Should The Meandering Blog Be Readable By The Public?

For the last nine months, Dick Jordan has been hammering out "posts" and adding photos to the "Meandering in Marin on Tuesdays" blog. The blog is private --- only some Tuesday hikers, past and present (and one from the Monday group, and a friend of Dick's who reads his travel blogs) have access to the blog. (Other Tuesday hikers get updates to the blog e-mailed to them, but they don't actually have access to the blog). So, you can't find the blog by using an Internet Search Engine, such as Google, and what we do on our hikes is unknown to the world.

Keeping the blog private seemed like a good idea initially. However, it does limit access by some Tuesday hikers, and makes access even by those who are listed on the blog as permitted "Readers" more difficult than it should be. (If you got an "invite" to read the blog, but didn't respond, or don't have a Google Account, you can't access the blog). The easiest way to resolve these access problems for our Tuesday hiking group is to make the blog public.

As far as Dick can tell, making the blog public (instead of private) will not allow anyone using the Internet to find your name (except for Wendy and Dick, who have a short "bio" on the blog) unless you are mentioned in the blog --- usually by first name only). Likewise, no one should be able to find your e-mail address (we all get enough "Spam" e-mailed to us) by reading the blog.

On the other hand, making the blog public will make it easy for you to find and read the blog directly (you'll still get e-mail updates). You'll be able to bookmark the blog's "URL" (Website address). You'll also be able to share the blog with others. You, and the public, will also be able to "subscribe" to the blog and be "fed" information using RSS or other methods for receiving updates to the blog.

If the blog is made public, Dick will probably restrict (or prohibit) comments so we don't have to read "trash talk" from folks not part of the hiking group.

During the next two weeks, let Dick know (in person, via e-mail to rhjordan@earthlink.net, or by answering "Yes" or "No" to the poll you'll find at the top right-hand corner of the blog) whether you want the blog to remain private or "go public".

Hike Lists, Descriptions, and Maps

Each week's hike is previewed on the blog (and in an e-mail you'll receive) with a description of the hike, directions to the trailhead, and weather forecast for the area. Click here to view and print a list of all Tuesday hikes during the College of Marin Winter session. (For Monday hikes, click here). Links to these lists can also be found on the right hand side of the Meandering in Marin on Tuesdays blogs. If you want the hike description and directions to the trailhead for a specific hike, click on the link for that hike on the right-hand side of the blog. Here are other sources of information on trails, parks, and open space lands within the county:

Book Passage in Corte Madera sells two guidebooks to hiking in Marin County: Martins' book , Hiking Marin, and Tracy Salcedo-Chourre's book, Exploring Point Reyes National Seashore and Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The Martins' Web site provides additional information on their guidebook; if you own the latest (3rd edition) of the book, you can also download hike descriptions and maps from this Web site (instead of xeroxing it, or carrying the guidebook along on the hike). The Marin Municipal Water District Web site covers recreational opportunities on its watershed lands, along with trail maps.

The Marin County Open Space District's Web site has maps and other information on its preserves. You might be able to buy a used copy of Barry Spitz's 2000 book, Open Spaces: Lands of the Marin County Open Space District on Amazon.com.

You can find maps and other information on the Point Reyes National Seashore on the park's Web site. The Golden Gate National Recreation area's Web site offers similar information, as does the California State Park's Web site for its parks in Marin County.

Indian Tree (February 3) Hike Preview

After spending the last two weeks hiking out at Point Reyes National Seashore, we head north and east to the Novato area to hike in the Indian Tree Open Space Preserve. Here's Wendy's description of the hike:

"This hike is great for early wildflowers and mushrooms! We could see the first Indian warriors, houndstongue, shooting stars and California saxifrage. If it has rained in the last week [alas, not likely to be the case], you may want boots for this hike! There are some stream crossings."

Directions: Take Highway 101 north. Exit at San Marin Drive and go west. San Marin becomes Sutro Avenue after if crosses Novato Boulevard. Turn right (west) onto Vineyard Road. The trail starts where the paved road turns into a dirt road. Time: 35 minutes from College of Marin. No restrooms at trailhead. (Carpoolers meet about 9:15-9:20 am at the Park & Ride lot on the east side of Highway 101 at Smith Ranch Road in the Terra Linda area north of the Marin Civic Center and downtown San Rafael).

