Lake Lagunitas “Final Exam” Hike (12/7) Preview

We return to the MMWD watershed for our final hike of the Fall 2009 "2" session.  Here's what we'll be doing:  "We make a partial circle around the lake, looking for ring-neck ducks, mergansers, grebes and other birds, and then make a loop past Pilot Knob, returning on Southern Marin Line. We usually see newts and some interesting mushrooms on this hike. Bring your contribution to our gourmet feast, plus a plate, utensils, and a cup."  (Click here for a recap of our December 2009 "Final Exam" hike at this location).

Directions to trailhead: Take Sir Francis Drake Boulevard into Fairfax. Jog left and make an immediate right in front of the movie theater. The first left puts you on Bolinas Avenue. Follow this until you see the sign on your left for Lake Bon Tempe and Lake Lagunitas. Follow the road to the toll booth by Sky Oaks Ranger Station. (Click here for the MMWD map and directions). The continue past to toll booth until you reach the end of the room.

The day use fee is $8.  You can use $1, $5, or $10 bills and coins at the automated pay station, or a Visa or Mastercard. Annual entrance passes are normally $60 ($30 for those 62 and older), but after September 1st you can buy one for half of those prices and the pass will be valid through January 31, 2011.  (You can pay the annual pass fee at the automated pay station.  Keep one part of the receipt which is a temporary pass good for two weeks, then: 1) stop at the Sky Oaks Ranger Station on the way out and ask them to send the other half of your receipt to the main office in Corte Madera which will issue the permanent pass and mail it to you, or 2) send or take the receipt to the main office yourself).

Time: 30 minutes from College of Marin. Restrooms in parking lot.

Weather forecast:  As of Tuesday evening, November 30, the National Weather Service forecast for the hike was mostly cloudy with a chance of rain and a high near 58 . (Click here for an updated National Weather service forecast).

More on this hike:  Hike "C16 - Lakeview FR to Pilot Knob" in the Martin's book, Hiking Marin, sets out a shorter hike than we'll be doing; instead of following the Pilot Knob trail back to the parking lot, we'll take a longer route back by continuing eastward and then looping back the west, picking up the Southern Marin Line Road (called the Filter Plant Road on the Martin's map). (Click here to view, zoom in on, and print a map of the MMWD watershed lands).

Muir Woods Hike (11/23/10) Photos Now On-Line!

Photos that Theresa Fisher shot during this week’s hike up the Dipsea and down the Ben Johnson Trail in Muir Woods are now on-line. 

View them on the blog or click here to go the on-line album.

CORRECTED WINTERIM HIKE LIST

The Tuesday Winterim Hike List which Wendy sent out via e-mail erroneously showed us doing the Pine Mountain/Elliott Nature Preserve Hike on Tuesday, January 25th, and the Sky Oaks to Deer Park “Final Exam” hike on Wednesday, January 26th.

We will not be doing the Pine Mountain Hike; the “Final Exam” hike will be Tuesday, January 25th from Sky Oaks to Deer Park.  (Click here to view and print a corrected list of the Winterim hikes).

The first hike of the College of Marin Winter session will be on Tuesday, February 1, 2011.  Class registration opens on January 3rd.

Summer in November: Sky Oaks (11/16/10)

Early Fall rains suggested that most of our pre-holiday outings would be wet endeavors, but we had short-sleeve shirt weather and temperatures near 80 when we hiked the Sky Oaks area in mid-November.

This loop hike began and ended at the parking area just beyond the pay station at Sky Oaks.  We began by hiking north past the ranger station, then down the Taylor Trail.  Once we reached the broad Concrete Pipe Fire Road we turned south and walked about three-quarters of a mile to Five Corners, a stopping point when we do the hike from Deer Park to Phoenix Lake and back up the Shaver Grade.

After a short porta-potty and rehydration break, we descended the Concrete Pipe Fire Road, than climbed steeply up the Madrone Trail to the top of Pumpkin Ridge which we followed north until reaching a broad meadow with views of Mount Tam where we took our lunch stop.

Wendy joined us for this outing, but decided to call it a day shortly after lunch and took a rest break along the side of the paved road while the rest of us walked the remaining mile or so back to our waiting cars.

Recent rains caused a “mushroom bloom” and created damp living conditions for banana slugs, a spirobolid millipede, slender salamanders, and a scorpion.  But the warm weather lured a rattlesnake out to the trail for close (but unbitten) encounter with Susan Pearson.

At the end of the day we had traversed a 4.4 mile up and down loop through the forest.



Although the Concrete Pipe Fire Road is fairly level, the last half of the hike involved a significant elevation gain.

Sky Oaks Photos Now On-Line!

Photos that Theresa Fisher shot during our 11/16/10 Sky Oaks hike are now on-line.

View them on the blog or click here to view the on-line album.

Bahia Hike (11/30/10) Preview

For our next hike we'll head north to the Novato area and do some bird watching on a portion of the Marin County Open Space lands. (Click here for a recap of last year’s hike).

