Great Weather for A Swim, But.......

An afternoon dental appointment kept Dick off the trail for yesterday's Palomarin hike, but Linda Oqvist reports "I wish I could say that we all looked like this at Bass Lake - but in fact none of us went in. We meandered a little too slowly and then there were about 15 "kids" with chain saws hacking at plants along the path. Weather was beautiful though and the lake looked so inviting. We may try for a dip later this summer." (Click here to see what it would have looked like if the "Meanderers Synchronized Swim Team" would have taken a dip in Bass Lake).

New! Muddy Hollow Hike Photos Are On-Line!

Photos from the Muddy Hollow-Limantour Hike (July 22nd) are now on-line. You can view them in the "mini slideshow" window in the blog, or click here to access the on-line album of latest "Meandering" photos.

Out In The Open --- Muddy Hollow to Limantour Hike (July 22)

Wendy turned on her windshield wipers as we crested the Limantour Road under drippy, drizzly, fog filled skies on our way to the Muddy Hollow trailhead. Apparently the damp, gray weather kept the raptors grounded, since there were enough Brush Bunnies to make into an adult-sized fur coat and plenty of Quail to roast for a "Final Exam" luncheon scampering along the side of the road seemingly unconcerned about having a life-ending experience.

After leaving half the cars parked near Limantour Beach, we caravaned back to the Muddy Hollow Trailhead and began a slow, uphill climb on Muddy Hollow Road, past the site of an early ranch and through an area burned in the 1995 Inverness fire. Bishop Pines are now repopulating the area in a forest of even-sized trees, although the hillsides are still covered with grass and shrubs. The weather remained cool during most of the mile and a half leg up to the junction of Muddy Hollow Road and the Glenbrook Trail --- so much so that Bumblebees clung unmoving to the underside of thistles, napping until the sun began to warm the air enough for them to start gathering nectar and us to begin doffing a layer or two of clothing.

At the top of the long rise we veered west onto the Glenbrook Trail and spent the next hour and half or so meandering across the broad "mesas" that divide Limantour Estero, now and again dropping down into gullies filled with willows and shrubs and bunches of bright yellow American Goldfinches. Here we saw many Wood Nymphs fluttering by, and a few of us had the good fortune to spot the endangered Myrtle's Silverspot butterfly.

The fog began to burn away and with the rising temperatures, Northern Harriers began to patrol the skies with heads dipped downwards looking for all of those Brush Bunnies we'd seen earlier in the day. Crossing a small stream near the end of the hike, we encountered not one, but two of the elusive California Clapper Rails --- a rare treat.

About 2 pm we were back at the Limantour Beach parking lot. Several of us thought this hike we even longer than the previous week's jaunt down the Sky Trail to Bear Valley ---- apparently because we were out in the open and could see the trail far ahead of us rather than hiking through a forest. In truth, this walk was nearly two miles shorter at just over 5 miles (hiking back to the cars left at Muddy Hollow Road would have added another mile an a half, but we were smart enough to set up a car shuttle and give our feet a break).

Once the fog lifted, the skies were not clear-blue, but the wind was light and it was warm hiking, with temperatures probably in the mid-60's or higher. Back "Over the Hill" in East Marin it was in the 80's --- perfect weather for eating ice cream as three of us did, treating ourselves to a post-hike snack at "The Fairfax Scoop."

Getting In The Swim of Things

Since the thermometer might hit 70 degrees during the Palomarin hike, Linda Oqvist plans on carrying her swim togs in her day pack and suggests that other Meandering "bathing beauties" do the same in case the waters of Bass Lake are warm enough for a mid-hike dip.

(That's Linda on the far right wearing the outfit she used to don when paddling outrigger canoes on Maui).

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Palomarin Hike (July 29) Preview

Here's Wendy's description of our last July hike:

"This hike is not a loop, but has incredible ocean views making it well worth the drive! We should see bee plant, seep-spring monkey flower, salmonberries and more. Lunch at a pond with Indian pond lilies, frogs and dragonflies or at Bass Lake."