Weather forecast: As of Wednesday, January 28th, the National Weather Service forecast for Tuesday, February 3rd, is patchy fog before 10 am, otherwise mostly sunny with a high near 62. (Click here for an updated forecast).

More on this hike: The Marin County Open Space District operates the preserve on a portion of this area (the North Marin Water District owns adjacent land) and its Web site provides a viewable/printable trail map and a list of the species of various critters we might encounter. Barry Spitz's book, Open Spaces (Marin County Open Space District, 2000) describes the area and contains a map similar to that found on the MCOSD Web site). The following hike ("E9 Deer Camp - Big Trees Trails) from the Martin's book, Hiking Marin, is probably much longer (7.2 miles) than the one we'll actually take, but shows the general area where we'll be:

Indian Tree Area Hike and Map

Publish at Scribd or explore others:

(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).

Back To The Future (Sky Trail to Mt. Wittenberg, January 27th)

Last week eight of us left some of our cars at the trailhead for Sky Trail and trekked nearly 7 miles across and down Inverness Ridge to Bear Valley. This week nineteen of us rendezvoused at the same trailhead for a shorter loop hike up to Mount Wittenberg.

Despite it being officially "Winter", we had bright, sunny days for both hikes. This time it was a bit cooler (in the mid-50's at Bear Valley toward the end of the hike) than last week when the temperature almost reached 70 degrees by the time we sat down for our "Final Exam" lunch at Bear Valley. Like last week, the shady trailhead was frigid at the start of the hike, so everyone donned jackets, wool hats, and gloves, and our "roundtable" discussion was kept brief so we could hit the uphill trail, get our muscles moving, and warm up.

Just as on the last hike, we stopped to view a lone, blooming Douglas Iris along the first section of the hike leading from the trailhead to the junction with the Horse Trail. On this week's outing we could again see through the trees north and west towards Chimney Rock, and east over Tomales Bay and the hills bordering it, all the way to Mount St. Helena at the head of the Napa Valley. After an hour we reached Sky Camp and gazed across the sea to the Farallones. We took a rest break while Wendy recounted the history of the ranchers who once held this part of the Point Reyes National Seashore in private ownership.

Less than twenty minutes later we reached the junction of the Sky, Meadow, and Mt. Wittenberg trails. Last week, we continued southward along the Sky Trail; this time, we doubled back to the north on our way to Mt. Wittenberg. Along the way we could see Drake's Bay and Chimney Rock in the distance. In less than another half hour. we reached a sunny meadow surrounded by a ring of Douglas Firs, and plopped down for a pleasant lunch (or a nap).

After our repast, we continued upwards through a "tunnel" in the forest. Instead of retracing our steps down the mountain, we opted to follow a sometimes faint trail (not shown in the Martin's book, Hiking Marin, nor on the Park's South District trail map down from the summit until we reached the Horse Trail. (Tracy Salcedo's hiking guidebook to Point Reyes aptly labels this route as "Unmaintained Trail", but doesn't discuss taking it). Along the way we could see through the trees toward Point Reyes Station and Black Mountain to the east, and north along Inverness Ridge to homes built across the Limantour Road along the Park boundary.

By 1 pm, we were back on the Sky Trail, retracing our steps back to our waiting cars. A half hour later, and about five miles after we started out, we had looped back to the beginning and the end of the first hike of the College of Marin Winter session. (Click here for Wendy's list of flora and fauna seen on this hike).

(Pictures of this hike taken 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).

Sky Trail Hike (January 27th) Preview

Last time (January 20th), we hiked one-way along Inverness Ridge, south on the Sky Trail to the Old Pine Trail, then down to Divide Meadow, and back to Bear Valley. This time we'll return to Point Reyes National Seashore to do a shorter hike beginning at the same spot, but looping back to our starting point after hiking past Sky Camp and then heading uphill to Mt. Wittenberg. Here's Wendy's description of the outing:

"This loop has spectacular views of the estero and the ocean! (Yes, we do have to hike uphill to earn this reward.) Lunch at a scenic spot on Mt. Wittenberg. Last year Amanita muscaria, Zeller's boletes, Pleated Marasmius, and lots of other mushrooms, as well as the start of some spring wildflowers! Level and downhill after lunch."