Since this hike involves minimal up and down slope walking Wendy plans to join us again this week.  Here's her description of the outing: "This is a wonderful birding area and the ducks and shore birds are all back in Marin! We can expect green-winged teal, northern shovelers, American avocets, yellowlegs, and more. Bring binoculars if you have them.”  (Click here for a list of species that can be found in this area).

Directions to trailhead: Take Highway 101 and exit on Atherton Avenue in Novato. Go east, until Bugeia Lane splits left and Atherton goes right. Take Bugeia which becomes Bahia and park at the end of the street. 
Driving time from College of Marin: 35 minutes. No restrooms.  Carpoolers can meet around 9:10-20 a.m. at the Terra Linda Park & Ride lot on the east side of Highway 101 at the Smith Ranch Road exit.
  
Weather forecast: As of Tuesday, November 23, the weather forecast for this hike was mostly sunny with a high near 56. (Click here for an updated National Weather Service forecast).

More on this hike: Hiking in this particular areas isn't covered by any of the trail guides which Dick Jordan has, but you can click here for the Marin County Open Space District's description of the Rush Creek area.  (Click here to view and print out a map of this area).

“Walking Wendy” Party (11/13/10)

Twenty-plus folks, including members of the Monday and Tuesday Meandering in Marin groups, gathered at Lake Lagunitas on Saturday, November 13, 2010 to officially celebrate Wendy’s return to the trail after three months of convalescence and rehab following surgery for the leg broken on the final day of her summer trip to Costa Rica.  (In case you’ve not been hiking with us this fall, recently Wendy has been joining us for portions of our weekly outings and has been given the okay to hike up and down hill as well as on the flat).

We began with a leisurely loop hike around the lake looking for turtles, coots, and acorn woodpeckers.  Wendy led a side excursion off the main trail to hunt for newts.

After a couple of hours we returned to the picnic area; champagne corks popped and four luscious desserts were devoured. (Click here for a brief YouTube video clip of the party).

Muir Woods (Dipsea to Ben Johnson) Hike (11/23) Preview

This week we head south in the County and back into the federal parklands.  Here's Wendy's description of the hike: "Instead of racing up the Dipsea, we’ll stop to admire ancient redwoods, beautiful views, and hopefully some mushrooms."  (Click here to read the recap of our 2/10/09 hike on these trails).

Directions to trailhead: From Highway 101 take the Stinson Beach exit, turn left (west) on Shoreline Highway, right on Panoramic Highway and left on Muir Woods Road. Meet at Muir Woods Parking Lot #2. Time: 35 minutes from College of Marin. Restrooms at trailhead. (Carpoolers can meet at the Greenbrae Park & Ride lot near the intersection of Sir Francis Drake Boulevard and Highway 101 at 9:10 am).

Weather forecast: As of Wednesday, November 17, the National Weather Service forecast for the hike was partly sunny with a high near 56 and a chance of showers. (Click here for an updated forecast).

More on this hike: We'll hike up the Dipsea Trail, then descend back to the floor of Muir Woods on the Ben Johnson Trail. (Click here to view and download the park trail map). If you have Tracy Salcedo-Chourre's book, Exploring Point Reyes National Seashore and Golden Gate National Recreation Area, you'll see that she proposes hiking this route in the reverse direction (up the Ben Johnson, down the Dipsea) from our plan, but her book will at least give you an idea of what our hike will be like.

Wendy Goes The Distance (Mostly) – Bear Valley (11/9/10)

When we gathered for our hike out the Bear Valley Trail at Point Reyes we had one “new” hiker in our Tuesday Meandering group:  Wendy.  She had recovered well enough from her broken leg to take a go at walking the flat portion of the trail.
 
After just a few minutes stroll from the parking lot we came across a miniature “housing development” just off the trail --- “condominium” spiders had spun little pied-a-terres in the bushes.  As the leafy canopy began to arch over our heads we found various varieties of mushrooms, including oysters and artist conks, attached to tree trunks as well as popping up in the shade along the edge of the trail.

Recent rains had sent water flowing down into the stream paralleling our route.  Ferns and wild ginger sprouted in the damp trailside.  A large hiking group from Novato headed past us as we lingered to check out the plant life.

As the trail became steeper, Wendy paused to consider whether her knee was up to climbing higher, but Bill gave her the “A-Ok” to continue and she accompanied us up to Divide Meadow where we lolled in the sun enjoying an earlier-than-usual lunch break.

Wendy took her leave when we returned to Bear Valley and set off uphill on the Woodpecker Trail.  We passed granary trees pocked with thousands of holes drilled by woodpeckers to store acorns for the winter.  We saw more mushrooms on the upper reaches of the trail before descending to the Morgan Horse Ranch near the visitors center.

The weather was sunny and pleasant during our excursion, but clouds heralding the arrival of rain later in the evening began to cover Bear Valley by the time we returned to our cars at end of our 4.4 mile hike.

Bear Valley Hike Photos Now On-Line!

Photos taken by Theresa Fisher on this week’s Bear Valley Hike are now on-line.  Click here to view them or go to the Meandering blog.

