Deja Vu All Over Again (Steep Ravine, Feb. 17)

Last year's hike in Steep Ravine on the Tuesday after President's Day was wet. After three days of pretty solid downpour in Marin, this year's outing looked to be a reprise, weather-wise. One of us (Linda) was smart and went to Maui. Others presumably tuned into the TV weather forecast the night before, heard the weather report on the radio Tuesday morning, or read the prediction of rain and thunderstorms in the morning San Francisco Chronicle or Marin I-J, and decided that discretion (i.e., staying home) was the better part of staying dry. But The Magnificent Seven (Wendy, her former student, Matthew, Angela, Nate, Silvia, Stan, and Dick) threw caution to the wind and drove through dwindling rain showers to the trailhead and were rewarded with a fine winter hike along a fern-lined trail past cascading waterfalls.

Although the weekend's rain ended before our hike began, copious flows of water out of Muir Woods and down Redwood Creek flooded the entrance to the Muir Beach parking lot, preventing anyone without a high-clearance vehicle from making a pre-hike "pit stop" at that location. (Fortunately, "rest facilities" were available just down the road at the Muir Beach Overlook). The stretch of Highway One from Muir Beach to Stinson Beach has often slumped down toward the ocean during winter rains. But the last road repair job seems to be holding, the pavement is pot-hole free, and although the road winds back and forth across the hillsides, this morning it afforded grand views to the west across the stormy sea and back to the east towards Muir Woods.

After we pulled into the parking area next to the trailhead, Stan noticed a "Trail Closed" sign suggesting that our intended pathway up the mountain was blocked. But a State Park Ranger who happened to be just across the highway (at the entrance to the access road leading down to the cabins at Steep Ravine) told us not to worry, we'd be able to follow our planned route without a problem. Since the wind was gusting strongly, we didn't tarry at the trailhead, and promptly set off at 9:45 am. While the recent wet weather would lead one to believe that mushrooms would now flourish like mad, Wendy told us that their season was actually nearly at and end and we saw relatively few fungi during the hike. Wildflowers were not abundant yet, but ferns were everywhere along Webb Creek.

A little over half an hour into the trek we reached the junction between the Dipsea and Steep Ravine trails: Turning right across the creek would have led us up long, long fights of steps that make up the lower part of the Dipsea, while going straight ahead for another 0.8 mile would allow us the luxury of climbing up (instead of down) a ladder on the Steep Ravine trail. We chose to continue upward, crossing bridges over Webb Creek numerous times and passing by many, waterfalls, until we arrived at the bottom of the ladder a little after 11 am.

Eventually we passed out of the redwood forest into a mix of bay and firs, and began traversing the mountain on switchbacks instead of steadily pressing upwards along Webb Creek which we now left behind. Just about noon we came out of the trees at the Pantoll parking lot. Last year, rain forced us to seek shelter under the eaves of the ranger station and eat our lunch sitting on concrete. This time we were able to dine at a relatively dry picnic table out in the open, even though the base of the clouds was hanging just overhead. We had the place to ourselves (nor did we see anyone on the trail during the hike), enjoyed our repast, and then turned south on the access road leading past the park department buildings until we reached the Dipsea Trail.

For about thirty minutes, we hiked across the hill and dale in light rain, looking south to Muir Beach and along the coast towards San Francisco, before we re-entered the forest and were protected from wind and precipitation once again. We slowly, slowly stepped our way down the Dipsea "stairway" for almost another half hour until we crossed Webb Creek at the junction of the Dipsea and Steep Ravine trails where we had began our uphill climb in earnest three hours earlier. Rain fell intermittently during the last five to ten minutes of the hike, but had ended by the time we returned to our cars, stripped off our rain gear, and began the drive home.

(Some of us headed south on Highway One past Muir Beach after the hike. Dick opted to drive north past Stinson Beach, up the Olema Valley, and back through Samuel P. Taylor State Park to San Anselmo, stopping to do some bird-watching and shoot photos along the way. Here's his description of this post-hike sojourn).

Dark clouds hung over the ocean as I approached Stinson Beach, but the rain had stopped and I was able to park along the highway and run across the road to the sea-side and look down on the beach and across the bay to Bolinas. If I was smart, I would have gone to the Parkside Cafe for a Warm Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream and coffee. But not being too bright, I drove through town and stopped at the southern end of Bolinas Lagoon to look for birds.

The tide was ebbing and much of the shallow lagoon's muddy bottom was exposed. American Wigeon's made their "rubber ducky" squeaky sounds, and Pintails sailed around where the water was deep enough for waterfowl to swim. The non-native lilies that we've seen along the Sky Trail in Point Reyes National Seashore were growing in bunches between Highway One and the lagoon. I missed seeing the Kingfisher that could reliably be found perched on a telephone wire in this area (maybe they've moved the line underground here), but spotted Mountain Bluebirds inside the fence surrounding the Stinson Beach Campus of the Bolinas-Stinson School.

As I continued north along Highway One I could see flocks for shorebirds flying or poking their snouts down into the mud in search of a mid-afternoon "snack" prompting me to mull over the possibility that I could make up for missing out on the fruit crisp in Stinson Beach if the Bolinas Bay Bakery was still open and serving up pastries or brownies. But I passed on that opportunity to do more birdwatching near the northern end of the lagoon. I stopped near a grove of "wiry" trees south of Audubon Canyon Ranch (where we'll be hiking next week) and found a mass of little orange flowers growing in the pull-out next to the road.

Back on the highway, I sped up the Olema Valley at a good clip, passed briefly at the junction of Sir Francis Drake and Highway One to consider where I might indeed get a tasty treat now that it was nearly three o'clock, and then drove on east. Near where a sign marks the "entrance" to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and a few miles west of Samuel P. Taylor State Park, I pulled over to the shoulder to photograph Black Angus cattle grazing in a Kelly Green pasture sloping upward to the still cloud-filled sky. Just as I hopped back in the car, a large Red-Shouldered Hawk swooped down from above me, flew over the cattle on the opposite side of the road, and landed in the pasture.

As I drove through Samuel P. Taylor State Park, Papermill Creek, rilled with mud from the recent storms, swept westward toward Tocoloma on its journey to Tomales Bay. By now rain had begun to fall in earnest for the first time that day. I drove into the parking lot next to the Shafter Bridge to see if the weekend's storms had inticed any salmon to swim upstream to spawn, but the water was too turbid to tell. So I ran across and up the road to the Inkwells where the creek went roaring over and around the rocks, and then returned to my car.

Rain continued to fall as I drove through Lagunitas, Forest Knolls, past the San Geronimo Golf Course, and up the western flank of White's Hill. Then, as I descended into Fairfax, the rain suddenly came to a halt as if it had it a wall built between West and East Marin. After a cursory thought about heading to the Marin Coffee Roasters in Fairfax for sustenance, I opted instead do a "drive by" at the Java Hut and take my goodies and latte home with me for an end of hike and drive snack.

(Pictures of this hike, and Dick's drive home along Bolinas Lagoon and east from Olema, 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).