Hi All,

Today I hung out on the fault line starting at the Earthquake Trail in Olema and then out to Drakes Bay and Kehoe Beach. This was under the Point Reyes National Seashore program where anyone can go and was instructed by my geology teacher at Sonoma State.

This time I walked the blue post line on the earthquake trail and it was no easy proposition. Its not a path and walking on the sides of hills is not always so easy, nor climbing and jumping over the fence to get on further either.

Drakes Bay offered an interesting group of rock formations to view. One was a huge sand complex in various stages. However, in one small area I found the most beautiful arrangement in layering. On the these broken pieces that came from the cliff, was a three layered sand complex. Beautiful red iron rich on the bottom, a blue grey in the center and the top with newer light grey sand. Further down the beach I saw a granite complex that had risen from below the surface and was standing upright, opposite of the way it would have formed in the lower surfaces. In and around this area there were many granite structures with white granite running through them, all of them an assemblage of various rocks brought together when forming. The colors of greys and whites were spectacular.

Taking a tour of Kehoe Beach I saw a very large granite complex that was on a right angle so that the lines of formation were tilted high on the left and lower to the right. Very amazing looking.

While I learned much about geology today and brought home for me a long sought after piece of serpentine, I would suggest only the hearty take this tour as the hiking up and down hills and a sand dune are exhausting. However, I have to say I haven't been to the beach in many years and for me, the sights and sounds of the shoreline made the trip worthwhile.

From the San Andreas Fault Line...Pat in Petaluma