Get Details on Spring Hikes!

Detailed information on all Spring 2016 College of Marin Tuesday hikes is now on-line!

Online registration, and phone/in-person registration for those who are not ESCOM Gold Card members opened on Monday, February 22nd, so if you have not as yet signed up, do so as soon as possible to make sure you have a spot in this final College of Marin hiking series before summer.

Deer Park to Phoenix Lake Hike (3/1) Preview

This is a scenic hike with lunch at Phoenix Lake.  We should see Red Larkspur, Gypsum Spring Beauty, Baby Blue Eyes, and Ground Iris  Maybe we'll hear the first Orange-Crowned Warblers of the season!  (Click here for a recap of our hike in March 2010 or here for photos from past hikes.)

Directions to trailhead:  Go west on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard to Fairfax. As you enter Fairfax, turn left at the gas station, and make an immediate right in front of the movie theater. This puts you on Broadway.

Make the first left onto Bolinas Avenue. Just after it veers left, turn left on Porteous Avenue. Follow it to the parking lot at Deer Park.

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

15 minutes from College of Marin. Carpoolers can meet at St. Rita's Church at 9:30 a.m.

Restrooms at trailhead.

Weather forecast:  As of Thursday, February 25th, the National Weather Service forecast for the hike was mostly sunny, with a high near 70. (Click here for an updated forecast).

More on this hike: Presumably we'll follow the same route as in the past. The Martin's Hiking in Marin trail guide does not have a single map and directions for our hike from Deer Park School to Phoenix Lake and back, but you can use the following two maps and hikes from their book to piece together our path:

Start off using the Martin's Hike "C6 - Deer Park Road - Yolanda Trail." Head up the Deer Park Fire Road to Oak Tree Junction, then turn left (to the south) and hike uphill on the Six Points Trail. When you reach the Six Points junction, switch to Hike "C4 - Hidden Meadow - Yolanda Trail" and hike down the Yolanda South Trail to Phoenix Lake.

Using that same hike and map, follow Shaver Grade uphill, and while doing so, refer back to the C6 hike and map to follow the Grade to Five Corners. Continue straight down Deer Park Fire Road to Boy Scout Junction. Cross the fire road and take the Junction Trail back to its intersection with Deer Park Fire Road (just where you turned off onto Six Points Trail when you were headed toward the lake).

Here's a Google Earth view looking from Deer Park over Bald Hill towards Phoenix Lake.

Here's the hike's profile.

MEANDERING MAILING LIST PROBLEM; DIPSEA HIKE INFO

Dick Jordan has a new computer and has not as yet copied all of his e-mail contacts to it from his old machine.

Because of that, you'll have to go directly to the Meandering blog to read the information on next Tuesday's hike at Steep Ravine, unless you've subscribed to e-mail updates directly from the blog.

Steep Ravine to Dipsea Trail Hike (2/23) Preview

We usually see Giant Wake Robin, Redwood Evergreen Violets, Star Lilies, Smith’s Fairy Bells, Fetid Adder’s Tongue and Calypso Orchids during the favorite February hike.

We’ll go up Steep Ravine since some of us find the ladder is easier to go up than down. Lunch at Pantoll.  (Click here for a recap of our 2010 hike).

Directions to the trailhead: Take the Stinson Beach/Highway 1 exit off Highway 101. Go through Tam Junction, stay on Route 1, and follow signs to Muir Beach.

Pass the road that goes to Muir Beach staying on Route 1 (towards Stinson Beach), pass Slide Ranch, and keep going until you see the locked gate for the Steep Ravine cabins on the west (left) side of the road. There is parking is on the east (right) side of Highway 1.

Click here for a MapQuest map that shows the location Steep Ravine Trailhead and parking area on Highway 1; click on #1 to get driving directions and time from your location.

Time: 1 hour 5 minutes from College of Marin.

No restrooms at trailhead, but you can turn in at Muir Beach (which has new pit toilets and a paved parking lot) en route and use the ones in the parking lot or the ones a bit farther north at the overlook on the left-hand side of the highway. 

Carpoolers can meet at the Greenbrae Park & Ride lot at 8:50 a.m.(Click here for a MapQuest map showing the parking lot; click on #1 to get driving time and directions from your location.)

Weather forecast: As of Thursday, February 18th, the forecast for the hike was a slight chance of rain. Partly sunny, with a high near 66. (Click here for an updated forecast.)

More on this hike: If you have the Martins' book, Hiking Marin, look at their hike "B14 Dipsea - Steep Ravine Trails" which starts at Pantoll, goes down the Dipsea, up Steep Ravine, and ends back at Pantoll.

Since we're beginning and ending our outing down on Highway 1, our hike will be slightly longer, but basically the reverse of the Martins' hike. (Page 6 of the Mt. Tam State Park brochure has a park map that you can "zoom in" on to see these trails).

Spring Hike Registration Opens Soon!

