Up High and Down Low on the Muir Woods Hike (August 19)

It looked like this might turn out to be a chilly day hike since the fog was low and dripping so hard that it was nearly raining during the drive from Tam Junction over the hill and down into Muir Woods. Fleece and jackets were donned during our pre-hike "confab" in the parking lot. But once we started hiking up the nearly vertical Dipsea Trail, layers were being peeled off as perspiration replaced the foggy air as a major source of dampness and the nearly 100% humidity made for a warm trek.

As we climbed towards the ridgeline, we passed first through a forest of bay trees and ferns, then into the open chaparral (with lots of large spider webs flecked with dew-drops), through Douglas firs taking over from the Coyote Bush, through darker groves of Redwoods, and back into a forest of firs. We reached the junction of the Dipsea and Ben Johnson trails after about an hour and a half and took advantage of this relatively level spot for an earlier-than-usual-when-hiking-with-Wendy lunch break.

It was all downhill after lunch as we descended switchbacks on the Ben Johnson leading steeply into Muir Woods National Monument. After about an hour we began to encounter a few tourists, then more, and then many as we reached Redwood Creek at the bottom of the trail. We covered the four miles of this route in about 3 and half hours, arriving back at our cars a little earlier than expected. While the parking lot had been nearly empty (except for our vehicles) at the beginning of the hike, it we nearly overflowing with visitors hunting for a place to park by the time we pulled out and headed for home (or for two of us, to the "Bella Ciao" gelateria in the Corte Madera Town Center).

Pictures from the hike can be viewed on the "Meandering" blog or by clicking here.

Next week: Our "summer quarter" ends with the "Final Exam" hike from Dogtown to Five Brooks on the Olema Valley trail.