Directions: 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 (stop here if you need a restroom, but we won't be meeting here to carpool to the trailhead as we did on the January 20th hike) and go left on Limantour Road. The trailhead is 3.3 miles from this turn. The parking lot is on your left. 50 minutes from College of Marin. No restrooms at trailhead. We'll pass some at Sky Camp about 10:30 am.

Weather forecast: Alas, we're unlikely to have the same glorious, warm and sunny weather that he had for the last hike out here. Aptly enough, the National Weather Service forecast (Inverness) for our first College of Marin Winter term hike is a slight chance of showers with partly cloudy skies and a high near 54. (Click here for an updated forecast from the NWS; for the current weather conditions at the Bear Valley Visitor Center, click here).

Here's the hike and map for this area from the Martin's book, Hiking Marin. Presumably we'll do this hike in reverse, going from Junction 1 to 4, then to 3, to 2, and back to 1 before returning to the trailhead.

Sky Trail to Wittenberg Hike and Map

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Brochures & Catalogs Travel cycling hiking

(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).

January 20th Hike Photos Now On-Line!

Pictures of our January 20th "Final Exam" hike from Sky Trail to Bear Valley. 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).

The End, and a New Beginning (Sky Trail to Bear Valley, January 20th)

As eight of us drove towards Point Reyes National Seashore this morning to embark on our "End of Winterim" hike from Sky Trail to Bear Valley, another ending took place: After eight years, George W. Bush followed his father into history and became a former President of the United States. Another beginning took place, as well: the first term of the first African-American U.S. President started when Chief Justice John Roberts administered the oath of office to Barack H. Obama, former Senator from Illinois, as we turned off Bear Valley Road and into the Seashore. We listened to part of Obama's inaugural speech as we sorted out our gear from the food for our potluck lunch later in the day, decided which cars to leave behind and which to drive to the trailhead, and made our way up Limantour Road to Sky Trail. A little before 10 am we left Presidential politics behind, shouldered our day packs, and set off to the south. Under sunny skies, but with a cool breeze blowing strongly, we opted to leave on jackets and fleece for the first hour or so of the trek.

With Wendy back East caring for her ailing mother, Sharon Barnett of Marin Nature Adventures took over as our "substitute teacher". While Wendy's forte is mushrooms and plants, Sharon's is birds and "scat" (not the kind belted out by Ella Fitzgerald, but the variety left along the trail by assorted wild critters). Our at our first "poop stop" of the day, we decided the specimen had the hallmarks of the Gray Fox. While musing over this trail-side "deposit", we listened to Robins and Wrentits twittering away. Along this stretch, where there are still scarred snags from the 1995 Vision Fire, we spotted our first blooming Douglas Iris of the year.

When we hiked the first part of the trail at the end of January last year it was a damp, blustery day and during our trek along the same route all the way to Bear Valley last July fog hung over the coast and the sun did not make an appearance until about 1 pm. Today, we had views (albeit through the forest most of the time) all of the way towards Chimney Rock and out to the Farallon Islands, and back east to Tomales Bay and Black Mountain. We followed the same path as our July route, skipping the side trip up to Mount Wittenberg that is part of the hike outlined in Hiking Marin, and continuing straight to Sky Camp where we took a break and snacked on Cranberry-Nut Bread before resuming our southward journey.

In a little over an hour we reached the junction with the Meadow Trail where last summer a woman backpacker from Europe had asked us if there were any bears still hanging about in Bear Valley. We debated whether to take the shorter path down the Meadow Trail back to the Bear Valley parking lot, or continue on as planned to the Old Pine Trail. Given the glorious weather, we opted to follow "Plan A" and we strolled along Inverness Ridge for another mile-plus before veering left about 11:30 am and beginning our slow descent toward Divide Meadow.

