Butterflies, Wildflowers, & Tidepooling with Wendy

Can't get enough of the natural world meandering with Wendy?  Join her for these outings offered through the Field Seminar Programs of the Point Reyes National Seashore Association this Spring:

• Butterflies & Wildflowers, Sunday, May 1 

• Butterflies & Wildflowers - Identification For Families, Saturday, May 7 

•  The Magic of Minus Tide at Duxbury Reef, Friday, May 20 or Saturday, June 18

Remembering Silvia Lange

Now gone for over a year, but never forgotten, is our singing Meanderer Silvia Lange, who was swept out to sea while walking her service dog, Hettie, on North Beach at Point Reyes National Seashore in January of 2010.

On the weekend of March 19-20, there will be two events held to help us remember Silvia.  Let Wendy (bdreskin@comcast.net, 415 457-3949) know if you plan to attend either one or both.

Cenotaph Dedication

On Saturday, March 19, 2011 at 1:00 p.m., please join Silvia's family for the dedication of a cenotaph at Oakland’s Mountain View Cemetery, the cemetery where she was a docent for so many years.  (A cenotaph is a marker where there is no body.)  Her fellow docents have selected a spot just above the  grave of one of her favorites, 1930s bandleader Anson Weeks. Bring your memories to share. Light refreshments will be served afterwards.

Angel Island Bench Dedication

On Sunday, March 20, 2011, a bench will be dedicated in Silvia’s honor on the top of Mount Livermore at Angel Island State Park where she also worked as a docent.  We will meet at 11:15 in Ayala Cove on Angel Island. (Click here for the Angel Island-Tiburon Ferry schedule).

At 11:30 we will hike up the Sunset Trail to the top of Mount Livermore.  There will be a vehicle to transport anyone who can't hike, but it can only go to within 1/4 mile of the top. At 1 PM we will dedicate the new bench honoring Silvia.  At that time we will share our memories, read some of her poetry, and perhaps even sing a song or two!
 
We will hike back down at 1:30, stopping at Silvia's favorite tree.  Plan on bringing a picnic lunch and water.  We plan to share dessert back at Ayala Cove before our time together ends. Please bring a dessert and your stories and memories of Silvia.

(Click here to read more about Silvia and last year’s celebration of her life held on Angel Island).

Sign Up For Spring Hikes!

Registration for the Spring Meandering in Marin hiking series began at the College of Marin on Monday. February 28th.  If you haven’t signed up as yet, here’s how to do so:

1. Start the registration process at the MyCOM Portal (https://mycom.marin.edu/cp/home/displaylogin).
   
2. Enter your User Name and Password if you’ve registered on-line since the new system went into place.  (If you don’t have a User Name and Password, Dick suggests calling the phone number for “Older Adults” and asking for assistance: 415-485-9305).
   
3. Click on the “Student” tab.
   
4. Click on “Register, Add or Drop Classes”
   
5. In the “Select a Term” box pick “Spring 2011 Community Ed.”
   
6. Click the “Submit” button.
   
7. Under the “Add Classes Worksheet” near the button of the page, in the boxes under CRNs, enter 35021 for the Tuesday class.  (Monday is 35020).
   
8. Click on “Submit Changes.”
   
9. Paying the $120 class fee with a credit card via the Community Ed Website’s “E-Cashier” now works, although the process for doing so seems overly elaborate.
   
10. You can always register via mail, fax (415 460-0773), or in person if you are unable to sign up for classes on-line.  Click here for more information.

Deer Park to Phoenix Lake Hike (3/8) 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).

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. 

15 minutes from College of Marin. Restrooms at trailhead. Carpoolers can meet at St. Rita's Church at 9:30 a.m. (Click here for a Google Map showing the area near the trailhead and for driving directions).

Weather forecast:  As of Tuesday afternoon, March 1, the National Weather Service forecast for the hike was partly sunny, with a slight chance of showers and a high near 56.(Click here for an updated forecast).

More on this hike: Presumably we'll follow the same route as last year. 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).

MMWD has a printable map of its watershed which shows these trails, and here's a Google Earth view looking from Deer Park over Bald Hill towards Phoenix Lake. We'll head from bottom to top and a little left of center in this picture to reach the lake, then turn right at the lake and go from top to bottom by starting up Fish Gulch (shown in purple lettering on the photo) and onto the Shaver Grade (shown in white lettering). Click on the photo to open a larger image in your Web browser.