Dogging It In Alaska

While walking along the main street of Ketchikan, Alaska, this past June, Dick Jordan looked up at a building along the waterfront and saw these two dogs (with sunglasses) checking out the tourists meandering below on the street. Look for the photo in the Travel Section of the Sunday, January 4, 2009 edition of the Marin I-J.

Pine Mt./Elliott Preserve Shutte Hike (January 6) Preview

Note the early start and finish times for our first hike of 2009. Here's how Wendy describes this shuttle hike:

"This hike starts in chaparral and passes by serpentine areas on the way to the waterfall. This year we can take the new trail and get to the waterfall easily, but it will mean we get back around 3:00 pm instead of 1:45. After the waterfall we go through the pygmy Sargeant cypress forest, and return through oak/bay/madrone woodland. We'll check out birds and mushrooms as we go.

We need people to meet at the end of Cascade Drive in Fairfax at 9:20 am. If you have time pressure after class go there as well, since the car shuttle won’t get people back to the start until about 3:20 pm. I will drive the drivers from Cascade to the start of the hike. Others should meet at the trailhead (directions follow).

Directions to the trailhead: Take the Bolinas-Fairfax Road past the Meadow Club (golf course) and keep going. Park in the parking lot across from the Pine Mountain Fire Road. It is a large dirt parking lot on your left, and the fire road is on the right. If you start going downhill and can see Lake Alpine, you’ve gone too far.

Maybe a portable at the trailhead. 25 minutes from College of Marin.

Weather forecast: Weather forecast: As of Tuesday, December 30th, the National Weather Service forecast for Fairfax for the day of the hike was mostly cloudy with a slight chance of showers and a high near 54. . (Click here for an updated forecast).

More on this hike: We'll be hiking on both MMWD watershed lands (click here for a map that you can view, zoom in on or print) and those of the Marin County Open Space District (click here for a description of the preserve in the Cascade area of Fairfax, or click here for a map of this area).

Season's Greetings from The Meandering Blog!

May visions of sugarplums
And edible mushrooms
Dance in your head,
And your holidays be
Brightened by guests
From near and afar,
And snowflakes fall
Where you can see them
But not bury your car.

Happy Holidays from The Meandering in Marin on Tuesdays blog!

New! Salmon and Eagle Spotting

Dick's friend, Megan, of SPAWN, reports that salmon which had been hanging out down by Tomales Bay may be moving upstream. At least one chinook salmon was seen near Devil's Gulch in Samuel P. Taylor State Park. Rains over the last day and during the coming week may bring more fish to spawning areas in West Marin. (Perhaps we'll be able to reschedule the "fish walk" we had planned for early December to a new date in early January; if you just can't wait to go on a tour with SPAWN, you can click here to sign up on-line for one of its creekwalks (Saturday/Sunday from through January 18th).

Remember that bald eagle (they are big --- here's Dick's wife, Cindy, at a raptor center in Sitka, Alaska, spreading her "wings" to match those of an eagle) we saw chasing on osprey up at the Lake Lagunitas parking lot earlier this year? He (or she) may be back. Yesterday, the Marin I-J reported that a bald eagle was spotted near Bon Tempe (why didn't we see it on our Tuesday hike?) --- click here to read the story.

A Long Winter's Lake-to-Lake Hike (December 16)

A week ago we we hiking in our shirtsleeves out by Muddy Hollow in the Point Reyes National Seashore; today there was no mistaking it was nearly winter (which officially arrives in a few days) --- it was 39 degrees when we eleven intrepid (a euphemism for foolish --- the smart Meanderers stayed snug in the homes, no doubt drinking brandy-laced eggnog) hikers met up at the parking lot by the Bon Tempe dam and the temperature never got much about 40 degrees during the entire hike. Kathy thoughtfully brought along a basketful of gloves for those who needed "hand warmers", and dressed in our rain and winter weather gear, we soon took off for the trailhead.

