Bon Tempe & Lagunitas Lakes "Final Exam" Hike (3/15) Preview

This is a lovely, level lakeside loop! We could see ring-necked ducks, common mergansers, American widgeons, ruddy ducks, buffleheads, and more.  This could also be the week for our first Acmon blue butterly!

Remember to bring your contribution to our gourmet feast, a plate, cup, and utensils.  (Click here for a recap of last year's hike).

Directions to trailhead:  As you enter Fairfax on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard jog left when you see the movie theater and make an immediate right. This puts you on the street that parallels Sir Francis Drake, but is on the other side of the Parkade.

Make the first left which is Bolinas Avenue. Follow the Bolinas-Fairfax Road for about 1 mile. Turn left onto Sky Oaks Road. You’ll need to pay at the kiosk ($8/day; or purchase a pass for $60 for Marin residents, $30 for Marin seniors 62 and older, good through next January; pay with $1, $5 and $10 bills or Visa or Mastercard.  $20 bills are NOT accepted by the pay station.

Follow the paved road on to Lake Lagunitas. We’ll have lunch at the picnic area at Lake Lagunitas so you don’t need to carry the food for the potluck.

Time: 30 minutes from College of Marin. Restrooms at trailhead, portables en route. Carpoolers can meet at St. Rita's Church at 9:20 am.

Weather forecast:  As of Thursday, March 10, the National Weather Service forecast for the hike was mostly cloudy with a high near 60 and a slight chance of rain. (Click here for an updated forecast).

More on this hike: Hike "C13 Bon Tempe Lake Trail" in the Martins' book, Hiking Marin, shows the general area where we will be hiking. However, we'll start and end at trail junction #2 on their map, rather than at Bon Tempe dam. (Click here for an MMWD map that shows this area). The Google Earth image below shows both lakes in a view looking back towards Fairfax. (Click on the photo to open a larger image in your Web browser).

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Hiking High Above The Bay

Bee flies.  Dock beetles.  Banana slugs.  These species of “wildlife” joined us for our annual late winter walkabout above Blithedale Canyon and the Bay.

This 4.9 mile hike starts in the redwood-lined bottom of the canyon, ascends northward up the Corte Madera Ridge Fire Road, switches back southeast on H-Line Fire Road, drops down to the level Southern Marin Line Fire Road, nearly reaches Crown Road, then climbs steeply back to the southwest through the forest on the Hoo Koo E Koo Trail to the Blithedale Ridge Fire Road, before looping back down into the canyon again.



Water storage tanks along the first uphill section of the hike are a popular place for graffiti artists to display their skills.  One such “painting” is very fitting since we always encounter a number of dog-walkers on this outing.



This could be a very miserable place to hike on a wet, windy day, since only the uphill section on the Hoo Koo E Koo Trail has ample cover from the tree canopy.  But as has been the case in recent years, we once again had bright sunny skies filled with wispy clouds high above the view across the Bay to Mount Diablo where we stopped for lunch.



Wake Robin Trillium,  Shooting Stars, Indian Paintbrush, Indian Warriors, and Hound’s Tongue were some of the blooming plants that we passed as we climbed about 600’ feet over the course of 3.5 miles before losing all of our gains over the final 1.4 miles of the hike.

Three hours, fifty-five minutes, and thirty-four seconds after we started out we were back at creek-side in Blithedale Canyon, tossing our gear back in our cars.

Blithedale Canyon Hike Photos Now On-Line!

Photos taken by Theresa Fisher and Dick Jordan during last week's Blithedale Canyon Loop hike are now on-line. 

View them on the blog or click here for the on-line photo album.

Spring 2011 Tuesday Hike Schedule Now On-Line!

The detailed list of Spring 2011 Tuesday hike descriptions is now on-line.  (Click here to view it). The first Spring hike is on March 29th. 

The last Winter 2011 hike is on March 15th.

There is no hike on March 22nd.