An hour later we reached the end of the Old Pine Trail and stopped to fortify ourselves with brownies which Dick's friend and SPAWN naturalist, Megan, had brought along. Megan recalled seeing a Bobcat in Divide Meadow on a previous hike and as if conjured up by magic, either Bob (or Bob-Bob-Bob-Barbara Ann) the Bobcat got up from a haunched position under the trees on the east side of the meadow and began to prowl around. (Efforts to summon up an Elephant, Mountain Lion, or T-Rex via similar incantations failed).

At 1:45 pm, the table was set for lunch, and we raised our glasses of sparkling wine in a toast to the first day of The Obama Presidency, to a great hike in great weather, and to a delicious meal waiting to be devoured. When we had feasted until sated, and three bottles of wine had been consumed, we packed up our plates, utensils, and left-overs, and said our good-byes until our new beginning: The first hike of the College of Marin Winter Session next Tuesday.

Soup du Jour (January 20th "Final Exam")

The soup Dick Jordan served at today's "Final Exam" was from the New Your Times recipe "Zucchini-Pear Soup." (Click here to view and print the recipe). Dick made a double batch using Bosc pears and vegetable stock (chicken stock would probably make a richer soup). 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 350 degrees in the oven until slightly browned and crisped (about 12-15 minutes).

IMPORTANT UPDATE ON JAN. 20TH "FINAL EXAM" HIKE

Good news, bad news, for our January 20th "Final Exam" of "Winterim" hike from Sky Trail to Bear Valley at Point Reyes National Seashore (instead of Sky Oaks to Deer Park on January 27th as originally planned).

The bad news: Wendy's mother will be undergoing heart surgery so Wendy is flying back to New York and will not be with us.

The good news: Wendy has arranged for Sharon Barnett of Marin Nature Adventures to lead the hike. (Sharon also leads the College of Marin's "Beginning Hiking" treks, and serves as a volunteer Naturalist for SPAWN).

Note the early start time to allow for the car shuttle: Meet at 9:20 a.m. (instead of our usual 9:45 meeting time) at the dirt parking lot next to the picnic area at Bear Valley. (Carpoolers meeting at St. Rita's should be there by around 8:30 am since it takes about 35 minutes plus to drive from Fairfax to Bear Valley). Remember to bring your plate, utensils, cup, and of course your contribution to our gourmet feast!

We'll leave all of the food and beverages for lunch and some of the cars behind at Bear Valley, then carpool to the trailhead for Sky Trail where the Limantour Road crests on Inverness Ridge. We’ll need some people who are not in a rush to drive people back to Sky Trail after lunch. (Restrooms at Bear Valley, none at Sky Trail trailhead, but some as we pass Sky Camp and again at Divide Meadow).

Dick Jordan is in charge of organizing the carpooling from Bear Valley. Please e-mail (rhjordan@earthlink.net) or phone (415 485-0537) him to indicate whether you or not you are coming, if you are driving a car out to Bear Valley, and how many folks you expect to bring with you in your car.

Here's Wendy's description of the hike: This is a lovely trail any time of year (click here for a recap of our July 15, 2008 hike), and especially in the "green" season! If it’s rained there should be mushrooms! We’ll go down Old Pine Trail (which doesn’t have any old pines!) to Divide Meadow and back on the Bear Valley Trail. Note that this hike is 7.3 miles long. Here's the description and map for this hike from the Martin's book, Hiking Marin:

Sky Trail to Bear Valley Hike and Map

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Other hiking trail

(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).

Weather forecast: As of Friday, January 16th, the National Weather Service forecast for Olema is mostly sunny with a high near 63. (It may be slightly cooler when we start out near the coast; click here for an updated forecast).

Meandering Photo Collage

Here's a collage of photos from our Tuesday Meandering Hikes
(You Can View It On This On-Line Album, Too!)

Sky Trail to Bear Valley "Final Exam" Shuttle Hike (January 20) Preview

Note the early start time to allow for the car shuttle per Wendy's description of this outing and that this is now the "Final Exam" hike for Winterim (instead of Sky Oaks to Deer Park on January 27th as originally planned):

"We’ll meet at Bear Valley at 9:20 am and carpool to Sky Trail. This is a lovely trail any time of year (click here for a recap of our July 15, 2008 hike), and especially in the “green” season! If it’s rained there should be mushrooms! We’ll go down Old Pine (which doesn’t have any old pines!) to Divide Meadow and back on the Bear Valley Trail. We’ll need some people who are not in a rush to drive people back to Sky Trail.

