CORRECTION: Stinson Beach Hike is August 2nd, not 9th

Pegge Spike and the Monday Meanderers will be hiking at Stinson Beach on MONDAY, AUGUST 2ND, NOT THE 9TH. Meet at the Stinson Beach parking lot at 9:45 am.; lunch afterward at a restaurant (maybe the Surfer's Grill).  (Stan Walker's outing at the Presidio of San Francisco IS on Monday, August 9th).

Publish Post

AUGUST 3 – NO HIKE THIS WEEK!

 
Just a reminder that there is no hike this week, Tuesday, August 3rd (nor next week, August 10th). 

There are no Monday hikes with Wendy during those weeks, either.  But you can join Pegge Spike and the Monday Meanderers for a walk at Stinson Beach on Monday, August 2nd (meet at the Stinson Beach parking lot at 9:45 am.; lunch afterward at a restaurant like the Surfer's Grill), or go  for a stroll through the Presidio Stan Walker (lunch at a restaurant follows) on Monday, August 9th.  (Look for details about Stan's Walk in an e-mail next week).

The next hike that Wendy will lead will be the “Final Exam” Shuttle Hike to Shell Beach in Tomales Bay State Park on Tuesday, August 17th.

"Tiny Tim" Gets Ready To Hit The Raccoon Trail!

Dick Jordan's friend, Megan Isadore, runs Rancho Raccoon, a wildlife rescue facility for orphaned "masked" critters.  One of her "babies" this year was named "Tiny Tim" (like the disabled boy in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol).  Tiny Tim had an injured spine that paralyzed his hind legs until he underwent surgery.  Now he's just about ready to be released into the wild, and he "starred" in an ABC-TV Channel 7 news report on Monday, July 27th which you can watch on the "TV screen" in this blog post.  (Click here if the screen doesn't show up in the e-mail you received).

Hiking Under the Clouds (Palomarin 7/20/10)

Not seeing the sun during a hike is generally a bad thing, but on the Coast trail north out of Palomarin its a blessing.  For much of the hour and a half or so it took us to walk the nearly three miles to Bass Lake we were exposed to the sky; on a warm, cloudless day, our brains would have been baked either one-way or round-trip.  Luckily for us, the sun never made an appearance, the fog stayed well above us, the wind didn’t below, and hiking was comfortable even though the temperature probably never got above 60.

Most of the Tuesday Meanderers, plus Jeff and Susan from the Monday group, joined Wendy for this outing.  And we weren’t the only ones on the trail; several other groups passed us coming and going.

Along the way we stopped for a lesson about the history of this part of Point Reyes National Seashore.  Most of the peninsula was owned by San Franciscan Andrew Randall in 1852.  After he was shot dead, his creditors battled over the property, and two of the lawyers involved in the litigation, James and Oscar Shafter and their law firm ended up owning 55,000 acres in the area.Their Lake and South End Ranches were in the area from Palomarin north.
 
The Church of The Golden Rule bought the South End Ranch in 1950’s and operated a community school and nursery business on the property.  Both ranches ultimately were purchased by the federal government for inclusion in  the Seashore.  None of the ranch buildings remain standing, and only the church’s school building (now used by Point Reyes Bird Observatory) still exists from the pre-park era. (For more information on these ranches, read Dewey Livingston's Ranching On The Point Reyes Peninsula, available on the Point Reyes National Park Website:  www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/pore/ranching.pdf).

We saw a number of flowering plants during the hike including coastal morning glory, monkey flowers, and clarkia.  A few mushrooms were holding on in the shadiest sections of the trail.
Song sparrows and jays had their thunder stolen decisively by a peregrine falcon that we saw perched on and then flying about the steep cliffs leading down to the ocean on our way back to the parking lot.

Sky Trail to Bear Valley (7/27) Hike Preview

We return to Point Reyes National Seashore this week for another summer outing.  (We hiked this trail on January 20, 2009 when President Obama was sworn into office, and again on May 19, 2009; we also did the hike in July of 2008).

The trail is about 7.3 miles long (this is a shuttle hike, so CALL WENDY AT 457-3949 or send her an e-mail her at bdreskin@comcast.net if you are coming! Note the earlier than usual meeting time at the trailhead).


Directions to trailhead: We’ll meet at Bear Valley at 9:20 a.m. and carpool to Sky Trail.  When we get to Mt. Wittenberg we’ll go down Old Pine to the Bear Valley Trail. We’ll need some people who are not in a rush to drive people back to Sky Trail.

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

Carpool leaves St. Rita Church in Fairfax at 8:45 a.m. 

Weather forecast: As of late Wednesday evening, July 21st, the National Weather Service forecast for the hike was patchy fog before 11am, otherwise partly sunny with a high near 66.  (Click here for an updated forecast). 

More on this hike:  "G3 Sky Trailhead to Bear Valley" in the Martins' book, Hiking Marin, is a version of this hike although we usually go straight at Junction #1 shown on their map and continue on to Sky Camp rather than take the detour up to Mt. Wittenberg (which we do on a separate loop hike from the Sky Trail trailhead) and then back down to the Sky Trail before continuing on to the Old Pine Trail, Divide Meadow and on to Bear Valley.  (Click here for the Seashore's South District Hiking Map which shows these trails).
The following Google Earth image gives a bird's eye view of where we'll be hiking:

Palomarin Hike (7/20) Photos Now On-Line!

Photos from Tuesday’s hike from the Palomarin trailhead to Bass Lake are now on-line.
 
You can view them in the slideshow window on the blog or by clicking here to access to Picasa on-line album.

More Estero Hike (7/13/10) Photos Now On-Line!