The National Weather Service forecast for Tuesday at Bolinas is: Patchy fog before 11am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 69. West wind between 11 and 15 mph. (Click here for an updated forecast).

Directions: Meet at 8:45 at St.Rita to carpool.

Take Sir Francis Drake Blvd. west to Olema. Turn left (south) on Rt. 1. Pass Five Brooks and Dogtown, and take the unmarked right turn towards the town of Bolinas. (If you find yourself going along the shore of Bolinas Lagoon, you've just missed the turn.)

Turn right on Mesa Rd. and follow it to the Palomarin trailhead parking lot. If you're coming from southern Marin you may prefer to take Rt. 1 north, turning left just past the end of the lagoon onto the unmarked road into the town of Bolinas.

Outhouse at trailhead.

The "Coast Trail to Double Point" hike from the Martin's book, Hiking Marin, covers the general area that we'll hike through:

Palomarin to Double Point Hike and Map - Upload a Document to Scribd

Read this document on Scribd: Palomarin to Double Point Hike and Map

(Click here to view and print the hike description and map. If you have Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer you can print the document. Once you see the document on the "Scribd" Web site, click on the "Download" icon and then on the "PDF" icon to open the document on your computer).

What We Saw on The Muddy Hollow to Limantour Hike (July 22)

Here's Wendy's list of critters, bird and plants spotted along the trail from Muddy Hollow to Limantour:

FLOWERS

White: poison hemlock (not native), yarrow, cudweed (Gnaphalium sp), coastal morning glory (aka purple western morning glory), ocean spray (bush), thimbleberry (most in berry already), field bindweed

Purple: Common aster, Giant Coastal Hedge-nettle, Skunkweed

Red: Franciscan paintbrush

Yellow: gumplant, hairy cat’s-ear (not native), tall tarplant (not native), seep-spring monkeyflower (aka perennial yellow monkeyflower),

Orange: sticky monkeyflower

Blue- European flax, a bit of Ceanothus still in bloom

NOT IN BLOOM OR NON-DESCRIPT FLOWER

Poison oak turning red, Mugwort, twinberry with berries (red bracts look like flowers), manroot, coffee berry (berries green or red, none black yet), bee plants mostly gone to seed, stinging nettles, elderberry

TREES

Bishop pines, wax myrtle, alder, cypress

BIRDS

Red-tailed hawks, TVs, chestnut-backed chickadees, white-crowned sparrows, LOTS of American goldfinches, CA quail, Northern harriers, one Caspian tern, great egret, TWO CLAPPER RAILS!

Heard: wrentits

BUTTERFLIES

Lots of wood nymphs (host plant grasses), about a dozen Acmon blues (host plants buckwheats and lotuses so in this case using the lotuses), MYRTLE’S SILVERSPOT (seen by a few, endangered, host plant dog violet), one cabbage white

GALLS

willow apple gall sawfly (red and green galls on willow leaves).

MAMMALS

Brush rabbits (breed January-June and have two broods a year, young altricial)

As applies to birds:

Altricial immobile, downless, eyes closed, fed

Semialtricial 1 - immobile, downy, eyes open, fed

Semialtricial 2 – Immobile, downy, eyes closed, fed

Precocial 2 – mobile, downy, follow parents, find own food

Precocial 3 - mobile, downy, follow parents, are shown food

Precocial 4 - mobile, downy, follow parents, are fed

(Click here if you want to view and print a copy of this list. If you have Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer you can print the document. Once you see the document on the "Scribd" Web site, click on the "Download" icon and then on the "PDF" icon to open the document on your computer).

Muddy Hollow Trailhead Hike (July 22) Preview

Here's Wendy's description of this upcoming hike:

"This is a lovely loop with views of Limantour Estero. If it’s not foggy, we should see lots of [butterflies, such as] Wood Nymphs, and probably Mylitta Crescents, Buckeyes, and Acmon Blues, and we can hope for the endangered Myrtle’s Silverspot that we saw one year. We usually get good views of Northern harriers and sometimes see the tule elk."