We saw small patches of snow along the Bolinas-Fairfax Road as we drove west to the Catatract Trail trailhead, just beyond the dam that created Alpine Lake. Not exactly a "White Christmas" setting, but ample evidence of how chilly it had gotten overnight. We never saw the sun, but we had some weather karma: No icy wind blowing down our necks, and except for the steady drip, drip, drip of water dropping off the trees during part of the walk, and a few minutes of rain showers during the last half-mile of the trip, we didn't have to deal with winter precipitation.

We deferred our usual pre-hike "roundtable" discussion of the past week's events until we had warmed ourselves up by walking about half of the initial steep, uphill leg of the outing, following the Cataract Trail in the direction of Laurel Dell. After stopping for our "confab" at a level spot near the creek, we continued up stone and wooden steps, strewn with fallen folliage of Big Leaf Maples, until we crossed the stream and swung east onto the Helen Markt Trail. Then we began a gentle traverse across the hillside until reaching a sharp ridge and plunging down a drainage, then up the other side: we'd end up repeating this slow roller-coaster style of hiking for most of the rest of the day, crossing streams and climbing up and down ridges of the mountain that extend like fingers downward into Alpine Lake.

It was easy to tell that this is a damp, damp part of the watershed --- ferns and mosses, along with mushrooms (and a solitary snail) and a fairly dense forest, lined almost the entire route. The one real open space was our lunch stop where we sat out on a point overlooking Alpine Lake. Before we packed up and continued our walk after filling our bellies, Silvia led us in a sing-a-long. (She should produce a CD of her Meandering songs).

Just after lunch, we spotted a giant "Prince" mushroom which Wendy had seen when the Monday group did the same hike last week. Since we were now down at lake level, we thought maybe we'd have an easy stroll along the shoreline until reaching Bon Tempe. No such luck --- back to the rollercoaster, up and down, up and down, for over another hour until we reached a dirt road and the trailmarker telling us we only had a half-mile before we'd get to the Bon Tempe dam. Before long we had finished the last Meander of the year and were back at our cars, wishing each other happy holidays and good times until we meet again in January.

What to Do (When Raccoons Come Calling)

The rain that falls this week may bring the spawning salmon upstream and allow us to eventually reschedule our "Fish Walk" with Dick's friend, Megan. When she's not busy with her salmon-related activities, she runs Rancho Raccoon, an organization that provides foster care and orphaned and injured raccoons until they are ready to return to their natural, wild environment.

If you've got these cute, but sometimes pesky critters going in and out of your home through the cat or doggie door, or living in your attic or crawlspace, Rancho Raccoon can advise you how to legally and safely get these little imps to move on. And if you've got a persimmon tree in your yard and more fruit than you can eat or give away, Rancho Raccoon would be happy for you to call (415/488-1957) to donate these favorite raccoon treats which the organization will freeze and dole out to the "gang" during the next baby season. (Click here for Rancho Raccoon's blog, The Treehouse; click here to view its latest newsletter).

New! Alpine Lake (December 16th) Weather Update

On Wednesday, December 10, the National Weather Service forecast for Fairfax was mostly cloudy, a chance of showers, with a high near 47. As of Sunday, December 14th, the forecast had changed to scattered showers and thunderstorms. Some of the storms could produce small hail. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 46. Northwest wind around 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. (Click here for an updated forecast).

Will we be looking up a snow-capped Mount Tam during the hike? The NWS forecast for the North Bay Mountains at elevations over 1,000' calls for the possibility of snow showers. So dress warmly and bring your rain gear for this hike!

Lake Alpine Shuttle Hike (December 16) Preview

Note the half-hour earlier start time for our final hike of 2008 which Wendy describes as follows:

"On this favorite winter hike we hike along a creek with lovely cascades (assuming we’ve had some rain by then!) and ferns. You’ll think you’ve entered the Emerald City! We usually find some interesting mushrooms on this hike.

The start is uphill with some stairs (but we’ll find lots to look at on the way), the end is level - and in between it’s up and down! We end up at the Bon Tempe Dam.

