days were you there?
A: 3 days and 2 nights.
Q: What was your favorite activity?
A: Hiking.
Campfire Stories
By: Malu
About 3 weeks before our trip we were assigned to write campfire stories that we would read in the lodge at night. We made them on a program called “Google docs” which is attached to our P.A.U.S.D. account. Then, we can share them with each other by inviting friends and/or teachers to look at them. There were different options for invites such as; can, comment, can edit, and can view. I put can edit for Otak so he can fix any grammatical or spelling errors. But, for my friends I put can comment or documents could get deleted if we were not careful. I think all the stories were really good but I would not know because I went to bed early with Sabrina. It was hard to squeeze in 12 stories per night because we had a lot of other activities we needed to do. Where as last year we did 8 stories per night because we had 3 nights instead of 2. My story was about Harry Potter and one of their kids. The campfire stories were one of the many highlights of our Point Reyes trip this year!