As of Sunday, the National Weather Service forecast for Tuesday at Inverness (the closest reporting point to where we'll be hiking) calls for patchy fog before 11 am, then mostly sunny, with a high near 64, and calm winds becoming west between 8 and 11 mph later in the day. (As always, it can be much cooler and foggier near the coast; click here for an updated forecast).

Directions: This will be a car shuttle, so please call if you plan to come. (Meet at St. Rita at 8:55 to carpool).

Take Sir Francis Drake Boulevard west to Olema. Turn right on Route1, then make an immediate left onto Bear Valley Road. Continue past Park Headquarters (turn in if you need a restroom) and go left on Limantour Road. Park in the parking lot at Limantour Beach. (There is an outhouse at Limantour Beach parking lot). We’ll end up at Limantour Beach and avoid the muddy Muddy Hollow trail.

The Martins' book, Hiking Marin, includes a 6.7 mile trek in the area where we'll be hiking:

Muddy Hollow to Limantour Beach Hike and Map - Upload a Document to Scribd

Read this document on Scribd: Muddy Hollow to Limantour Beach Hike and Map

(Click here to view and print the hike description and map. If you have Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer you can print the document. Once you see the document on the "Scribd" Web site, click on the "Download" icon and then on the "PDF" icon to open the document on your computer).

What We Saw On The Sky Trail to Bear Valley Hike (July 15)

Wendy lists this flora and fauna from our hike from the Limantour Road trailhead for Sky Trail to Bear Valley via Divide Meadow:

FLOWERS

Orange: sticky monkeyflower, poppy, too much non-native Crocosmia

Purple: skunkweed, selfheal (Prunella), CA aster, coast hedge nettle

Pink: foxglove (not native)

Blue: forget-me-nots (not native), flax (not native)

White: Elk clover, poison hemlock (not native, carrot-like leaves), cow parsnip, coastal morning glory, candy striped Claytonia (aka Siberian candyflower)

Yellow: Coast tarplant (not native), hairy cat’s ears (not native), Lotus sp., buttercups

BERRIES

Ripe huckleberries, thimbleberries, salal, CA blackberry (aka bear berry), flowering currant

Red elderberry (not for eating)

TREES

Douglas fir, bishop pine, hazel (with nuts), adlers (by creek)

FERNS

Lady, bracken, sword, leather

BUTTERFLIES

SATYR COMMA (host plant nettles, hibernate as adults), spring azure (host plants buckeye, Ceanothus, ocean spray, chamise, hibernate as pupae), WOOD NYMPH (host plant grasses)

BIRDS

Seen (at least by some) Quail family with cute babies, hairy woodpecker, dark-eyed junco, osprey, chestnut-backed chickadee

Heard: wrentit, osprey, hairy woodpecker (squeaky dog toy), chickadee

MAMMALS One Sonoma chipmunk

(Click here if you want to view and print a copy of this list. If you have Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer you can print the document. Once you see the document on the "Scribd" Web site, click on the "Download" icon and then on the "PDF" icon to open the document on your computer).

"Long Haul" Hike - Sky Trail to Bear Valley

Martin's Sky Trail to Bear Valley hike is 7.3 miles --- our trek was a little shorter (we didn't follow their plan with a detour up to the top of Mt. Wittenberg) at 6.8 miles (1.8 miles from Limantour Road parking lot to Sky Camp, 3.4 miles from Sky Camp to Divide Meadow, 1.6 miles back to the Bear Valley parking lot trailhead from the meadow). Cool weather (around 60-plus degrees) made the first half of the hike comfortable (most of wearing a jacket or sweater), and shade along the route kept us comfortable once the sun came out around 1 pm.

