Learn How to Use Those Hiking Poles!

This Saturday, October 3rd, instructor Jayah Faye Paley will once again teach her "Using POLES for Hiking & Outdoor Exercise" at Point Reyes National Seashore.

The class runs from 10:30 am - 4:30 pm and is offered by the Point Reyes National Seashore Association's Field Institute.

Cost is $40 for members, $50 for non-members.

Click here for more information and to sign up for the class.

(Dick Jordan took the class over a decade ago and still uses the same hiking poles that he bought from Paley during the class.)

Dick Jordan's Latest MarinTV Show Airs Tomorrow

Dick Jordan's latest short film for MarinTV, entitled "Imagine This: A Story Told With Sound Effects," airs on Comcast Channel 26 on Monday, September 28 at 6:30 p.m.

It will be re-broadcast on Sunday, October 4, at 8:00 p.m.

Dick says "It's like nothing you've ever 'seen' on TV!"

Can't wait? Aren't a Comcast Marin subscriber?

Not a problem. You can watch it on YouTube, too.

What's it all about?

This graphic provides a hint.

Samuel P. Taylor State Park (9/29) Hike Preview

Bill’s Trail (which was being re-constructed last Fall) still hasn’t been re-opened, so rather than do our usual loop up Devil’s Gulch toward Mount Barnabe, we’ll do a different hike that has one steep downhill section, so bring poles if you use them.

Directions to trailhead: Take Sir Francis Drake Boulevard to the main entrance of Samuel P. Taylor State Park.

Click here for a map showing the park entrance and for driving times and directions from your location. Click on #2 to get driving time and directions from your location.

Parking fee: $8 unless you have a State Park Pass (or a day pass from the California State Parks Foundation).

35 minutes from College of Marin. Carpoolers can meet at St. Rita’s at 9:20 a.m.

Restrooms at trailhead

Weather forecast: As of Wedneday, September 23rd, the National Weather Service forecast for Tuesday's hike was sunny, with a high near 74. (Click here for an updated weather forecast.)
 

Mountain Home Inn to Muir Woods Hike (9/22) Preview

We continue the 2015 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 in Muir Woods and at lunch.

Weather Forecast: As of Thursday, September 17th, the National Weather Service forecast for the day of the hike was mostly sunny, with a high near 71. (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.

Songbird Documentary to Screen at the Mill Valley Film Festival

This year's 38th Mill Valley Film Festival includes a long list of dramatic, comedic, animated, and documentary films.

The Messenger is a documentary film that may be of particular interest to Meanderers and their bird-watching friends.

  THE MESSENGER - Official Trailer from Mill Valley Film Festival.

(Click here if the video player does not display)

Here's the film's description on the MVFF Website:

"Brightly feathered songbirds are earth’s original musicians, but this urgent documentary drives home that their delightful symphonies are in jeopardy. The world faces a bleak possibility—that the sun may one day rise in silence.

"Aimed at both the head and heart, The Messenger celebrates these tuneful avian athletes, whose prodigious migratory feats span hemispheres and defy belief, even as it soberly explores the reasons behind their dramatic disappearance worldwide. Like canaries in a coal mine, songbird declines sound a dire warning about our collective toll on nature, which includes deforestation, urbanization, industry, blanket use of insecticides, and light and noise pollution—in addition to climate change.

"Gorgeously photographed, featuring stunning super slo-mo shots of birds in flight, this loving, elegiac film also celebrates the devoted conservationists who study and save these birds and are spreading a simple, powerful message: If we want songbirds singing tomorrow, we must change our ways now."

Click here for show times and to buy tickets for this film.

Additional information about the Mill Valley Festival, which runs from October 8th through 18th, with films showing at various locations in Central and Southern Marin, can be found on the Festival's Website.

Dick Jordan to "Shake Things Up" at Litquake

Dick Jordan has received a big honor.

He's been asked to join with his much more illustrious travel writing colleagues Laura Deutsch, Spud Hilton, Laurie McAndish King, Diane LeBow and Jules Older in kicking off Litquake 2015 with readings from their works at the “Launch Your Travel Adventure” session atRebound Bookstore in San Rafael, California at 10 am on Sunday, October 11th. 

This movable reading feast will continue all day moving eastward through San Rafael with presentations by other writers at various venues. Click here for more information.

Tomales Point Hike (9/15) 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 Thursday, September 10th, the National Weather Service forecast for the hike was sunny, with a high near 63. (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.

at 12:08 PM

A Hot Time at Camp Taylor

Yesterday's hike in Samuel P. Taylor State Park (aka "Camp Taylor") gave us a bit of a respite from the 90-plus temperatures throughout Marin County yesterday.

 Although it was still warm (probably well over 80 degrees) on the shaded sections of the trails, particularly after lunch, the weather was mostly tolerable for hiking.

But there was one snag: A redwood tree that had fallen across the Pioneer Tree loop trail that left no good way to continue uphill.

Our choices were: 1) Crawl under it like a snake since there wasn't enough room to do so even on hands and knees: 2) walk around the uphill root end, impossible due to steepness of the bank; 3) try to sneak around the top without falling into the dry creek bed; 4) stepping on a smaller tree downed when the redwood fell and then traversing creeping or walking up the redwood until it was possible to do a butt-slide off it and onto the trail.



(Click here if YouTube player does not display) In the end, everyone managed to use Method #4 to get past this trail hazard and finish the pre-lunch hike.

Get Meandering Blog E-mail Updates!

While the "old" way of e-mailing you updates to the Meandering blog, including the weekly hike previews, was at least temporarily busted (Dick Jordan may have gotten Google to fix it), you can take action to make sure that those updates are sent to you by e-mail.

First, go to the blog, and then scroll down the right-hand side until you see the "Follow by Email" box. Enter your e-mail address and hit the "Submit" button.

You should then get an e-mail from Blogger or Feedburner asking you to confirm your subscription.  Be sure to confirm your subscription you won't receive the updates.

Several Meanderers have subscribed using this method. If you've done so recently and have been receiving bloh updates via e-mail, you need not subscribe again.

Any update to the Meandering blog will be e-mailed to you sometime between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on the day it was posted.

However, you may receive the e-mails much later in the day, depending on how your Internet Service Provider processes in-coming e-mails, and how often you check your e-mail inbox.

Hike previews are generally posted sometime between Wednesday and Sunday of the week before the hike.

If, as happens occasionally, Dick posts to the blog more than once on a single day, you should get a single e-mail with multiple blog posts included in it.

If Google resolves the problem with the old mailing list and you start receiving the updates twice, you should be able to "Unsubscribe" from the ones you've been receiving because you subscribed by entering your e-mail in the "Follow by Email" box on the blog.

Samuel P. Taylor State Park Hike (9/8) Preview

Here's Wendy's description of this hike: "Today we explore the redwood habitat, visit the Pioneer Tree which is over 500 years old, and learn some history of the area at the mill site. We’ll also see one of Marin’s few 'ghost trees,' a white redwood. We’re doing two separate loops, so you can leave your lunch in the car. We'll have a civilized lunch today with picnic tables and restrooms!"
 
(Click here for a recap of the hike we did on September 2, 2008).

Directions to trailhead: Take Sir Francis Drake Boulevard to the main entrance of Samuel P. Taylor State Park.

Click here for a map showing the park entrance and for driving times and directions from your location. Click on #2 to get driving time and directions from your location.

Parking fee: $8 unless you have a State Park Pass (or a day pass from the California State Parks Foundation).

35 minutes from College of Marin. Carpoolers can meet at St. Rita’s at 9:20 a.m.

Restrooms at trailhead and at lunch.

Weather forecast: As of Friday, September 4th, the National Weather Service forecast for Tuesday's hike was sunny, with a high near 85., although it could be somewhat cooler in places that are under the shade of the redwood trees. (Click here for an updated weather forecast.)

More on this hike:  Hikes "D7 Creek – Ox Trails History Loop" and D8 "Pioneer Tree – Barnabe Creek Trails" in the Martins’ book, Hiking Marin, show the area where we will be hiking.  (Click here to view and download the brochure for Samuel P. Taylor State Park; the trails are shown on page 4).