Spring On Pine Mountain Trail

The six of us who joined Wendy and Bill for the first hike of 2011 were rewarded with almost Spring-like sunny weather and sweeping views of Mt. Tam, White Hill, and northeast across the Bay towards Vallejo.  It was a far cry for January 2010 when this hike was called due to rain, and January 2009 when the cloud bottoms almost whacked us in the head.

After our usual roundtable discussion, we headed up the steep, rocky Pine Mountain Fire Road.  The trail climbs a little over 300’ in the first mile to Oat Hill Road (which heads south and provides access to Little Carson Falls which we visited during our 2009 hike).
 
This time we skipped the side trip to those falls and continued westward for another four-tenths of a mile over a somewhat level section of the route until we met the junction of the Pine Mountain Fire Road (which swings south) and the San Geronimo Ridge Fire Road.  Along this chaparral-lined stretch we encountered Dark-Eyed Juncos, a Meadowlark, a Scrub Jay, and a Kestrel “kiting” (hovering over the brushy slope looking for a late morning snack).

After another three-tenths of a mile and a couple hours into the hike we arrived at the intersection of the San Geronimo Ridge Fire Road and the Cascade Fire Road (shown as the “Repack Road” on some maps) where we had stopped for lunch during our 2009 hike.  But since we had skipped Little Carson, we decided to put off our midday meal and began the long descent toward Cascade Canyon.
 
The Cascade Fire Road runs roughly northeast so over our right shoulders we could look back to the East Peak of Mount Tamalpais as well as straight ahead to a waterfall plunging down White Hill into Cascade Canyon, and over Fairfax and Terra Linda to the Bay.  Although this part of the MMWD watershed covers a largely treeless terrain, we did find a few mushrooms (including one that smells a bit like the inside of a cedar chest) pushing up through the soil in shady spots.

We paused for lunch about 1:15 pm at one of the few level spots along the road.  The sunshine warmed us up and we gazed at Tam while filling our stomachs.
 
Less than half an hour later we were hiking passed a stand of madrone trees still heavy with berries.  The first Indian Warrior of 2011 poked its head toward us in a sign that true Spring was not that far away.

Within another thirty minutes we had entered  what the County of Marin Open Space District is now calling the “Cascade Canyon Nature Preserve.”  A left turn took us two-tenths of a mile up a narrow side canyon to roaring Cascade Falls.

After retracing our steps to the floor of Cascade Canyon, we crossed a bridge and walked another three-tenths of a mile until ending the hike where some of us had left our cars parked at the end of Cascade Drive.  In 2009 water levels were low enough for us to cross the stream that runs along the canyon bottom and take the wide fire road on the south side of the canyon.  This time the rushing water forced us to make our way along much narrower trail that runs along the the north face of the canyon.

After knocking the mud off our boots, we climbed into the waiting vehicles and shuttled those who had parked at the trailhead back to their cars.  About five hours after we started out we were headed home having hiked about four and a half miles, ascending a little over 400’ to the highest point from the trailhead, and then dropping down to about 200’ above sea level at the end.