Eleven of us met up at Samuel P. Taylor State Park to kick off the first half of the Fall 2008 "Meandering in Marin" hikes. While it was quite cool in the shade during our "Intro" session in the parking lot, it wasn't long after we started the morning hike to the Pioneer Tree that the temperature rose, layers came off, and it was clear this was going to be another hot day in Marin. Fortunately, the elevation gain wasn't that much and we were walking under the shade of Bays and Redwoods nearly all of the time. After a quick stop for several of us to step inside of the burnt-out bottom section of the Pioneer Tree, we ambled down slope to the picnic area and enjoyed a leisurely lunch in the Redwood grove next to the parking area.
Following a "history lesson" from Wendy about Samuel P. Taylor and the evolution of the property from paper mill to state park, we reluctantly got off our duffs and did another loop hike up the Ox Trail and back along with Creek Trail (trees that had fallen across the trail twice forced us to detour back to the park road). After about a mile we reached the site of Taylor's mill, marked by a plaque on a rock, and an old chimney. A little after 2 pm we made it back to the parking lot, tossed our gear into our cars, said our good-byes, and headed for home (with one of us stopping for his usual summertime post-hike ice cream indulgence at the Fairfax Scoop).
Photos from this hike can be viewed in the "mini-slideshow" window on the blog or by clicking here to access the on-line Picasa Web Album.
Next week: Tomales Point, Point Reyes National Seashore
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