Natalie Clark Subs For Wendy Next Week

(Simone Roda Flickr Photo)

For those you don't know it, Wendy is off in Deepest, Darkest Africa.

So Natalie Clark will be filling in for her next week.

Here's Natalie's contact info:

Natalie Clark

(415) 686-1681

gnatsimi@comcast.net

Looks like sunshine for the next hike! Yay!

Indian Tree Open Space Hike (2/28) 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, shown on this Google Maps map. (Click on the teardrop icon to get directions and driving time from your location.

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 mostly sunny, with a high near 54. (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.

Spring Hike Registration Begins Monday, Feb. 27th

Registration for the College of Marin Community Education courses, including the Meandering in Marin Spring series, begins at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, February 27th.

Click here to view, download or print a PDF copy of the entire course catalog.

Here's a link to the Tuesday hike series registration information.

These are the hikes we'll be doing on Tuesdays:

• April 4 - INDIAN VALLEY COLLEGE OPEN SPACE
• April 11 - CHIMNEY ROCK, POINT REYES NATIONAL SEASHORE    
• April 18 - MOUNT BURDELL OPEN SPACE
• April 25 - GREEN GULCH, GGNRA
•  May 2 - WEST RIDGECREST, MOUNT TAMALPAIS 
•  May 9 - WOLF RIDGE. GGNRA
•  May 16 - "FINAL EXAM,"  ROCK SPRING, MOUNT TAMALPAIS

Sky Trail To Mt. Wittenberg Hike (2/21) Preview

This loop has spectacular views of the estero and the ocean! (Yes, we do have to hike uphill to earn this reward). Lunch at a scenic spot on Mt. Wittenberg.

This should be a good mushroom hike. Level and downhill after lunch. 

(Click here for a recap of the hike we took on February 2, 2010. Click here for an album of photos from past hikes.)

Directions to Trailhead:  Take Sir Francis Drake Boulevard. west to Olema. Turn right on Highway 1, then make an immediate left onto Bear Valley Road. Continue past the turn-off to Park Headquarters and go left on Limantour Road. Trailhead is 3.3 miles from this turn at the crest of the road. The parking lot is on your left.

50 minutes from College of Marin.

(Click here for a Google Maps map showing the approximate location of the trailhead. Click on the teardrop icon to get driving directions and estimated driving time from your location.)

There are no restrooms at trailhead, so stop at the Bear Valley Visitor Center if you need a restroom prior to the hike; there will be pit toilets at Sky Camp which we'll reach about 10:30 a.m. 

Carpoolers should depart from St. Rita's by 9:00 a.m. at the latest if driving directly to the trailhead without making a restroom stop at Bear Valley first.

(Click here to get a map with driving directions and time to St. Rita's.)

Weather forecast:  As of Thursday evening, February 16th, the National Weather Service forecast for the hike was a chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 56. Breezy. (Click here for an updated forecast). 

More on this hike:  We'll do a variation on the 4.6 mile hike "G1 Sky-Horse-Z Ranch Trails" in the Martin's book, Hiking Marin. Presumably we'll do this hike in reverse, going from Junction 1 to 4, then to 3, up to the top of Mt. Wittenberg, then down to 2, and back to 1 before returning to the trailhead.  (Click here for the park's South District Hiking Map which shows these trails).

Holy Weather Records, Batman!

Okay, so it's been raining (and flooding) a bit in Marin during the past couple of months.

But just how much rain has fallen this year?

Dick Jordan (who lived through these downpours until mid-January) asked himself that question, and maybe you have, too.

According the MMWD "Water Watch," 66.68 inches of rain has fallen at Lake Lagunitas from July 1, 2016 through Tuesday, February 7th, 207.40% of the average year-to-date rainfall, and more than double what came down during the same dates last year.

So no wonder your hiking socks are a bit damp!

And, oh yeah, like an opera that ain't over until the fat lady sings, this "rain year" isn't over until it's over.

Dick Jordan, reporting from Eugene, Oregon, where a mere 26.56 inches of "precipitation" (which presumably includes snowfall) has dropped out of the skies during the same time period, says "Stay dry, Meanderers!

Blithedale Canyon Loop Hike (2/14) Preview

This week we head to the the eastern side of Southern Marin near Mill Valley. (Dick Jordan, sitting relatively high and dry in Eugene, but with an eye on Marin's weather, assumes "the crick didn't rise" enough to washout access to these trails. If that happened, he's sure that Wendy will come up with an alternative hike.)

Here's Wendy's description of the hike:  "A loop with great views of Mt. Tamalpais! Early wildflowers and probably a 9 fern day!" (Click here to read a re-cap of our 2010 hike. View the online album of photos taken on past hikes on these trails).

Directions to trailhead: Take East Blithedale exit from Highway 101. Where you cross Throckmorton it becomes West Blithedale. Go 0.9 miles and look for parking at Marsh Drive and West Blithedale on both the left and the right sides of the street.

Click here for a Google Maps map that shows the parking area near the trailhead. Click on the teardrop icon get driving time and directions from your location.

Time: 30 minutes from the College of Marin.

Carpoolers can meet at the Greenbrae Parking & Ride lot at 9:10 a.m.

 No restrooms at trailhead. 
Weather forecast:  As of Wednesday, February 8th, the National Weather Service forecast for the hike was mostly sunny, with a high near 58. (Click here for an updated forecast).

More on this hike: Hike "B1 Blithedale Ridge - Corte Madera Trails" in the Martins' book, Hiking Marin, shows the area we will be hiking in although our route may differ slightly from the one they set out for their hike. (This area is also shown on the maps of the Marin County Open Space District's Baltimore Canyon Preserve and Blithedale Summit Preserve).

Here's the route we will follow.

Here's the hike profile.

This Google Earth image shows Marsh Drive and West Blithedale Avenue in Mill Valley where we'll meet to start our hike. We'll head up to the ridge at the top of the picture (which looks east over Corte Madera and Larkspur to the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge), hike along it, then double back to our starting point. (Click on the photo to open a larger image in your Web browser).