Sky Trail to Bear Valley Hike (1/13) Preview

We return to Point Reyes National Seashore on Tuesday, January 13th for our the first "Winterim" outing of 2015.

(The last "Winterim" hike will be the following Tuesday, January 20th. The first hike of the Winter 2015 College of Marin series will be on January 27th, so if you've haven't as yet registered for that class, be sure to do so now.)

The trail is about 7.3 miles long, but a lot of it is fairly level, so the hike is a bit easier than the distance implies.  

This is a shuttle hike, so CALL WENDY AT 415-457-3949 or 415-517-0488 or send her an e-mail her at bdreskin@comcast.net if you are coming! 

Note the earlier than usual meeting time at Bear Valley.

Directions to trailhead: We’ll meet at Bear Valley at 9:20 a.m. and carpool to Sky Trail.

(Click here for a MapQuest map showing the trailhead location; click on #1 to get driving directions and estimated travel time from your location). 

When we get to Mt. Wittenberg we’ll go down Old Pine to the Bear Valley Trail (which is always soggy, whether it has rained recently or not, so waterproof your boots!

We’ll need some people who are not in a rush to drive people back to Sky Trail after we reach the Bear Valley Visitor Center and parking lot.

Restrooms at Bear Valley, none at Sky Trail trailhead, but some as we pass Coast Camp.

Carpool leaves St. Rita Church in Fairfax at 8:45 a.m.

Weather forecast: As of Thursday, January 8th, the National Weather Service forecast for the hike was sunny, with a high near 56.  (Click here for an updated forecast).

More on this hike:  "G3 Sky Trailhead to Bear Valley" in the Martins' book, Hiking Marin, is a version of this hike although we usually go straight at Junction #1 shown on their map and continue on to Sky Camp rather than take the detour up to Mt. Wittenberg (which we do on a separate loop hike from the Sky Trail trailhead) and then back down to the Sky Trail before continuing on to the Old Pine Trail, Divide Meadow and on to Bear Valley.  (Click here for the Seashore's South District Hiking Map which shows these trails).

The following Google Earth image gives a bird's eye view of where we'll be hiking: