We
hike along a creek with lovely cascades and ferns. This is usually an
interesting mushroom hike – in past years we've seen Toothed Jelly
Fungus, Rosy Gomphidius, Cowboy's Handkerchief, and The Prince! The
start is uphill with some stairs (but we’ll find lots to look at on the
way), the end is level - and in between it’s up and down! We end up at
the Bon Tempe Dam. (
Click here for a recap of our January 2010 hike).
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!
Directions to trailhead: Take the Fairfax-Bolinas Road. Turn in
as you would to go to Lake Lagunitas. After the ranger station at Sky
Oaks (but before Shaver Grade) there is an unpaved road to the right.
Take this to Lake Bon Tempe and park.
MEET HERE AT 9:15 a.m. Porta potties are in the parking lot. (
Click here for directions from the MMWD Web site).
From Bon Tempe we’ll carpool to the trailhead (near Alpine Dam).
Do not pay the $8 day use fee at the Sky Oaks entrance kiosk if you plan to take people to the trailhead. (You
can use $1, $5, or $10 bills and coins at the automated pay station, or
a Visa or Mastercard. Annual entrance passes for Marin residents 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, 2012. (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).
We’ll need people who are not in a rush to take the driver’s back to their cars parked near Alpine Dam.
Carpool leaves St. Rita Church in Fairfax at 8:55 a.m.
Weather forecast: As of Tuesday, December 27th, the National Weather
Service forecast for this area during the hike was partly sunny, with a high near 62. . (
Click here for an updated forecast).
More on this hike: There is no comparable hike in the Martins' book,
Hiking Marin,
but we'll begin our hike just past the dam at Alpine Lake and head east
on the Helen Markt Trail, eventually pick up one of the fire roads, and
wind our way back to Bon Tempe Lake. (
Click here to view, zoom in on, or print a map of the MWWD watershed lands).
