Three Days in May, 2014

Blooming Buckeye!

On May 3, 4, and 5, we walked for about 35 miles through the beautiful rolling hills of Marin and Sonoma Counties.  We used the following maps:

Indian Tree Open Space Preserve

Mount Burdell Open Space Preserve

Helen Putnam Regional Park to Petaluma

Jack London State Historic Park

Millie, David, Adrian, Richard, Amy, and Julia joined Donna and me for all or part of Leg 11 of our round-the-bay walk.  We spent our first two nights in Fairfax with Millie, and we stayed in a hotel in Petaluma our third night.  This leg was especially social, to boot -- we played music with Donna's family one night, had dinner with Julia's aunt another night, and stopped in to visit Donna's sister-in-law as we walked through Petaluma on our third day.

But first, the turkey eggshell.  We found this as we walked up into the hills above Novato on our first morning.  Further down this page you will also see Donna's hand holding something else we found.

View of the San Francisco Bay from the ridges above Novato

Heading up towards Little Mountain Open Space Preserve

Birders on the flanks of Burdell

still ascending...

Lunchtime on Mount Burdell, elevation 1558', overlooking the Petaluma River

Mount Burdell is an anomaly in this region of ancient, sedimentary ocean floor.  The mountain is a 12-million-year-old volcanic intrusion punching through the sediment, and andesite is quarried near the summit.  Andesite is a light-grey volcanic rock named for the Andes.  Here is a link for more information about the geology of this region.

Olompali State Historic Park

The name "olompali" comes from the Miwok language and may be translated as "southern village" or "southern people." The Coast Miwok inhabited at least one site within the area of the present-day park continuously from as early as 6,000 BC, until the early 1850s. 

Olompali contains "kitchen rock," a large boulder used as a mortar in which early people ground acorns and seeds into a fine flour for food preparation. Many women would gather near such grinding rocks to prepare food and socialize. 

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=465

Worker's house at the Burdell Ranch

Camilo Ynitia [a Coast Miwok chief who received a Spanish land grant in 1843] built an adobe using in part bricks from the earlier adobe on this site constructed by his father and the Spanish exploring party of 1775-6.  Camilo’s adobe was so strongly constructed that it was incorporated in 1870 into Dr. Galen and Mrs. Mary Black Burdell’s two story home.  This ranch house was encased in 1915 by their son James Burdell with his 26 room mansion, which survived until 1969 when fire destroyed all but the walls of Ynitia’s adobe. 

(Read more about this story here at this link.  It's got pathos, vengeance, and heartache.)

You can see the 1915 house below, from a 1940 photo. 

http://heritage.sonomalibrary.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15763coll2/id/20640

(Here is a link to a photo of the mansion today.)

Petaluma bird house

Petaluma countryside

Petaluma tick

Vineyard at Jack London's model farm

(more information here)

You can see more photos of this thoroughly delightful 3-day jaunt here!

Spring Green in the North Bay

Lucas Valley Open Space Preserve

Day 11 on the trail: http://www.ridgetrail.org/index.php/loma-alta-to-lucas-valley


In this drought year, we've had many hikes on winter days where we could clearly see the San Francisco Bay. Our last hike on March 16 was one such day. We started at the top of White's Hill in Fairfax and immediately climbed to the top of Loma Alta, one the highest points in Marin County.  This 1592' summit descends into four distinct watersheds: Miller Creek to the northeast, Corte Madera Creek to the southeast, Lagunitas Creek to the southwest, and Nicasio Creek to the northwest.

Katharina, David, Donna and Millie on top of Loma Alta, elevation 1592'

The clouds created beautiful waving patterns through the blue and the grass was probably the greenest it will ever be this winter. 

Lucas Valley keyhole to view of Mt Diablo

The views through the velvet hills down to the bay were stunning. The uphill climbs were stunning too!  Below, we are heading up to Big Rock Ridge, elevation 1895', the second-highest point in Marin County (Mt. Tam is 2572').  Mountain lions and golden eagles are common in this quiet region of Marin.

The poppies have announced the arrival of Spring!

Lucas Valley Open Space Preserve

We ate chocolate at the top, then turned around and backtracked down the switchbacks. When the trail is finished, it will continue north to the next finished section in Indian Tree Open Space Preserve in Novato.

San Francisco Bay from Big Rock Ridge, elevation 1895'

Donna and David look out to the northeast from Big Rock Ridge

More pictures from this gorgeous day are here.

Salmon in Papermill Creek

Shafter Grade morning

February 1, 2014

Map that inspired part of today's walk: http://www.ridgetrail.org/index.php/samuel-p-taylor-to-loma-alta

We did see salmon in the creek in Samuel P. Taylor Park. They were building their redd in the streambed under the Shafter Bridge. But that was at the end of our day!

We started our hike early Saturday morning in the cold air (32 degrees F). Steep Shafter Grade warmed us up and we were back on the Ridge Trail in the sun atop Bolinas Ridge.

Not long after we started on the ridge, a long view north revealed Tomales Bay, the water glistening between Inverness Ridge and Black Mountain. 

We passed a craggy, grey lichen-encrusted rock that David and Molly assumed correctly was graywacke.

The trail follows the ridge for 4 miles through present day grazing lands. Homesteaders planted eucalyptus and fruit trees on these dairy ranches, which are the only remnants of their time spent here.

We then dropped down to the railroad grade that runs alongside Papermill Creek in Taylor Park for the remainder of the hike. Cool and damp air surrounded us in this shady redwood and bay forest. 

We finished the day gazing at the four salmon, who by magnetoception have returned to where they hatched in this exact spot to build their redd. They looked ragged and scarred, but still vigorously swam and swished their way up the shallow rocky creek. 

Click here for more photos of our great day!

Hiking in Donna's Hometown

Loma Alta from Camp Tamarancho, Fairfax

Day 9 on the trail: Shafter bridge at the Inkwells to near White's Hill in Fairfax

Parts of maps used on this leg:

http://www.ridgetrail.org/index.php/samuel-p-taylor-to-loma-alta

http://www.ridgetrail.org/index.php/loma-alta-to-lucas-valley

We hiked in the territory of Donna's youth. She rambled over these trails while growing up in the hills of Fairfax, falling in love with hiking, viewing and tree-climbing!

We were joined by lots of Donna's family, as they were excited to hike on trails not often traveled, even though they are in their backyards.

We got on the Ridge Trail up the hill from Shafter Bridge, and hiked in the fog through the open grasslands.

By the time we got up a bit higher, we saw the junipers and scrubby manzanita and rocky-lichen terrain of the ridge by White's Hill.

The finish was off the Ridge Trail proper, as we wanted to end up in the home of Donna's mom, where Donna grew up, which is just down the trail from the Boy Scout's "Camp Tamarancho."

More photos of this great day here!