"Final Exam" Hike Photos Now Online!

Photos taken by Theresa Fisher during latest week's Lake Lagunitas "Final Exam" hike are now online!

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

Laguna de Santa Rosa

It's 30 degrees in Santa Rosa at 7 a.m. morning, so what should you do?

Go on a tour of the Laguna de Santa Rosa, of course! Only smart folks would stay snugly wrapped up in a warm bed, instead of getting up at 5:30 a.m., chowing down breakfast, and then driving an hour to hike in freezing temperatures.

That's what Dick Jordan, his wife, and their friends Megan (SPAWN and the River Otter Ecology Project and her husband, Terrence (EAC) did on Saturday, December 15th. The tour of this part of the Santa Rosa Plain and its oak woodlands was put together by the Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation and LandPaths. Dick and his group saw kites, red tails, turkey vultures, and buffleheads.

This video gives you an overview of the area:


To reach the Laguna de Santa Rosa trailhead, take Highway 101 north to Santa Rosa, then head weset on Highway 12 toward Sebastopol. The parking lot for the trailhead is on the right, just past "Pete's Automotive" and a Chevron station. (Portapotty in the parking lot; flush toilets at the Chevron station.)

Dick's advice: Go in the spring when you'll find vernal pools and warmer weather!

Sky Trail to Bear Valley Hike (12/18) Preview

We return to Point Reyes National Seashore on Tuesday, December 18th for our the last  outing of 2012.

The trail is about 7.3 miles long, but a lot of it is fairly level, so the hike is a bit easier than the distance implies.  

This is a shuttle hike, so CALL WENDY AT 457-3949 or send her an e-mail her at bdreskin@comcast.net if you are coming! 

Note the earlier than usual meeting time at Bear Valley.

Directions to trailhead: We’ll meet at Bear Valley at 9:20 a.m. and carpool to Sky Trail.

When we get to Mt. Wittenberg we’ll go down Old Pine to the Bear Valley Trail.

We’ll need some people who are not in a rush to drive people back to Sky Trail after we reach the Bear Valley Visitor Center and parking lot.

Restrooms at Bear Valley, none at Sky Trail trailhead, but some as we pass Coast Camp.

Carpool leaves St. Rita Church in Fairfax at 8:45 a.m.

Weather forecast: As of Saturday afternoon, December 15, the National Weather Service forecast for the hike was mostly cloudy, with a high near 46. Showers are likely and the chance of precipitation is 60%.  (Click here for an updated forecast).

More on this hike:  "G3 Sky Trailhead to Bear Valley" in the Martins' book, Hiking Marin, is a version of this hike although we usually go straight at Junction #1 shown on their map and continue on to Sky Camp rather than take the detour up to Mt. Wittenberg (which we do on a separate loop hike from the Sky Trail trailhead) and then back down to the Sky Trail before continuing on to the Old Pine Trail, Divide Meadow and on to Bear Valley.  (Click here for the Seashore's South District Hiking Map which shows these trails).

The following Google Earth image gives a bird's eye view of where we'll be hiking:

Cranberry Soup Recipe

Click here to view and print the recipe for the cranberry soup Dick Jordan brought to today's "Final Exam" hike around Lake Lagunitas.