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!

Days 7 and 8: Mt. Tamalpais

November 2-3, 2013

Stinson Beach and Bolinas from Bolinas Ridge

Maps used on this 2-day leg are:

http://www.ridgetrail.org/index.php/golden-gate-bridge-to-tennessee-valley

http://www.ridgetrail.org/index.php/tennessee-valley-to-shoreline-highway

http://www.ridgetrail.org/index.php/dias-ridge

http://www.ridgetrail.org/index.php/mount-tamalpais-state-park

http://www.ridgetrail.org/index.php/mount-tamalpais-state-park-and-ggnra

http://www.ridgetrail.org/index.php/ggnra-and-samuel-p-taylor-state-park

We were joined by our cheerful and indefatigable walking friend David again, this time for a 30-mile overnighter.  Donna and I left a car in the Presidio at her friend Mary's house.  Mary drove us to the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge, where we met David, who'd walked there from his house.  Our first day out was approximately 15 miles long; David's was over 20.

Here is the north end of the bridge at about 9:00 Saturday morning.

An hour later or so, we had our first view of Mt. Tam.  The mountain's elevation is 2575' currently; it used to be over 2600' tall before the summit was graded for the installation of radar equipment.

We will spend tonight near the summit at the Pan Toll campground.  There are walk-in sites -- no reservation necessary!  We found a great site, visited with a camping chef who is getting ready to open an unusual Thai restaurant in downtown San Francisco, and we cooked our morning oatmeal on Sunday over a fire due to a balky backpacking stove.

Day 2: Mt. Tam and the Bolinas Ridge (below) are bits of the North American Plate which have been pushed up as the plate slides over and along the Pacific Plate.  More evidence of this plate-to-plate interaction is the preponderance along the trail of green-black serpentinite, which is formed underwater at the interface.  Serpentine is our state rock.

We will now be firmly on the North American Plate for the rest of our round-the-bay walk.  

Mt. Tam State Park 

Sunday afternoon: Lagunitas Creek. and the end of our beautiful 2-day trek.  You can find more photos and information about this leg here.

Day 6: San Francisco, the Beautiful City

Painted from the Bay Area Ridge Trail in the Presidio, San Francisco

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Today we walk clear across San Francisco, from the southwest to Sausalito.  The official maps we are using are:

http://www.ridgetrail.org/index.php/fort-funston-to-stern-grove

http://www.ridgetrail.org/index.php/stern-grove-to-the-presidio

http://www.ridgetrail.org/index.php/san-francisco-presidio

http://www.ridgetrail.org/index.php/golden-gate-bridge

However, we have charted our own course today thanks to our San Franciscan friend David, who walks these streets all the time, and really knows his way around.  What's more, Ft. Funston was closed due to the shutdown of the federal government, so we started slightly north of there, on Brotherhood Way, and walked across the Lake Merced neighborhood.

Our route, in a nutshell, was: Brotherhood Way, Merced Heights, Joost St., Glen Canyon, Twin Peaks, Mt. Sutro, Golden Gate Park, the Presidio, and the Golden Gate Bridge.  It was a perfect walk for a perfectly sunny day.

Our crew today includes friends Suzanne, Julia, David, and Jonathan (for a bit at the beginning).

We are looking at the view, visible in the photo below.  We have just walked up the hill from Brotherhood Way and Temple Beth Israel-Judea to Merced Heights.

Walking along Joost Street, named after Behrend Joost.  You can read about him here.

Scaling Mt. Sutro

Finishing up a terrific 15-mile walk.  Thanks, David, for the excellent route.

More photos from the day here.

Day 5: We amble beside the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean near Ft. Funston

Sunday, September 16, 2013

Maps used creatively today: 

Sweeney Ridge to Milagra Ridge

Mussel Rock to Fort Funston


Eight of us today -- our biggest group yet!  Donna and I walked to San Francisco today with Julia, Amy, Sandra, Katarina (visiting from Germany), David, and Peter.  As we descended Sweeney Ridge at around 10 in the morning, the fog began to clear.

This is the view of Pacifica and the Pacific from Milagra Ridge.

Here is Mussel Rock, a remnant of the Farallon Plate, which now lies mostly underneath the North American Plate.  The ancient seafloor that makes up Mussel Rock is much older and much more erosionally resistant than the 3-million-year-old sedimentary Merced Formation on the coast.

The epicenter of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake is about 2 miles offshore to the north of Mussel Rock.

This landslide above Mussel Rock was triggered by the 1906 earthquake.  The houses are more recent.

After much debate and careful consideration, Donna goes for it.  Fort Funston is two miles away up the beach.  As long as it's low tide and there's no catastrophic earthquake, this option is probably safe enough.  All eight of us made it.

More photos from today here!

Day 4: San Francisco Watershed

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Today's map: http://www.ridgetrail.org/index.php/san-francisco-watershed-trail

We have chosen a perfectly gorgeous day for a 13-mile walk, part of which is inside a protected area of the SF watershed.  Our group today includes Beth, docent Bob, and Molly's son Alex.  Bob is a volunteer who leads walks (and unlocks gates) on the Fifield-Cahill Ridge Trail, and he's a wonderful trail companion, as well.  Thank you, Bob!

Here we are climbing up to Sweeney Ridge from the Sneath Lane gate.  Behind us to the right is Crystal Springs Reservoir, which lies in the valley formed by the San Andreas Fault.  We're on the Pacific Plate today.

Montara Mountain from the east.  This 1,898-foot-tall granite peak has traveled northward a few hundred miles from the granitic formation that extends from Los Angeles to the Sierra Nevada.  The base of the mountain has serpentine-rich soil derived from sea floor at the point where one plate moves under another.

This mile marker was used by a mountain lion as a scratching post.

Nine miles in; four to go!  Thanks for joining us today, Beth, Bob, and Alex!

This is a link to more photos from today.

Foggy day on the Ridge Trail

Wunderlich County Park is cold and almost rainy this July morning!  

Foggy beginning

July 16, 2013

Maps used today:

Wunderlich County Park to Huddart County Park

Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve



Today we are joined by Boyd as well as our friend Richard.  Our route takes us through dense, moist, and utterly beautiful redwoods, firs, oaks, and madrones as we make our way up along Purisima Canyon toward Kings Mountain.  Coming out of the redwoods into the sun at the top of the canyon, we are now in the San Francisco Bay watershed. 

Slug Love

We met a hiker practicing for the John Muir Trail -- he hikes down into the canyon and back up twice per outing for a few thousand feet of elevation change, while carrying a 30-pound pack.  He and his daughter leave for the JMT in two weeks. 

Madrones

  
Click on this link for more photos.