Registration for the College of Marin Spring Meandering in Marin hiking series opens soon.

Early registration for ESCOM (Emeritus Students College of Marin) "Gold Card" members runs from Tuesday, February 16 through Friday, February 19, but you must call (415) 485-9305 or register in person at one of college's offices (office hours and locations listed below).

Monday - Friday

9:00 am - 12 noon
1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
(Hours subject to change)

(Closed Feb. 12-15)

Kentfield Campus (KTD) 
Student Services Building
Room 145
835 College Avenue
Kentfield, CA 94904

Indian Valley Campus (IVC)
Building 7, Room 194
1800 Ignacio Blvd.,

Novato, CA 94949

Registration for all other students, and online registration, opens on Monday, February 22.

Here's the class information for both the Monday and Tuesday hikes:

1033 | Dreskin | OFF (See location online)

7 Mondays 9:45am–1:45pm | Mar 28-May 9

$142 | ESCOM/GC $120

1034 | Dreskin | OFF (See location online)

6 Tuesdays 9:45am–1:45pm | Mar 29-May 10

(No class Apr 12)

$122 | ESCOM/GC $103

Audubon Canyon Hike (2/16) Preview

Lucky us!  We have permission to hike in Audubon Canyon Ranch Bolinas Lagoon Preserve! This is beautiful habitat, not usually open to the public.

(Click here for a recap of our 2011 hike. View photos from our past hikes at Audubon Canyon ranch in this online album).

Directions to trailhead:  

Coming from North or Central Marin: Take Sir Francis Drake Boulevard to Olema. Turn south (left) on Highway 1 and continue on for about 10 miles to Bolinas Lagoon. The preserve will be on the left approximately 1 mile further south. 

Carpoolers can meet at St. Rita's Church in Fairfax at 8:45 am.

Coming from Southern Marin: From Highway 101 take the Stinson Beach exit. Follow the signs and Highway 1 approximately 12 miles to Stinson Beach. Continue 3 1/2 miles north to the preserve gate on right hand side of the highway.

Click here for a MapQuest map that shows the location of Audubon Canyon Ranch. Click on #1 to get driving times and directions from your location.

Time: 1 hour from College of Marin. Restrooms at trailhead.

Weather forecast: As of Friday, February 12th, the National Weather Service forecast for the hike was mostly sunny, with a high near 72. (Click here for an updated forecast).

More on this hike: If you have the Martins' book, Hiking Marin, go to hike "F18 Griffin Loop - Bird Overlook Trails" for a map of trails within the preserve.

There are two major loop trails (probably about 3 miles long each) going uphill and down, and a shorter 0.8 mile loop nearer to the bottom of the hill.

On our 2009 hike we went up the Zumie's Loop Trail, then through Junction 2 on the Martin's map, and continued south to where the Griffin Loop and Bourne trails meet, descended the Griffin Loop trail to the bottom of the hill, and then looped back to the parking area.

Indian Tree Open Space Hike (2/9) Preview

This week we head north and east to the Novato area to hike in the Indian Tree Open Space Preserve.
  

Here's Wendy's hike description:  "We hike a pretty loop trail with views and then lunch in a redwood grove. We should see early wildflowers like California Saxifrage, Indian Warriors, and Hound's Tongue. We have also found many mushrooms there in February, including Cedar Waxy Caps, Jelly Leaf, and Golden Waxy Caps.  This hike is often muddy so waterproof your boots!"

(Click here to read the recap of our hike in this area on February 3, 2009. You can view photos from past hikes in this area by clicking here.)

Directions: Take Highway 101 north. Exit at San Marin Drive and go west. San Marin becomes Sutro Avenue after if crosses Novato Boulevard. Turn right (west) onto Vineyard Road. The trail starts where the paved road turns into a dirt road.

Time: 35 minutes from College of Marin. No restrooms at trailhead, but you could stop at Starbucks in the small shopping center at the intersection of San Marin Drive and San Andreas Drive, just before the Kaiser Permanente clinic.

Carpoolers meet at 9:15 am at the Park & Ride lot on the east side of Highway 101 at Smith Ranch Road in the Terra Linda area north of the Marin Civic Center and downtown San Rafael.

Weather forecast: As of Wednesday, February 3rd, the National Weather Service forecast for Tuesday's hike was sunny, with a high near 64. (Click here for an updated forecast).

More on this hike: The Marin County Open Space District operates the preserve on a portion of this area (the North Marin Water District owns adjacent land) and its Web site provides a viewable/printable trail map and a list of the species of various critters we might encounter.

Barry Spitz's book, Open Spaces (Marin County Open Space District, 2000) describes the area and contains a map similar to that found on the MCOSD Web site.

The "E9 Deer Camp - Big Trees Trails hike in the Martin's book, Hiking Marin, is much longer (7.2 miles) than the one we'll actually take, but shows the general area where we'll be hiking.