We’ll need people who don’t need to be somewhere in a hurry to take the drivers back to their cars at Alpine (about 35 minutes round trip).

Directions to meeting place: Take the Fairfax-Bolinas Road. Turn in as you would to go to Lake Lagunitas. After the ranger station at Sky Oaks (but before Shaver Grade) there is an unpaved road to the right. Take this to Lake Bon Tempe and park. MEET AT 9:15. We’ll carpool to the trailhead, so don’t pay the $7 entrance fee if you plan to take your car to the trailhead. Portable toilet at Bon Tempe, but none at Alpine trailhead. 25 minutes from College of Marin.

Weather forecast: As of Wednesday, December 10, the National Weather Service forecast for Fairfax was mostly cloud, a chance of showers, with a high near 47. (Click here for an updated forecast).

More on this hike: There is no comparable hike in the Martins' book, Hiking Marin, but we'll begin our hike just past the dam at Alpine Lake and head east on the Helen Markt Trail, eventually pick up one of the fire roads, and wind our way back to Bon Tempe Lake. (Click here to view, zoom in on, or print a map of the MWWD watershed lands).

A Glorious Day on The Coast (Muddy Hollow, December 9th)

Jack Frost visited most of our pumpkins during the week hours before this hike, and it was just above freezing as we drove from Lagunitas through Samuel P. Taylor State Park on our way out to Point Reyes. But when we reached the Muddy Hollow trailhead, the temperature was a balmy 52 degrees. Ten of us (about half who made the "Final Exam" hike --- now we now that it's not about hiking, it all about food!) showed up for this trek. After our pre-hike confab about the past week's events, we headed north under sunny skies (past the "Gnarly Tree") and up the Muddy Hollow Road for a little over two miles --- a far cry from the outset of our July 22nd hike when the fog dripped on us like a leaky faucet.

We then turned west on to the Glenbrook trail which, from the map, looks like a long haul across a broad mesa-like land formation, but in truth, just wanders toward the sea for less than a mile. Dick thinks he saw only one of the many bright yellow American Goldfinches we spotted here back in the summer, and the Wood Nymphs we'd seen fluttering by in July were long, long gone. Although the hawks, songbirds, and butterflies had fled, we saw two herds of Tule Elk along this stretch of the hike.

Shortly after noon, and after we had started off on the in-aptly named Estero Trail (which in July took us down to Limantour Beach, but now has been re-routed back to the Muddy Hollow trailhead), we took our lunch break at a spot overlooking the Limantour Estero and the ocean. The skies were so clear to the west, that we could make out both the South and North Farallone Islands.

Off-shore winds had turned the late morning into shirt-sleeve hiking weather, but the wind began to shift, and a breeze off the ocean cooled things down a bit preventing us from lapsing into a post-prandial lethargy as we turned eastward towards our starting point.

We crossed the creek feeding into the Estero, but the water level was higher than in July and we did not have the good fortune to spot either of the two Clapper Rails that he had seen here in the summer. (After we headed uphill from the creek, Dick and Neil saw a small bird with black and yellow markings, possibly a Goldfinch, and a larger, brownish speckled bird, maybe an Accipiter, sitting near each other on the top of a pine tree, but too far away to be easily identified. Click here for Wendy's list of critters and plants we saw on this hike).

The slow climb up from the creek brought us into a young, dense forest of tent-pole sized Bishop Pines creating a "tunnel" through which the path took us back to Muddy Hollow. A long, cork-screw descent eventually brought us back to our cars by about 2 pm. This turned out to be one of our longer treks --- 7.o miles exactly per the park map, and comparable in length to the Sky Trail to Bear Valley hike we did in mid-July and are scheduled to repeat on January 20, 2009.