Sky Oaks Hike (11/16/09) Preview

This week we'll in the MMWD watershed near Fairfax. Here's Wendy's description of the hike:

"This loop starts out in oak/bay/madrone habitat, but we'll also see redwoods and some grassland. If we've gotten some rain we should see mushroom including sulfur tufts, jack-o-lanterns, grisettes, Zeller's boletes, and manzanita boletes."  (Click here to read about our last hike in this general area on October 24, 2008). 

Directions to trailhead: Take Sir Francis Drake Boulevard into Fairfax. Jog left and make an immediate right in front of the movie theater. The first left puts you on Bolinas Avenue. Continue on Bolinas Avenue until you see the sign on your left for Lake Bon Tempe and Lake Lagunitas.

After making the left-hand turn off Bolinas Avenue, follow the road to the toll booth by Sky Oaks Ranger Station. (Click here for the MMWD map and directions).

The day use fee is $8.  You can use $1, $5, or $10 bills and coins at the automated pay station, or a Visa or Mastercard. Annual Sky Oaks parking passes are normally $60 ($30 for those 62 and older), but after September 1st you can buy one for half of those prices and the pass will be valid through January 31, 2011.  (You can pay the annual pass fee at the automated pay station.  Keep one part of the receipt which is a temporary pass good for two weeks, then: 1) stop at the Sky Oaks Ranger Station on the way out and ask them to send the other half of your receipt to the main office in Corte Madera which will issue the permanent pass and mail it to you, or 2) send or take the receipt to the main office yourself).

Time: 25 minutes from College of Marin. Portapotty in parking lot.  Carpoolers can meet at St. Rita’s about 9:15-9:25 a.m. 

Weather forecast: As of Friday, November 12, the weather forecast for this hike was sunny with a high near 67. (Click here for an updated National Weather service forecast). 

More on this hike: Hike “C12 Taylor-Concrete Pipe-Bullfrog Fire Road” in the Martins' book, Hiking Marin, shows the area where we will be hiking (our route may differ) in this part of the MMWD watershed.  (Click here to view and print the MMWD map of this area).

Ups And Downs (Marincello Hike, 11/2/10)

Stan forgot to mention the “up” part.  That’d be the long, straight up part.

After our usual pre-hike confab next to the Tennessee Valley parking lot, we began the long 1.7 mile slog up the steep Marincello Road.  Shortly after setting out, we stopped near the location of a gatehouse to the Marincello development which would have created a “planned community” of homes and commercial properties in the Marin Headlands. The gatehouse is long gone and the Marincello site ultimately became part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

Update On The Meandering Blog

Just a reminder for “old” as well as “new” Tuesday Meanderers with OCIPD (Obsessive Compulsive iPhone Disorder) that in addition to the “regular” Meandering blog (http://meanderingtuesdays.blogspot.com/) there is a  much easier to read on an iPhone version of the blog at (http://meanderinginmarinontuesdays.wordpress.com).


Photos from each hike appear first in the “Latest Meandering Photos” on-line Picasa Web Album; the following week those photos are moved to an album for that hike’s location. Go to the “Photo Albums” page of the blog to find the photos from those past hikes. (So the “Latest” album has the photos Theresa Fisher shot when we did the Marincello hike; photos from the previous week’s hike are now in the “China Camp” album).

Bear Valley Hike (11/9) Preview

Bear Valley in Point Reyes National Seashore is home to one of the largest acorn woodpecker colonies in California! Walk the trail where in the 1880’s visitors could take an excursion by wagon “for miles and miles through a tree canopied glen, banked with ferns.”  We’ll hike out Bear Valley Trail and have lunch at Divide Meadow. Restrooms at trailhead and lunch.  Wendy plans on joining us for a portion of the hiking.

Directions to trailhead: Take Sir Francis Drake Boulevard west from Fairfax. Turn right at Olema and make an immediate left onto Bear Valley Road. From Bear Valley Road. turn left to the Visitor’s Center.

Time: 50 minutes from College of Marin.  Carpoolers can meet at St. Rita’s Church in Fairfax at 9:00-9:10 a.m.  Restrooms at trailhead and lunch stop.

Weather forecast:  As of Friday, November 4, the National Weather Service forecast for Tuesday’s hike was mostly cloudy with a slight chance of rain and a high near 60.  (Click here for an updated forecast; you can also check the real-time weather at the Visitor Center).

More on this hike:  Hike “F2 Bear Valley – Meadow – Horse Trails” in the Martins’ book, Hiking Marin, shows the route from the Bear Valley Visitor Center to Divide Meadow.  Hike “F1 Bear Valley Interpretive Trails” shows the area near the Visitor Center where we may hike if time permits.  (You can find the Bear Valley to Divide Meadow Trail on the park’s South District Trail Map; there is a separate map of the trails near the Visitor Center).

Marincello Hike Photos Now On-line!

Photos taken by Theresa Fisher during our November 2nd Marincello hike out of Tennessee Valley are now on-line.  You can view them by clicking here or going to the Meandering blog.