The weekend’s storm blew through and left the Bay Area on Monday setting the stage for a perfect day for finishing up “Fall 2” of the College of Marin term. But the wet weather brought during the preceding days brought forth a bounty of mushrooms including sulfur tufts, Jack-o-lanterns, garlic mushrooms and apricot jelly.We saw a common merganser and pied billed grebes paddling around Lake Lagunitas while a Great Egret swooped across the water from the south shore to the north. We found both California and rough-skinned newts enjoying the damp habit above the lake.
By the time we turned east and headed up the Lakeview Fire Road the sun was shining brightly and we doffed our outer layers. We had great views out to San Francisco Bay over San Anselmo and past Terra Linda as we descended the Filter Plant Road. A lone Coulter Pine stood as a reminder a a failed tree farming project started by the water district many years back.
After nearly five miles of up (1,588’ per the “Every Trail” app on Dick’s iPhone) and down (1,345’) hiking we looped our way back to the parking lot in just under three hours and set up our “Final Exam” feast in the nearby picnic area. Wendy recited a special poem to honor Stan for filing in for her while she recovered from breaking her leg, and she and Ted presented Stan with bottles of Scotch to mark his “retirement” as hike leader.Here’s a bird’s-eye-view of the route we took:
and the changes in elevation:
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