Perfect day on Mt. Tam

The pictures do not do justice to the wide variety of scenery that twelve of us saw on our lovely hike on Mt. Tam on Saturday, May 23. And the temperature was cool and comfortable the whole day. Part of the reason for the cool temperature was the fog that shrouded the parts of the mountain that were exposed to the coast. This meant that the view of the ocean that we would have had along the coastal trail section of our hike was hidden in a fog bank. But the drifting fog painted the coastal scenery in its own beauty.

Much of the hike traversed well shaded winding paths through old wooded forests that were shielded from the fog. In these areas it almost felt like we were walking through a rain forest with old gnarled tree trunks covered in fuzzy moss, filtered sunlight, chirping birds, and many small creeks. When we got to Cataract Trail, we stopped for a pleasant lunch break, sitting on some fallen logs in the shaded forest.

(Click on photos for larger view)



We started out from Rock Spring trail head and did a loop hike down to Pantoll station, then along the Coastal Trail, and back around to Rock Spring via the Cataract Trail. It was approximately seven miles and we completed the hike in about four hours including a lunch break (from about 10 a.m to 2 p.m.).

Saturday morning workout hike, a success

Well I'll be a monkey's uncle -- I think we have stumbled onto something here. Fourteen well conditioned hikers turned out for our first official Saturday morning workout hike on May 16. Several hiker's mentioned that they liked the idea of a good workout and then getting back before noon to get "stuff" done.
"Stuff" probably includes housework, shopping and, who knows, maybe a good soak in the tub and a nap.

The hike went very well. We drove a little way up Mt. Diablo on North Gate Road and then set off hiking at a quick pace toward Camel Rock. Several hikers made the 1.25 miles (and 500 vertical feet) up to Camel Rock in well under 30 minutes and most everyone made it in under 35 minutes.

Unfortunately, the hoped for wild turkeys were a no show, but we did see a red winged blackbird.

About half of the group hung out in the shade of Camel Rock while the remainder of us scrambled up two very steep and slippery sections of Burma Road . This section gained another 500 vertical feet in about a half mile. Due to the heat we decided to beat a hasty retreat and skip the last half mile and 300 vertical feet.



Everyone who attended this hike will now be "Charter" members of our new group and will be entitled to a total of three votes in choosing a name for our group.

Please consider joining us for our next Saturday half day workout hike which will be on Saturday, May 30. Stay tuned for an email message with more details a few days before the hike.

Regards,
Bob Colby, Trip Leader

Spectacular Alamere Falls hike

On Saturday, May 9, 12 hikers turned out for our spectacular hike to Alamere Falls at Point Reyes National Seashore. It was a perfect day with blue skies and light winds and a perfect hike -- well, almost. One car missed the turn from US Route 1 to the Bolinas Road. This happens all too often because the local "yokels" remove the signpost thinking it may deter visitors from coming through their neighborhood. It doesn't work; it just slows us down a bit. To shorten a long story, the missing hikers showed up on the beach only about 20 minutes behind the main group.

(Enjoy the photos. Click on photo for larger view.)



As always the waterfalls, wildflowers and wildlife were incredible. A flock of pelicans coasted about 10 feet above our heads shortly after we stopped on the beach near the main waterfall. The only bad part about this hike is that it is so hard to leave this beautiful paradise.

If you want to do this hike on your own, drive exactly 4.5 miles past Stinson's Beach (stopsign) and turn left on the road to Bolinas. Turn right on Mesa Road and go to the end to the trailhead.