Tomales Point Hike (9/4) Preview

We return to Point Reyes National Seashore this coming week. Wendy says that "on this hike we'll look for the tule elk, once at the brink of extinction and now making a heartening comeback. This Point is also special for its views."  

(Click here for a recap of our September 2008 hike; here is an album of photos taken on past hikes in this area.)

Directions to trailhead: Take Sir Francis Drake Boulevard west from Fairfax. Turn right at Olema and make an immediate left onto Bear Valley Road.

Continue until you pick up Sir Francis Drake again. Go through Inverness.

Where the road veers left to Drake's Beach and the lighthouse, bear right. This puts you on Pierce Point Road. Follow it to the parking lot at the end of the road.

Restrooms:  Stop at the Bear Valley Visitor Center to use the flush toilets, or pull off Pierce Point Road at the parking lots for the trails to Abbott’s Lagoon or Kehoe Beach to use the porta-potties. When you reach the parking lot for the Tomales Point Trail you can head downhill to McClure's Beach to use the pit toilet there before returning to the trailhead parking lot to meet the group.

Click here to view and print a map of the Seashore showing these roads and locations.

Time: 1 hour 20 minutes from College of Marin.  Carpoolers can meet at St. Rita’s at 8:35 a.m.

Weather forecast: As of the morning of Friday, August 31, the National Weather Service forecast for the hike was patchy fog before 11am, otherwise mostly sunny, with a high near 57. (Clear here for an updated forecast).

More on this hike: Hike G18 – Tomales Point Trail in the Martins' book, Hiking Marin, is 9.4 mile roundtrip hike to Tomales Point and back.  We’ll only do about half of that route, stopping well short of the Point.

This Google Earth image created by Theresa Fisher shows the path we'll follow out and back.

From Tomales Point

Fall 1 & 2 Hike List Now Online!

You'll find the complete schedule of the College of Marin Fall 1 and Fall 2 Tuesday Meandering Hikes under "Upcoming Hikes" on the Meandering blog.

Click here to view and print the detailed descriptions and directions for all of these hikes.

Tomales Bay State Park "Final Exam" Hike (August 28) Preview

It's the end of the second half of "summer school" this coming week when we return to Tomales Bay State Park for our hike.

Here's Wendy's description of the outing: "Bishop pine forest, beach, and a favorite scenic picnic spot over-looking Tomales Bay. Bring something to share for our gourmet potluck lunch, and utensils, plate, and cup."

(Click here to view photos from past hikes in Tomales Bay State Park).

Directions to the trailhead: Take Sir Francis Drake Boulevard. Turn right at Olema and make an immediate left onto Bear Valley Road. (Stop at the Bear Valley Visitor Center to use the restrooms as there are none at the trailhead).

Continue until you pick up Sir Francis Drake Boulevard. Go through Inverness and over the ridge. At the "Y" where the road veers left to Drake's Beach and the Lighthouse go straight. This puts you on Pierce Point Road.

Just BEFORE the right turn that takes you down to Heart's Desire Beach there is a dirt parking lot on the right. If you don't know it you may need to go to the road to Heart's Desire and then turn around. We'll take the Jepson/Johnson loop.

Driving time one hour from College of Marin. Restrooms en route and before lunch. Carpool leaves St. Rita at 9:00 am.

Weather forecast: As of Saturday, August 25, the National Weather Service forecast for the hike was for patchy fog before 11 am, otherwise partly sunny with a high near 63. (Click here for an updated forecast).

More on this hike: "G14 Johnstone - Jepson Trails" in the Martins' book, Hiking Marin, shows the area in which we'll be hiking. The trails are also shown on page 4 of the Tomales Bay State Park brochure. The Google Earth image below shows this part of the state park. (Click on the image to open a larger version in your Web browser).

Bolinas Ridge-Randall Trail Shuttle Hike (8/21) Preview

This week we move south and east of Point Reyes National Seashore to take one of our hikes in the GGNRA. Slightly longer than usual at 5.3 miles, but lots of downhill.  (Click here for a recap of our hike in August of 2008).

CALL WENDY AT 457-3949 OR EMAIL bdreskin@comcast.net if you are coming!

Directions to trailhead: We’ll meet at 9:30 am on Route One at the bottom of Randall Trail which is about 3 miles north of Dogtown and about 3 miles south of Five Brooks. (The Point Reyes National Seashore says to allow 15 minutes for the drive from the Bear Valley Visitor Center, and that it is just under 6 miles from the intersection of Highway 1 and Sir Francis Drake at Olema south to the Randall trailhead).

Park in one of the large dirt pullouts on either side of the road. The Park Service notes that the sign for the Randall Trail is aligned parallel to Highway 1 on the east side of the road and can easily be missed).

From the Randall trailhead we’ll carpool up the Bolinas-Fairfax Road to Ridgecrest Boulevard and hike along Bolinas Ridge Fire Road and then down the Randall Trail to Highway 1.

Weather forecast: As of Sunday, August 19th, the National Weather Service forecast for the hike was patchy fog before 11am. Otherwise, cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 69. West northwest wind 11 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. (Click here for an updated forecast).

More on this hike:  None of Dick Jordan's hiking books describe this hike, but you can find the Fairfax-Bolinas Road, Bolinas Ridge Fire Road, and the Randall Trail in the bottom right-hand section of the Point Reyes National Seashore park map shown below.

 

Click here to view and print a copy of the map. Use the plus-sign button under the drop-down arrow button to enlarge the map for easier reading If you have Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer you can print the document. Once you see the document on the "Google Docs" Web site, click on the "Actions" down arrow and then on  "Download" to download the document to your computer).