We continue our "Summer at the Seashore" series of hikes this week by starting at the Bear Valley Visitor Center in
Point Reyes National Seashore and hiking south to Five Brooks. (
We last did this hike on June 23, 2009). Here's Wendy's description of the
outing: "We’ll start by checking out dragonflies and birds on the pond at Five Brooks, then carpool to Bear Valley. This level hike takes us through Vedanta Retreat and Stewart Ranch back to Five Brooks."
THIS IS A SHUTTLE HIKE (CALL OR E-MAIL WENDY IF YOU'RE COMING: Home: 415 457-3949 E-mail: bdreskin@comcast.net).
Directions to trailhead: We'll meet at Five Brooks at 9:30 am. Take Sir Francis Drake to Olema, turn left onto Highway 1, and continue south until you see the right hand turn off the highway to Five Brooks. We'll leave some cars at Five Brooks, so we'll need some drivers not in a hurry to head home after the hike to drive those who left their cars at the trailhead back to Five Brooks.
Restrooms (porta-potties) at Five Brooks and (real-deal flush toilets) at Bear Valley. Carpool from St. Rita at 9:00 am.
Weather forecast: As of Thursday evening, June 10th, the National Weather Service forecast for the hike was sunny with a high near 66. (
Click here for an updated forecast).
More on this hike: Hike "F8 Five Brooks Trailhead to Bear Valley" in the Martins' book, Hiking Marin, does this 4.4 mile hike in the reverse direction from our trek. Our route will roughly parallel
the San Andreas Fault which splits the Olema Valley down its middle.
After about a mile and a half we'll begin to cross the 2,000 acre parcel owned by the
Vedanta Society of Northern California. Later we'll skirt the
the historic Stewart Ranch. This trail is popular with equestrians, and we're likely to encounter horses and cattle along the way.
The elevation change is only 350' over the length of the trail, and many sections are quite flat or downhill. (
Click here to view the Rift Zone Trail on the park's South District Trail Map).
The Google Earth image below gives you a bird's eye view of the route will follow; the Bear Valley parking lot is at the far right, and "Mill Pond" at the far left is at Five Brooks. The yellow line marked "Shoreline Highway" is Highway 1. (Click on the image to enlarge it in your Web browser).
at
10:44 PM 
While you’ve been hiking over hill and dale with Wendy since “school let out” Dick Jordan (with one hand figuratively tied behind his back) has been busy creating his new (and improved) Tales Told From The Road travel blog.
This week we continue our summer hiking strategy of staying near the coast with another trip to Point Reyes National Seashore. Here's Wendy's description for this outing: "Last year at this time we saw the endangered Point Reyes Blue and the Coast Green as well as endangered tiger beetles and bumblebee scarab beetles. A bonus was two weasels! Some plants we don't see elsewhere include heliotrope and the endangered Point Reyes Checkerbloom. We often manage to spot the endangered snowy plovers, and sometimes have a muskrat. Lunch on the beach." (Click here for a recap of last June’s hike).