Remember to bring your plate, utensils, cup and of course your contribution to our gourmet feast!"

Restrooms at Bear Valley, none at Sky Trail trailhead but some as we pass Coast Camp and again at Divide Meadow.

Weather forecast: As of Wednesday, January 14th, the National Weather Service forecast for Olema is mostly sunny with a high near 57 . (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.

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).

A Hike For All Seasons (Bolinas Ridge 1/13/09)

When we last hiked along the Bolinas Ridge and down the Randall Trail, there was no doubt it was summer. The calendar said August 12th, and the thermometer registered in the 90's. Although this time around (in January) we might expect rainy, stormy weather, instead we got a dose of all four seasons.

Finding the meeting place (at the hike's end) for this trek is always challenging since it isn't well marked. Four of us rode over the hill from Fairfax together in a single car and when the scheduled meet time had come and gone, hopes of doing this shuttle hike began to wane and thoughts of a "Plan B" hike started to rattle around in our brains. But patience paid off, and one by one, seven more of our group arrived, delayed by a forced detour around road construction south near Bolinas, and a little confusion about where we were to rendezvous.

After sorting out the transportation logistics, eleven of us piled into three cars and set off on the twenty-minute drive south to Bolinas and then uphill to the crest of the Bolinas Ridge. While it had been comfortably warm down in the Olema Valley at 9:30 a.m., cold wind gusts at the trailhead prompted us to don more layers of clothing and to curtail our usual pre-hike "roundtable" discussion of the last week's activities so we could high-tail it down the trail, get our muscles working, and warm up.

In August, the many redwoods lining the Bolinas Ridge Fire Road shielded us from the blazingly hot sun; this time, the big trees blocked the strong easterly breeze that made for real "Winter" weather at the start of the hike. In the summer, we walked quickly on the exposed sections of the trail that winds through manzanita and other chaparral plants; this time we lingered on these stretches, soaking up the warmth of the sun. These treeless spots and clear skies gave us sweeping views to Bolinas and The Farralone Islands to the west, and San Francisco Bay and Mount Diablo to the east.

About an hour or so into the walk, Spring had sprung. Red Admiral Butterflies flitted and honeybees buzzed along the route and the temperature had climbed into the low 60's. By about twelve-thirty we'd hiked 3.4 miles, reaching the shady spot under the redwood trees where we'd enjoyed a leisurely lunch during our August hike, and the junction of the Bolinas Ridge road with the McCurdy Trail leading down to Dogtown. This time we decided to postpone our mid-day repast for a bit and continue on for another mile or so to where we'd eventually turn west and descend to the Olema Valley on the Randall Trail.

By the time we sat down to lunch a little after 1 pm, the wind had died out and we were having a "summer" picnic in the woods. A half hour later, we reluctantly packed up our gear and began the steep-at-times mile and a half stroll downhill to where we'd left some of our cars a few hours earlier.

In August, cows were "hiking" uphill past us as we neared the valley floor, but we didn't encounter any "bovine buddies" this time. About 2:15 pm we reached Highway 1 and the end of the hike. Some of us drove back to the trailhead to retrieve the cars we'd left there at the beginning of the trek, but four of us found a shady spot along the road and spent the next 45 minutes chatting, napping, and relaxing until our drivers returned from the trailhead to give us a lift home. By that time, temperatures were in the 70's, but the sun was sitting lower in the sky than in summer, casting longer shadows, and giving a "Fall" feeling to the scene.

All four seasons in a little over four hours. Not bad for a "Winter" outing.

Bolinas Ridge to Randall Trail Shutte Hike (January 13 Preview)

Note the early start time for this shuttle hike. Here's Wendy's description:

"We loved how green this was in the summer and there will be new things to see doing this as a winter hike. We’ll look for mushrooms and early wildflowers. Waterproof your hiking boots for the soggy sections! Slightly longer than usual at 5.3 miles, but lots of downhill. (Click here for a recap of our August 12th hike).

