"Final Exam" (December 2) At Lake Lagunitas Preview

"Fall 2" officially comes to a close next week with a hike followed by our traditional "Final Exam" luncheon at Lake Lagunitas in the MMWD watershed. Here's Wendy's outline for the outing:

"We make a partial circle around the lake, looking for ring-neck ducks, ruddy ducks, grebes and other birds, and then make a loop past Pilot Knob, returning on Southern Marin Line. REMEMBER TO BRING PLATE, UTENSILS, AND SOMETHING TO SHARE FOR THE GOURMET FINAL EXAM! (Let’s think green and try to cut down on paper and plastic throw-aways as much as possible). We’ll leave the food in the cars and eat when we get back but bring your water bottle. Potluck at my house in San Anselmo if it rains."

Directions to trailhead: As you enter Fairfax on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard jog left when you see the movie theater and make an immediate right. This puts you on Broadway, the street that parallels Sir Francis Drake, but is on the other side of the Parkade parking lot. Make the first left which is Bolinas Avenue. Follow the Bolinas-Fairfax Road for about 1 mile. Turn left onto Sky Oaks Road. (If you miss the Sky Oaks Road turn-off and you get to the Meadow Club golf course you have gone too far). You'll need to pay the $7 day-use fee at the kiosk unless you have an MMWD pass. Continue to the parking lot at the end of the road. Driving time from COM 30 minutes. Outhouse at trailhead.

Weather forecast: As of Wednesday, November 26, the National Weather Service forecast for Fairfax was sunny, with a high near 67. (Click here for an updated forecast).

More on this hike: The Martin's book, Hiking Marin, sets out a shorter hike shown below; instead of following the Pilot Knob trail back to the parking lot, we'll take a longer route back by continuing eastward and then looping back the west, picking up the Southern Marin Line Road (called the Filter Plant Road on the Martin's map). (Click here to view, zoom in on, and print a map of the MMWD watershed lands).

Lagunitas Pilot Knob Hike and Map

Get your own at Scribd or explore others:

(Click here to view and print out a complete description of the hike and map from Martins' book. 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).