Jeff Brooks who usually hikes with the Monday group came along on last week’s Tuesday Estero Trail hike and shot these photos.

No Slip-Sliding Away: Estero Trail (7/13)

(Dick Jordan wasn’t along for this hike; photos along with these brief notes are from Theresa Fisher).

• The ground didn't move beneath our feet like last time!
  
• It was pretty misty at the beginning and we all donned our jackets.
  
• We ran across another death in the middle of the trail: a mole.
  
• We saw about 10 or so Pygmy Nuthatches and they were "life birds" for a couple of us (Karin and Theresa, and perhaps others among the group).
  
• Just before reaching our lunch spot a young teenage boy jogged by.  A minute later another boy rode by on a bicycle.  It was Lillian's grandson!  He was spending the weekend with a friend, but she had no idea he would be there.

(Click here to see the rest of Theresa’s photos).

Halfway Through Summer (Tomales Bay “Final Exam”)

When we did the first of two hikes in Tomales Bay State Park last summer we followed part of the route that we took on June 29th this year:  Down the Jepson Trail, then across the Johnstone, down to the bay, then back north for our “final exam” luncheon just south of Heart’s Desire Beach.  Last year our first waterside stop was Pebble Beach; this year it was it Indian Beach much farther north.  And last year we were bundled up under cloudy skies all day; this year it was breezy at the trailhead, but bright, sunny and warm for the rest of the hike.

Palomarin Hike (7/20) Preview

We resume our summer hikes this coming week with another trip to Point Reyes National Seashore, this time beginning at the far southern end of the park at the Palomarin trailhead near Bolinas. Here's Wendy's description of this outing: "This hike is not a loop (and isn't a shuttle hike, either), but has incredible ocean views making it well worth the drive! On years without fog we've had up to 14 species of butterflies! Lunch at Bass Lake." (Click here for a recap of last June’s hike ).

Directions to the trailhead: Take Sir Francis Drake Boulevard west to Olema. Turn left (south) on Route 1. Pass Five Brooks and Dogtown, and take the unmarked right turn (on to Horseshoe Hill Road which merges with the Olema-Bolinas Road) towards the town of Bolinas. (If you find yourself going along the shore of Bolinas Lagoon, you've driven too far south and missed the turn.) Turn right on Mesa Road (which eventually becomes a dirt road) and follow it to the Palomarin trailhead parking lot.

Carpool leaves St. Rita at 8:30 am.

If you're coming from southern Marin you may prefer to take Route 1 north, turning left just past the end of the lagoon onto the unmarked road into the town of Bolinas, then right on to Mesa Road to get to the trailhead.

Toilets at the trailhead (or if you can't wait, use the porta-potties at Five Brooks, a right turn off Highway 1 for those coming south from Olema, or for those heading north from southern Marin, turn left off the highway into Muir Beach or at the ocean overlook just to the north).

Here’s a Google map showing the roads
:

View Larger Map
 
Weather forecast: As of Thursday, July 15th, the National Weather Service forecast for the hike was patchy fog before 11am, otherwise partly sunny with a high near 69. (Click here for an updated forecast).

More on this hike: The "F17 Coast Trail to Wildcat Camp" hike in the Martin's book, Hiking Marin, is 11 miles long, but shows the route that we'll take up to Bass Lake, 2.7 miles from the trailhead. (The 8.5 mile "Alamere Falls and Double Point Overlook" hike in Tracy Salcedo-Chourre's Exploring Point Reyes National Seashore and Golden Gate National Recreation Area says the distance to the north shore of the lake is 2.9 miles, while the park's South District Hiking Map pegs it at 2.8 miles).  We’ll retrace our steps back to the trailhead after lunch so our total hiking distance will be around 5.5-6.0 miles.

“Final Exam” Photos Now On-Line!

Photos from our June 29th “Final Exam” hike at Tomales Bay State Park are now on-line.  You can either view them on the blog or by clicking here.

Estero Trail (7/13) Hike Preview

After a week off from hiking we return to Point Reyes National Seashore for our first outing of July.  This is not a loop hike, but there are marvelous views! By this time of year it shouldn't be muddy like it was when we went slip-sliding around in May of 2009.

Directions to trailhead: Take Sir Francis Drake Boulevard. Turn right at Olema and make an immediate left onto Bear Valley Road. (Use the restrooms at the park's Visitor Center in Bear Valley if you do not want to wait until you reach those at the trailhead). Continue until you pick up Sir Francis Drake again.

Go through Inverness. Go past the turn off to the right onto Pierce Point Road, then pass Mt. Vision Road on your left, and then in one mile you'll come to the road to Estero Trail. Take this road to the parking lot at the trailhead. Time: 1 hour from College of Marin. Restrooms at the trailhead. (Carpoolers can meet at St. Rita's at 8:55 am).

Weather forecast: As of Saturday, July 10th, the National Weather Service forecast for the hike was patchy fog before 11am, otherwise mostly sunny with a high near 60. (Click here for an updated forecast).
We'll be closer to the coast, so the weather could be cooler, foggier, and windier. (Click here for a forecast for the Point-Reyes Chimney Rock area). Real-time weather reporting for the Point Reyes Lighthouse is also available (click here).

More on this hike: "Hike G11 Estero - Drakes Head Trails" in the Martins' book, Hiking Marin, shows where we'll be hiking, although not necessarily our exact route. Two hikes ("Estero Trail to Sunset Beach" and "Estero Trail to Drakes Head" in Tracy Salcedo-Chourre's book, Exploring Point Reyes National Seashore and Golden Gate National Recreation Area also cover this area). The trails are also shown on the park's North District Hiking Trails map. The Google Earth image gives a bird's eye view of this part of the park. (Click on the photo to open a larger image in your Web browser).