Directions to meeting place: We’ll meet on Route One at the bottom of Randall Trail which is about 3 miles north of Dogtown and about 3 miles south of Five Brooks at 9:20 am. Then we’ll carpool up the Bolinas-Fairfax Road to Ridgecrest Boulevard, hike along Bolinas Ridge Fire Road. and come down Randall Trail.

We’ll need some people who can go back to Fairfax via the Fairfax-Bolinas Road to drop people at their cars.

Weather forecast: The National Weather Service forecast for Tuesday at Olema is sunny, with a high near 64. (Click here for an updated forecast).

None of Dick Jordan's hiking books describe this hike, but you can find the Fairfax-Bolinas Road, Bolinas Ridge Fireroad, and the Randall Trail in the bottom right-hand section of the park map shown below in this post on the "Meandering" blog. (Use the plus-sign button under the drop-down arrow button to enlarge the map for easier reading):

Point Reyes Park Map - Upload a Document to Scribd

Read this document on Scribd: Point Reyes Park Map

(Click here to view and print a copy of the 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).

Starting Off The New Year On (The Right) Foot - Pine Mt. to Elliot Preserve Hike (January 6)

Weather-wise, we started off 2009 about the same as we ended 2008 --- on a cool, damp day, with temperatures well below 50 degrees at the outset with clouds and fog hanging over our heads during most of the hike. Six of us rendezvoused near the end of Cascade Canyon in Fairfax, left three cars behind, and drove up the Bolinas-Fairfax Road past the Meadowclub to where the road crests before diving down to Alpine Lake. There we met up with two more hardy souls and set off to the west up the Pine Mountain Road just before 10 am.

One advantage to the dense fog and limited visibility --- not being able to see very far ahead on the trail meant weren't faced (except by past experience) with the discouraging view of the fire road climbing rather steeply for a mile until it hits the junction with the Oat Hill Road coursing to the south. Unfortunately, this also meant that the sweeping panorama from White's Hill to Bolinas Ridge to Mt. Tam and back towards San Francisco Bay was non-existent.

After this first uphill slog, we took a little side trip and turned left on to Oat Hill and wandered about a mile down a muddy trail for a look at Little Carson Falls --- a nifty waterfall in a rocky cleft in the hillside. We retraced our steps back to Pine Mountain Road, then headed west again for another four-tenths of a mile before veering off to the northwest on the San Geronimo Ridge Road. About twenty minutes later we reached the junction with the Repack Road (called the Cascade Fire Road on the map in the Martins' book, Hiking Marin) and picked out some handy rocks to serve as "chairs" during our lunch break.

Up to this point, we'd been hiking mostly on fire roads that were more akin to creek beds --- lots of rocks to step around and over. But the Repack Road was smoothly graded and not too muddy, descending steeply here and there, but also running in long, flat stretches from hill to hill. A couple of hours after we began our descent into Cascade Canyon, we crossed the confluence of Cascade Creek and San Anselmo Creek. We then alternated between the wide path that crossed the dry bed of San Anselmo Creek in places, and the appropriately named "High Water Trail" that skirts the edge of the stream valley (allowing you to keep your feet dry when the creek is full of water). About a half hour earlier than expected we made it back to the end of Cascade Drive where we'd left our cars in the morning and stomped our boots on the pavement to knock off the accumulated mud, bringing a successful end to the first hike of 2009. (Click here to view and print Wendy's list of flora and fauna spotted on this hike).

(Pictures of this hike 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).

Winter College of Marin "Meandering" Sign-Up

Although Wendy will continue her "Winterim" hikes every Tuesday through January 20th, "Meandering in Marin" hikes run through the College of Marin program will begin again on Tuesday, January 27th (Sky Trail to "Z" Ranch hike in Point Reyes National Seashore) and continue every Tuesday through March 10th. (Monday hikes run January 26th through March 16th with no class on Presidents' Day, February 16th).

Click here to enroll on-line. To hike on Tuesday, sign up for course #15061 EC. (Monday's class is course #15060 EC). Cost for the series is $115.00. (Click here for the complete list of Tuesday hikes; if you want the list of Monday hikes, click here instead).