Mountain Home to Muir Woods Hike (9/30) Preview

We continue the 2013 Fall 1 hiking series with a trip down into one of Marin's federal parks.

Here's Wendy's description of this week's hike:  "Today we’ll hike down to Muir Woods and learn how it became a National Monument. Lunch at Camp Eastwood where you’ll hear the fascinating life story of intrepid botanist Alice Eastwood."

(Click here for a recap of our September 2008 hike. There is an online album of photos from our past hikes here.)

Directions to trailhead: Take the Stinson Beach/Highway 1 exit off Highway 101. Go west through Tam Valley and up onto the ridge. Turn right onto Panoramic Highway and follow signs to Mt. Tamalpais. Drive about 4 miles.

When you reach Mountain Home Inn on your right, park in the parking lot across the road on your left.

45 minutes from College of Marin.

Carpoolers can meet at the Greenbrae Park & Ride lot at 9:00 am.

Click here for a MapQuest Map showing the trailhead. Click on #1 for directions and driving time from your location.

Outhouse at trailhead and restrooms at lunch.

Weather Forecast: As of Wednesday, September 24th, the National Weather Service forecast for the day of the hike was mostly sunny, with a high near 81. (Click here for an updated forecast).

More On This Hike: Hike "B6 – Muir Woods – TCC – Dipsea Trails" and hike "B7 – Panoramic – Lost – Sierra Trails" in the Martin's book, Hiking Marin, shows the area where we'll be hiking, but our route will not cover all of the trails taken on either of those hikes.

Films About Preserving Mount Tam, The Marin Humane Society

"The Invisible Peak, made for the National Parks Conservancy to inaugurate the Tamalpais Lands Collaborative’s efforts to restore and maintain Mt. Tam—and in particular, efforts to remove the remnants of the old military base on top of the West Peak," will be screened at the Rafael Theater on October 3rd at 3:30 pm, as part of the Mill Valley Film Festival.

Click here for more information and to buy tickets.

At the Throckmorton Theatre at 5:00 pm on the same day (and at The Rafael on Monday, October 6 at 9:15 pm), you can see a series of short films, the last two of which focus on work of the Marin Humane Society: "The Page Turners (US, 4 min), about a dyslexic girl who discovers other kids reading to dogs at the library; and The Rabbit Whisperer (US, 5 min), an inspirational story of a stroke sufferer who volunteers at the animal shelter" (and who Dick Jordan's wife, Cindy works with on Sundays --- she has a "cameo role." in the film).

Click here for more information and to buy tickets.

Estero Trail Hike (9/23) Preview

This week we return to Point Reyes National Seashore. This is not a loop hike, but there are marvelous views!

We can expect some of the shorebirds and ducks that bred in Canada and Alaska to be back. (Click here for a brief recap of our July 13, 2010 hike. Here's the album of photos taken during our past hikes in this area.).

Directions to trailhead: Turn right at Olema and make an immediate left onto Bear Valley Road. (Use the restrooms at the park's Visitor Center in Bear Valley if you do not want to wait until you reach those at the trailhead). Continue until you pick up Sir Francis Drake again.

Go through Inverness.

Continue on Sir Francis Drake past the turn off to the right onto Pierce Point Road, go past Mt. Vision Road on your left, and then in one mile you'll come to a left hand turn onto the road to the Estero Trail parking lot. Click here for a MapQuest Map that shows the turn onto the road leading to the parking lot. (Click on #1 to get driving directions and time from your location.)

Time: 1 hour from College of Marin.

Carpoolers can meet at St. Rita's at 8:55 am.

Restrooms at the trailhead.

Weather forecast: As of Thursday, September 18th, the weather forecast for the hike was  Patchy fog before 11am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 67.  (Click here for an updated forecast.) Real-time weather reporting for the Point Reyes Lighthouse is also available (click here).

More on this hike: "Hike G11 Estero - Drakes Head Trails" in the Martins' book, Hiking Marin, shows where we'll be hiking, although not necessarily our exact route.

Two hikes ("Estero Trail to Sunset Beach" and "Estero Trail to Drakes Head" in Tracy Salcedo-Chourre's book, Exploring Point Reyes National Seashore and Golden Gate National Recreation Area also cover this area).

The trails are also shown on the park's North District Hiking Trails map.

This Google Earth image gives a bird's eye view of this part of the park. (Click on the photo to open a larger image in your Web browser).

Mt. Home to Bootjack Photos Now Online!

Photos taken by Theresa Fisher during this week's Mountain Home to Bootjack hike are now online!

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

Mountain Home to Boojack (9/16) Hike Preview

This week we go back "over the hill" to East Marin to hike on Mount Tamalpais.

Per Wendy, "this hike takes us through redwood forest, over Fern Creek, into chaparral, and finally to lunch at Bootjack. The return is fairly level and shady."  (Click here for a recap of our October 2008 hike and click here for the photo album for this hike.)

Directions to trailhead: Take the Stinson Beach/Highway 1 exit off Highway 101. Go west through Tam Valley and up onto the ridge. Turn right onto Panoramic Highway and follow signs to Mt. Tamalpais. Drive about 4 miles.

When you reach Mountain Home Inn on your right, park in the parking lot across the road on your left.

45 minutes from College of Marin.

Carpoolers can meet at the Greenbrae Park & Ride lot at 9:00 am.

Click here for a MapQuest Map showing the trailhead. Click on #1 for directions and driving time from your location.

Restrooms at trailhead and Bootjack.

Weather forecast: As of Thursday, September 11th, the National Weather Service forecast for the hike was sunny, with a high near 77. (Click here for an updated forecast.)

More on this hike:  Hike "B9 – Matt Davis – Troop 80 Trails" – in the Martin's book, Hiking Marin, shows the area where we’ll be hiking.

Tomales Point Hike (9/9) 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.

Click here for a MapQuest map showing the trailhead. Click on the number "1" to get driving directions and times from your location.

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 drive downhill toward 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 Wednesday, September 3rd, the National Weather Service forecast for the hike was patchy fog before 11am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 62. (Click here for an updated forecast).

More on this hike: Hike "G18 – Tomales Point Trai"l 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.

Half A Hike Is Better Than None At All!

Unfortunately, Theresa Fisher wasn't on today's hike in Samuel P. Taylor State Park and Dick Jordan only hiked the first loop (to the Pioneer Tree) and only took a single photo (this panoramic shot at the Pioneer Tree).

If we could really hike as fast as this video (rendered at 12 x normal speed using the Hyperlapse for iPhone app) shows us doing, we could cover 60 miles in four hours, instead of a measly 5!



(Click here if the video player doesn't appear)
But then we'd have to rename the COM class and the blog "Scampering in Marin"!