Blueberries, blackberries, and huckleberries treated us to a fruity "amuse bouche" before lunch around noon-time at the Sky Trail-Meadow Trail junction. While having our repast, three women loaded down with backpacks and headed for Coast Camp stopped to chat. One (with a heavy Russian or Eastern European accent), asked if there were any "burrs" (or maybe it was "brrrs") in the area. Seeing the confused looks on our faces, she pointed at the trail sign and said "Burrs, like in Burr Valley". Ah ha, now we get it! Wendy assured her and her friends that the last black bear in this parts was dispatched from Bear Valley to Bear Heaven around 1914, and that the only grizzly bear to be found "lives" on the California State flag.

We learned about the 1995 "Mt. Vision" fire shortly after we set out, and had later "local history lessons" at Sky Camp (where "Z" ranch was located) and Divide Meadow (site of a one-time hunting lodge). We met up with "official" butterfly counters on the way back to Bear Valley from Divide Meadow, and did our own "unofficial" census, finding a California Tortoise Shell, Wood Nymph, and (injured) swallowtails.

Around 2:30 pm, the brown meadows of Bear Valley came into view and was slowly wound our way down the trail to the parking lot in 70-degree plus sunshine, a fine end to another fine day of hiking in Marin.

(Hike photos can be viewed in the "mini-slideshow" window on the blog or by clicking here to go to the on-line album for this hike).

Hitting The (Campaign) Trail.

If you're bemoaning the fact that your only apparent options when voting for the next President of the United States are Obama and McCain, not to worry --- Dick Jordan has thrown his (somewhat sweaty from hiking) hat into the ring and is declaring himself the "Meanderers Choice" for the highest office in the land. Click here for breaking news on this political story.

Sky Trail To Bear Valley Hike (July 15) Preview

What will we see on this hike? Wendy doesn't reveal those secrets, but here's the plan for this trek:

We’ll meet at Bear Valley and carpool to Sky Trail. From there we’ll go down the lovely shady Old Pine to Bear Valley. We’ll need some people who are not in a rush to drive people back to Sky Trail. (Restrooms at Bear Valley, none at Sky Trail trailhead but some as we pass Coast Camp).

The National Weather Service forecast for Olema is patchy fog before 11 am, otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 72. (It may be slightly cooler when we start out near the coast; click here for an updated forecast).

Here's the hike and map for this area from the Martin's book, Hiking Marin. Note that their hike is 7.3 miles long and goes all the way south to Divide Meadow before looping back north to the visitor center. Other, shorter hikes can be taken by turning east and hiking down to Bear Valley at other places along the Sky Trail, and we may taking one of these more leisurely options:

Sky Trail to Bear Valley Hike and Map - Upload a Document to Scribd

Read this document on Scribd: Sky Trail to Bear Valley Hike and Map

(Click here to view and print the hike description and map. If you have Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer you can print the document. Once you see the document on the "Scribd" Web site, click on the "Download" icon and then on the "PDF" icon to open the document on your computer).

What We Saw On The Bull Point Hike (July 8)

Here's Wendy's roster of plants and critters spotted on the Bull Point hike:

FLOWERS (C = listed by California Native Plant Society as rare or endangered)

PURPLE

DWARF BRODIAEA (AKA earth brodiaea), giant coastal hedge nettle (aka tall hedge nettle), coastal prairie lupine, prunella (AKA self-heal), blue eyed grass

YELLOW

YELLOW EYED GRASS, TINKER'S PENNY, shore cinquefoil (AKA pacific silverweed), seep-spring monkeyflower (AKA common monkeyflower), coastal bush lupine (fragrant!), SAN FRANCISCO GUMPLANT (sticky buds, stems not woody like on prostrate gumplant), HOOKER’S EVENING PRIMROSE, BRINE LOCOWEED (AKA saltmarsh milkvetch, at beach where we had lunch, pea family), lots of the non-native hairy cat’s ear.

