Abbott's Lagoon Hike (6/4) Preview

This week we continue our summer hiking strategy of staying near the coast with another trip to Point Reyes National Seashore.

Here's Wendy's description for this outing: "On this lovely level walk we should see Yellow Sand Verbena, Dune Primrose, Giant Coastal Hedge Nettle, Point Reyes Checkerbloom and more! Some years we've seen endangered Snow Plovers, a Sora, and an Osprey carrying a fish! We also saw endangered Bumblebee Scarab Beetles, Tiger Beetles, and a Point Reyes Blue butterfly! Lunch on the beach. "  (Click here for a recap of the June 2009 hike).

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 park visitor center at Bear Valley to use the restrooms if you don't want to wait to use the pit toilet at the trailhead).

Continue until you pick up Sir Francis Drake again. Go through Inverness. After you top Inverness Ridge and head down the other side, the road splits: Going left takes you the wrong way and you'll head out to Drake's Beach and the lighthouse. You want to bear to the right (Wendy says "Go straight") onto Pierce Point Road. Pass Tomales Bay State Park. The parking area for Abbott's Lagoon will be on your left.

Carpool from St. Rita at 8:50 am. Restrooms at trailhead.

Weather forecast: As of Tuesday afternoon, May 28th, the National Weather Service forecast was mostly sunny, with a high near 58. (Click here for an updated NWS forecast. For real time weather conditions, updated every 10 minutes, at the RCA field just south of Abbott's Lagoon, click here).

More on this hike: "G16 -Beach and Lagoon Trails" from the Martin's book, Hiking Marin, shows the trails in this part of the seashore, as does Tracy Salcedo-Chourre's Exploring Point Reyes National Seashore and Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Both books have a 3.0 mile hike at Abbott's Lagoon, although our route could be different since you can roam off-trail rather far and wide, up and down the beach, and around the upland areas. (Click here to view and print the seashore's North District Hiking Map which shows the location of the roads, trailhead, and trails).

The following Google Earth image shows the area where we'll be hiking. (Click on the image to open a larger version in your Web browser).

Muir Beach Closure

As previously reported, the Muir Beach parking lot is being closed for restoration and improvements in that part of the GGNRA.

Per this story in today's San Francisco Chronicle, the area will be closed beginning on July 8th, hopefully reopening by around Thanksgiving.

Rock Spring "Final Exam" Photos Now Online!

Photos taken by Theresa Fisher during last week's Rock Spring "Final Exam" hike are now online!

View them on the Meandering blog or click here for the on-line album.

Bolinas Ridge to S.P. Taylor Hike (May 28) Preview

Looking West from Bolinas Ridge (S. Walker photo)

Hike Description and trailhead directions: This hike is mostly downhill or level!

Meet at Samuel P. Taylor State Park at 9:30 am. ($8.00 day use fee/parking if you leave your car there unless you have a State Park Pass).

We’ll carpool to the Bolinas Ridge trailhead and hike back down. We could hear Meadowlarks singing, and see Lorquin’s Admirals and Western Tiger Swallowtails. Bleeding Hearts may be in bloom!

Restrooms at Samuel P. Taylor, none at trailhead. Carpool from St. Rita at 9:10 am.

THIS IS A SHUTTLE HIKE SO CALL OR E-MAIL WENDY IF YOU'RE COMING: Home phone: 415 457-3949; cell 415 517-0488; E-mail: bdreskin@comcast.net.

Weather forecast: As of Tuesday, May 21st, the National Weather Service forecast was partly sunny, with a high near 69. (Click here for an updated forecast).

More on this hike: "H8 - Taylor State Park to Bolinas Ridge" in the Martin's book, Hiking Marin, is a 10.2 mile loop hike which starts and ends in the state park. We're doing this hike in the opposite direction, but only one-way, from the trailhead on the south side of the road where Sir Francis Drake Boulevard reaches a crest between the McIsaac Ranch at Tocoloma (intersection of SFD and Platform Bridge Road) and Olema, so our total distance hiked should be more like 5 miles.

Although part of the area is within the GGNRA, it is actually administered by Point Reyes National Seashore. The Point Reyes Hiking Map (South District) shows the trails that we'll be following within the GGNRA.