Muddy Hollow (December 9) Hike Preview

A "rain delay" (no rain falling) has washed out our planned December 9th "salmon walk" with SPAWN naturalist, Megan Isadore; hopefully, wet weather will return during the last half of December and we can reschedule that outing for early January. (The complete list of "Winterim" hikes has now been revised and is available by clicking here or going to the blog).
So instead, Wendy will lead a hike from the Muddy Hollow Trailhead in Point Reyes National Seashore. Here's her description of the hike: "This trail has been redone and the pond removed to create more wetlands. We’ll check out the new trail which allows us to do this as a loop instead of a shuttle. Great views and, we hope, some birds! Unlike College of Marin – heavy rain cancels. In case of questionable weather, check your email after 7:30 AM. If you don’t have email I’ll phone you." (Tuition for this day hike: $17).

Directions to trailhead: Take Sir Francis Drake Boulevard west to Olema. Turn right on Route 1, 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. When you see a paved road to the Hostel on the left, turn right on the dirt road to Muddy Hollow parking lot. 55 minutes from College of Marin. (Click here to print out the description and trailhead directions for this hike).

Weather forecast: As of Wednesday, December 3, the National Weather Service forecast for Tuesday the 9th was for sunny skies with a high of 57. (Click here for an updated forecast).

More on this hike: The Martins' book, Hiking Marin, shows the following area between Muddy Hollow and Limantour beach. As Wendy notes, the National Park Service has made changes to the trail (click here for an NPS map of this area of the seashore which may or may not be up to date), so our route may differ from the one shown below:

Muddy Hollow to Limantour Beach Hike and Map

Publish 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).

The complete list of "Winterim" hikes has now been revised

Another Fine Day of Hiking (Lake Lagunitias, December 2nd)

Monday's dreary damp fog completely dissipated long before we reached the trailhead, and we had a glorious sunny day with temperatures in the mid-60's to hike around Lake Lagunitas in the hills above Fairfax. Although waterfowl were not as abundant as can be on the lake, the recent rain seems to have caused an explosion in both the mushroom and newt populations in this area as we saw several species of each during the walk. (Click here to view Wendy's list of flora and fauna spotted on this hike.)

The easy part came first with a stroll around the southern edge of Lake Lagunitas. After crossing the dry East Fork of Lagunitas Creek with a stop for newt spotting, we continued east, climbing steeply out of the lake basin on the Lakeview Road, took a break at the crest of the road to catch our breath and remove a layer of clothing, then headed downhill, turning north at the junction of Eldridge Grade (which ascends to the East Peak of Mount Tam) and the Filter Plant Road (aka Southern Marin Line Road). Along this section of the route we were rewarded with sweeping views to the hills around Fairfax and off to east towards the Bay.

All of this downhill moseying meant, of course, that eventually we'd be forced to climb upwards again to regain the elevation we'd lost, hike past the MMWD filter plant, and return to the parking lot so we could "take" our "Final Exam." There was enough food to feed a small army, so even with a fairly large turnout for this hike, we still didn't manage to scarf up all of the culinary goodies that we'd brought to share at our potluck luncheon.

(Pictures of this hike shot by Theresa Fisher and Dick Jordan are now on-line. You can view them in the mini-slideshow window in the "Meandering In Marin On Tuesdays" blog, or by clicking here to go directly to the Picasa Web album of photos from the latest hike).

Soup du Jour (December 2nd "Final Exam")

The soup Dick Jordan served at today's "Final Exam" was a variation on the New Your Times recipe "Pumpkin or Winter Squash Soup." (Click here to view and print the recipe). Dick made a double batch using a two-to-one combination of Sugar Pie Pumpkin and Butternut Squash, fresh sage (rosemary was used in making the croutons), vegetable stock (chicken stock would probably make a richer soup), and a little less cream than the recipe calls for. To make the flavors a bit more complex, he also added ground curry and cumin to taste. The soup can be served chilled or hot.

The croutons were made from a ciabatta-style bread cut into pieces, tossed with olive oil, chopped fresh rosemary, salt and pepper, spread in a single layer on a sheet pan and toasted at 375 degrees in the oven until slightly browned and crisped (about 15 minutes).