WHITE

Brownie thistle, yarrow, LARGE-FLOWERED LINANTHUS (was Linanthus grandiflora, now Leptosiphon grandiflora) (C), Siberian candyflower (AKA candy-striped Claytonia), COASTAL ANGELICA, coast buckwheat (gets pinkish), ledum (aka Labrador tea, shrub with medicinal smelling leaves), POINT REYES HORKELIA (honey-smelling low plant) (C)

ORANGE

Poppy, sticky monkeyflower, COAST LILY (Lilium maritimum) (C )

BLUE

Flax, sky lupine

RED

Franciscan paintbrush, sheep sorrel

PINK

Cow clover, seathrift (AKA sea pink), COASTAL CLARKIA (aka Davy’s godetia), Point Reyes checkerbloom (C), SMALL FLOWERED LINANTHUS (now Leptosiphon), NOOTKA ROSE (at the coast lily spot)

NO FLOWERS, OR NONE AT THIS TIME

Gray willow, coyote thistle (parsley family, not sunflower family like “regular” thistles), notch-leaf pennywort, California blackberry ( some ripe berries)

BIRDS

About 40 white pelicans, one great blue heron, double crested cormorants, CASPIAN TERNS fishing (sound like cat with tail under rocking chair),savannah sparrow, red-tailed hawk, killdeer.

BUTTERFLIES

MYRTLE’S SILVERSPOT (endangered).

(Click here if you want to view and print a copy of this list. If you have Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer you can print the document. Once you see the document on the "Scribd" Web site, click on the "Download" icon and then on the "PDF" icon to open the document on your computer).

I Hate Tecnology!

When things go wrong, they keep going wrong. For some reason, the link to the Fifty State Flowers didn't show up in the e-mail you received even though the link is in the blog. So once again, here is the link: http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=1221321706636&source=jl999

Dick Jordan

About Those Flowers.....

Ooops! The last post (now fixed) didn't include the link to view the state flowers. Here it is:

State Flowers of All Fifty States

Enjoy A Star-Spangled Bouquet!

Hot dogs sizzling on the grill, fireworks exploding in the night sky, the Stars and Stripes displayed on homes and businesses, and parades down "Main Street" are all icon images of the Fourth of July.

A floral salute to the good old U-S-of-A would fit in better with our "Meandering" experiences. Click here to view and learn the common and botanical names of the official flowers of all fifty U.S. states. (Not among that floral group are the Chocolate Lilies and Scarlet Paintbrush which I found in Glacier Bay National Park). Have a great weekend!

Dick Jordan

Bull Point Hike Preview

Here's what Wendy promises for this hike: "A beautiful level walk. This is the only site in Marin for the rare coast lily which should be in bloom. (Let’s hope the cows didn’t eat them!) We could also see orchids like ladies’ tresses, white-flowered bog orchid, and Tofeldia as well as Hooker’s evening primrose, and the endangered California bluebells, Point Reyes checkerbloom, and large flowered Linanthus. One year we saw the endangered Point Reyes blue butterfly."

Here are the directions to the trailhead (carpool leaves St. Rita's at 8:50 am): Take Sir Francis Drake Blvd. west to Olema. Turn right on Rt.1, then make an immediate left onto Bear Valley Rd. Continue past Park Headquarters (don't turn in) and go left when you hit Sir Francis Drake again. Go through Inverness. Go left at the "Y" and pass the AT+T station. The Bull Point parking lot will be on your left. No restrooms on trailhead or en route.

The National Weather Service forecast (as of Saturday, July 5th) for Tuesday is good: Sunny, with a high near 71. (Click here for an updated forecast).

In her book Exploring Point Reyes National Seashore and Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Tracy Salcedo-Chourre outlines the following hike at Bull Point:

Bull Point Hike and Map - Upload a Document to Scribd

Read this document on Scribd: Bull Point Hike and Map

(Click here to print out Tracy's hike information. If you have Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer you can print the document. Once you see the document on the "Scribd" Web site, click on the "Download" icon and then on the "PDF" icon to open the document on your computer).

July "Meanders" Start Next Week!

Wendy has scheduled the following hikes for four Tuesdays in July:

Tuesday Summer Hikes July 8 through 29 - Upload a Document to Scribd

Read this document on Scribd: Tuesday Summer Hikes July 8 through 29

(Click here to print the information on these hikes).