Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Bolinas Ridge-Randall Trail Shuttle Hike (7/30) Preview

Decision Time 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).

Friday, July 19, 2013

Tracing Rivers and Streams to Their Headwaters

A new online tool lets you trace any river or stream to its headwaters (or in the opposite direction).

Click here to go to the National Atlas Streamer and trace the waterway of your choice.

(Dick Jordan tried it with the Columbia, Eel, Russian, and Sacramento Rivers, and Lagunitas and Sonoma Creeks.)