A Walk In the Woods --- Bolinas Ridge to Randall (August 12th)

It wasn't an auspicious start to the day's hike for the four of us (Susan, Lillian, Silvia, and Dick) who joined Wendy for this hike in the GGNRA. Dick and Wendy missed each other at St. Rita's, Silvia went to St. Rita's instead of waiting to be picked up in the San Geronimo Valley, Dick got sidetracked briefly while giving a lift to a couple whose journey to Inverness was delayed by a flat tire, and all of us drove by the terminus of the Randall trail where we were scheduled to rendezvous and on to Dogtown before reversing course back to the proper meeting point.

Fog hung over the southern half of the Olema Valley as we all piled into Wendy's car for the drive to the Bolinas Ridge trailhead, but we were soon above the marine layer and back into the sun. For most of the first couple of hours of the hike we merely strolled on a level fire road through shady groves of second growth redwoods, occasionally finding ourselves huffing and puffing uphill on a hot, exposed chaparral-lined trail before re-entering the forest. We paused now and and then to stuff our faces with huckleberries growing along the fire road.

By 12:30 we had hiked 3.4 miles to the intersection with the McCurdy trail leading down the ridge into the Olema Valley, and decided to take our lunch break in the shade. National Park Service fire crews engaged in "fuel clearing" along Bolinas Ridge had thoughtfully ground limbs and bark into a nice bed of soft chips for us to rest on bones on while partaking of our midday meal. (About an hour later we passed this crew hard at work).

After meandering along the ridge for a little more than five miles, we passed around the stock gate marking the Randall trail and turned west, slowing snaking our way down the 1.5 miles back to where we'd left the cars parked on Highway 1. Near the end of the trek we encountered a few cattle "hiking" upwards in search of tasty eats.

Except for the fire crew, we saw no other people, one little rodent (spotted by Wendy), a few butterflies, some birds, but no flowers to speak off (although lots of green plants, ferns, and trees).

What We Saw on The Bolinas Ridge/Randall Trail Hike (August 12)

Here's the flora and fauna (and poop) that Wendy cataloged from our August 12th hike along the Bolinas Ridge and down the Randall Trail:

GALLS

Chinquapin Flower Gall, Dryocosmus castanopsidis – red gall on chinquapin flowers, made by a wasp.

FLOWERS

Chapparral pea flower still blooming, sticky monkeyflower, Crocosmia (non-native orange flower in Iris family)

LEAVES OF FLOWERS THAT FINISHED BLOOMING

Clintonia (some with a few blue berries), salal, rattlesnake plantain (an orchid, not a plantain – go figure!), Trillium, thimbleberry, salal, coralroot, trail plant, ground iris, pitcher sage, fairy bells, Pacific star flower, fetid adder’s tongue, California blackberry, redwood evergreen violet

BERRIES

LOTS of huckleberries, coffee berries (some ripe, some red), manzanita berries, unripe (green) honeysuckle, poison oak berries, ripe blue elderberries

FERNS

Lady fern, bracken, sword fern

SHRUBS

SHATTERBERRY (manzanita with hairs on stem), and two species of Ceanothus - INDIGO BUSH, Blue Blosson

TREES

Madrone, tan oak (very light new leaves), redwood, Douglas fir, interior live oak (both toothed and smooth margined leaves on the same tree, acorn shaped like coast live oak, but with cap coming down further on nut)

BUTTERFLIES

California ringlet, American lady (larval food cudweeds)

BIRDS

Saw: Dark-eyed juncos, osprey, brown creeper, glimpse of a Swainson’s thrush (Wendy and Susan), glimpse of a winter wren

Heard: Red-breasted nuthatch, wrentit

POOP

Raccoon tracks and scat.

(Click here if you want to view and print a copy of this list. If you have Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer you can print the document. Once you see the document on the "Scribd" Web site, click on the "Download" icon and then on the "PDF" icon to open the document on your computer).

Bolinas Ridge To Randall Trail Shuttle Hike (August 12) Preview

Wendy doesn't have to show up for jury duty, so she'll be leading us on this shuttle hike which she says is lightly longer than usual at 5.3 miles, but lots of downhill.

Directions: We’ll meet on Route One at the bottom of Randall Trail which is about 3 miles north of Dogtown and about 3 miles south of Five Brooks. (The Point Reyes National Seashore says to allow 15 minutes for the drive from the Bear Valley Visitor Center, and that it is just under 6 miles from the intersection of Highway 1 and Sir Francis Drake at Olema south to the Randall trailhead. Park in one of the large dirt pullouts on either side of the road. The Park Service notes that the sign for the Randall Trail is aligned parallel to Highway 1 on the east side of the road and can easily be missed). From the Randall trailhead we’ll carpool up the Bolinas-Fairfax Road to Ridgecrest Boulevard and hike along Bolinas Ridge Fire Road and then down the Randall Trail to Highway 1.

The National Weather Service forecast for Tuesday at Olema is patchy fog before 11 am. Otherwise, cloudy through mid morning, then gradual clearing, with a high near 69. West northwest wind between 5 and 13 mph. Weather higher up on the ridge could be warmer. (Click here for an updated forecast).

None of Dick Jordan's hiking books describe this hike, but you can find the Fairfax-Bolinas Road, Bolinas Ridge Fireroad, and the Randall Trail in the bottom right-hand section of the park map shown below in this post on the "Meandering" blog. (Use the plus-sign button under the drop-down arrow button to enlarge the map for easier reading):

Point Reyes Park Map - Upload a Document to Scribd

Read this document on Scribd: Point Reyes Park Map

(Click here to view and print a copy of the map. If you have Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer you can print the document. Once you see the document on the "Scribd" Web site, click on the "Download" icon and then on the "PDF" icon to open the document on your computer).

Sign Up Now For Fall 2008 Tuesday "Meandering"!

You can now sign up for the Fall 2008 "Meandering In Marin" hiking series through the College of Marin Adult Ed program. (Click here to jump to the College Web site). Here's the line up of Tuesday hikes:

• September 2nd - Samuel P. Taylor St. Park (hike to the Pioneer Tree)
• September 9 - Tomales Point, Point Reyes National Seashore
• September 16 - Eat Peak, Mount Tamalpais State Park
  
• September 23 - Mount Barnabe, Samuel P. Taylor State Park
• September 30 - Mountain Home, Mt. Tamalpais State Park
• October 7 - Bootjack, Mount Tamalpais State Park
• October 14 - "Final Exam" Hike/Lunch, Tennessee Valley, GGNRA

(Click here to view and print out a complete list of hike descriptions).