Thursday, June 18, 2015

Mount Tam's "Ramblin' Wreck"

Georgia Tech's mascot is the "Ramblin' Wreck," a 1930 Ford Model "A" Sport Coupe.

Mount Tamalpais has its own such wreck: A 1941 Pontiac that rambled down West Ridgecrest Boulevard and, somewhere south of where our hike ends, went careening off the road and tumbled downhill towards Stinson Beach.

Where the car probably didn't meet its demise during filming of an automobile TV ad, as this KQED video report shows, it's a mystery how, when and why it when sailing through the air with the greatest of ease.


(Click here if the YouTube video player doesn't display)

Although KQED's video seems to show the rusted wreck displayed on either Google Earth or Google Maps, Dick Jordan tried without success to locate it on both.

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Revised Summer Hike List Now Online!

A revised list of all remaining summer hike is now online! View and print it.

The Laguna Trailhead hike is today, June 16th.

 There is no hike on June 23rd.

We resume hiking again on June 30th at Bull Point in Point Reyes National Seashore.

Sorry for the confusion!

Monday, June 15, 2015

Laguna Trailhead Hike (6/16) Preview

NOTE: THIS HIKE WAS INADVERTENTLY LISTED AS TAKING PLACE ON JUNE 23RD. IT WILL BE HELD ON JUNE 16TH; THERE WILL BE NO HIKE ON JUNE 23RD. Coast Camp 
This week we return to Point Reyes National Seashore.  We explore four habitats: coastal scrub, beach, marsh, and a riparian (streamside) habitat with alders and willows. Lunch at the beach. We may see some of the Tule Elk that have been transferred from Tomales Point. (Click here to view photos from a past hike.)

Directions to trailhead: Take Sir Francis Drake Boulevard. west to Olema. Turn right on Route 1, then make an immediate left onto Bear Valley Road. Continue past Park Headquarters (stop here if you need a restroom --- there is none at the trailhead) and go left on Limantour Road.

Turn left at the sign for the youth hostel. Follow that road until you see a right turn across a bridge to the Laguna Trailhead by the Clem Miller Education Center. Park in the parking lot.

Click here for a MapQuest map that shows the trailhead. Click on #1 to get driving directions and time from your location.

55 minutes from College of Marin. Carpoolers can meet at St. Rita’s Church in Fairfax at 9:00 a.m.

No restrooms at trailhead. Outhouse en route before lunch.

Weather forecast:  As of Monday, June 15th, the National Weather Service forecast for the hike was a chance of drizzle before 11am. Patchy fog before 11am. Otherwise, cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 66. Northwest wind 10 to 13 mph. (Click here for an updated forecast).

More on this hike:

From the Laguna Trailhead we'll go southwest on the Laguna Trail to its junction with the Fire Lane Trail, follow that down to the ocean, take a short “side trip” to Coast Camp to use the “facilities”, then hike northward paralleling the sea on the Coast Trail before turning back inland to the Laguna Trailhead.  Total distance covered should be approximately 5.2 miles.

The “Laguna-Coast Trail Loop” hike in Exploring Point Reyes National Seashore and Golden Gate National Recreation Area by Tracy Salcedo-Chourre describes the route we’ll take.  The trails we’ll follow are shown on the the North District Hiking Map on the Point Reyes National Seashore Website.

You will also find them on the map for hike “G4 Sky – Woodward Valley – Coast Trails” in the Martins’ book, Hiking Marin, although we are not doing that specific hike.

Friday, June 12, 2015

Updated Summer Hike Schedule Now Online!

Click here to view and print details for all remaining Tuesday summer hikes through August.

This is an updated list that corrects and adds to the one that Wendy previously sent out as well as the mid-June through July list that was e-mailed to you from the blog earlier this week.




Our next two hikes will be at the Laguna Trailhead on June 23rd and Bull Point on June 30th, both at Point Reyes National Seashore

We'll skip Tuesday, July 7th, and then hike each week until the "Final Exam" on August 11th at Tomales Bay State Park.

There will be no hikes during the remaining weeks of August.

We'll resume on September 8th when the College of Marin Fall 1 series of hikes kicks off.