A Walk In The Park - Bear Valley (November 24)

The weather couldn't have been better for our final hike of November:  Bright and sunny, a little cool in the shade, but warm in the sun, from morning until afternoon, out in Bear Valley at Point Reyes National Seashore.

We left our packs in the cars at the outset, and then spent about an hour and a quarter hiking a measly 0.8 miles up and down the woodpecker trail ("F1 - Bear Valley Interpretive Trails" if you have the Martins' book, Hiking Marin).  We dilly dallied around because of the plethora of mushrooms sprouting everywhere along the trail thanks to the recent wet weather.  A giant Douglas Fir was full of holes punched out by Acorn Woodpeckers to stash their supply of nuts. We found a California slender salamander here, too.  After a brief stop at the Morgan Horse Farm to watch a Black Phoebe flit back and forth in search of bugs on the wing, we returned to the parking lot to retrieve our packs and begin the second part of the day's hiking.  (Click here for Wendy's list of all flora and fauna spotted during the day).

By about 11:15 a.m. we were on our way up the Bear Valley Trail headed for Divide Meadow where we planned to stop for lunch.  A slow, but steady stream of water was headed the other direction along the creek that parallels the trail.  A Downy Woopecker crawled around a tree above us.  Ferns thrived in the shady sections.  In a little over an hour we had climbed 250 feet to the meadow and plopped down to relax in the sunshine and quell our appetites. 

Before we retraced our steps downhill to the Bear Valley Visitor Center, Wendy recounted the history of the long-gone 35 room sportsmen's lodge built along the edge of the meadow by San Francisco's Pacific Union Club during the 1890's.  The planned golf course, tennis courts, and swimming pool never made it off the plans on onto the ground, but the lodge building stood until it was removed in 1950.

It was all downhill, literally, but not figuratively, during the 1.6 mile stroll back to the Bear Valley Visitor Center and our cars.  Clouds portending rain later in the week had begun to streak the sky which had been clear blue when we left two and half hours earlier.  Compared to some of our hikes (like Limantour Road to Bear Valley via Divide Meadow), this was really a walk in the park:  Just 4.0 miles total.  Hardly enough to burn off many calories before "reloading" two days later on Thanksgiving.

(Click here to view more of Dick Jordan's photos taken during this hike.  If you've misplaced the link to Theresa Fisher's separate on-line album of hike pictures, click here).