The Google Earth image below shows the area where will be hiking viewed from just east of Olema toward Samuel P. Taylor State Park. Sir Francis Drake Boulevard is the yellow line snaking through the picture. You can see the trail beginning right off to the road on the right. (Click on the image to open a larger view in your Web browser).

Muddy Hollow Trailhead Hike (5/21) Preview

This week we return to Point Reyes National Seashore to do a loop hike from the Muddy Hollow Trailhead.

Here's Wendy's description of our upcoming hike: "This trail has been redone and the pond removed to create more wetlands. Now we can do this as a loop instead of a shuttle hike. Great views and, we hope, some birds! Some years we see the tule elk. Note: this hike is longer than we usually do (about 7 miles), so sometimes we make it back on time but sometimes we get back late."


Directions to the trailhead: Take Sir Francis Drake Boulevard west to Olema. Turn right on Route 1, then make an immediate left onto Bear Valley Road. Continue past Park Headquarters (turn in if you need a restroom, there are none at the trailhead) and go left on Limantour Road. When you see a paved road to the Hostel on the left, turn right on the dirt road to Muddy Hollow parking lot. Carpool from St. Rita at 8:55 am.

Weather forecast: As of Tuesday, May 14, the National Weather Service forecast for this area was sunny, with a high near 65. (Click here for an updated forecast).

More on this hike: The Martins' book, Hiking Marin, was lasted updated in 2006, so it does not show the current trail which now only loops back to the Muddy Hollow Trailhead and no longer has an offshoot that goes to the Limantour Beach parking lot as shown on the Martins’ map. But their hike "G8 Muddy Hollow Rd - Estero Trail" does show the area where we'll be hiking. However, the Point Reyes National Seashore's North District Hiking Map includes the new loop trail and pegs the distance at exactly 7.0 miles. The following Google Earth image shows the area (click on it to open a larger picture in your Web browser).

Join Dick in Lassen Volcanic National Park

Dick Jordan has been to Lassen Volcanic National Park four times since 1972. But not being a "sleep in the dirt" camper, he (and his wife) prefer to sleep inside rather than under the stars.

But unlike many National Parks in the Western U.S., Lassen has never had much in the way of in-park lodging facilities. The Manzanita Lake Lodge where Dick stayed on that first trip was razed long ago, leaving Drakesbad Guest Ranch as the only "indoor" place to stay within the park.

In the past, getting a reservation at Drakesbad was problematic at best. For years, multi-generational family groups made it their traditional summer vacation destination. So if you snoozed and didn't call early in the year, you lost: It was booked solid.
But time changes everything, including the way families travel. As Dick learned when he received an invitation last week from the park concessionaire to stay at Drakesbad this summer, even at this late date, the odds of being able to book a stay there for this year, especially after mid-August when kids are heading back to school, is better than it has ever been.
Daily and weekly rates are available. All meals are included. Shoulder season is less expensive. For each paying adult, one child under 12 stays and eats free! (Discounted rates are offered to "Young Adults" ages 13-17.)
While Manzanita Lake Lodge is no more, 20 basic cabins (no electricity, running water, or "facilities") opened in 2011. They're popular and are booked up fast, but there are two "first come, first served" units available each day, and even a few openings for cabin reservations on some days this year.

Cabins rent from $59-$84 per night. "Amenity Packages" that provide all of the sleeping and cooking gear you'll need, and even a steak dinner for two, are also offered.
And if you want to camp, odds are good that you'll be able to find a campsite at Manzanita Lake or elsewhere in the park, perhaps even without advance reservations.
Lassen is a terrific day-hikers park. It's about 4-5 hour's drive (without stops) from the Bay Area.
(Click here to go directly to the park concessionaires online booking system).
Read more about the park and how to book a stay in this post on Dick's Tales Told From The Road travel Website. (Photos courtesy of Lassen Volcanic National Park Flickr photostream.)
(Want to hike in Lassen with Dick? He'll be at Manzanita Lake on the evening of July 28, then at Drakebad from the evening of July 29 until he heads home on August 2nd.)

Otter Spotters!

Dick Jordan's friend, Megan Isadore, who works with SPAWN on saving salmon spawning areas in Marin, is featured in today's Marin I-J story about the River Otter Ecology Project.

Rapping Meanderers!

Give a guy an iPhone and he'll find endless ways to amuse you.



(Click here to see Dick Jordan's latest video creation)