Fog and a Big Cat

I mentioned yesterday that this past weekend was our first back in San Francisco in over a month, and we were itching to do some more exploring.  After a Friday night out in the Mission, we headed the opposite direction and made plans to hike in the Marin Headlands.  I was especially looking forward to checking out Point Bonita Lighthouse, where the suspension bridge has been recently reconstructed to hold more than 2 people at once.

Saturday started off sunny and rather warm in San Francisco.  We could see a few clouds hanging over the Golden Gate, but with the blue skies above, we figured the fog would blow off by lunch time.

Well, it didn't. 

We are used to views like this from Marin Headlands:

But Saturday, we just saw a lot of this:

We scratched the lighthouse off our plans.

This is actually a photo of the lighthouse, and you can see why we didn't bother with a visit this day:

Instead, we had a picnic on Black Sand Beach.  Despite the fog, it wasn't too chilly, and we had a fun lunch, imagining what our view would have been had the Pacific not been blanketed in fog.

The highlight of the day, however, was a bobcat sighting.  We initially saw a big animal far away in a field.  We guessed he was a coyote at first, but as soon as we saw him walk, we knew it was a cat.

And as we got closer, we could distinguish that it wasn't a mountain lion (probably a good thing), but a bobcat.  We were in the car, so we were able to drive up quite close.  And thanks to my zoom lens, here's our friend up close:

It was a very exciting wildlife spotting!

I'm already looking forward to our next visit, which will hopefully be much more clear.