Ano Nuevo State Park Hike, August 8, 2013

As the summer draws to a close, my son and I have been hiking together once a week. Yesterday we visited Ano Nuevo.

Reading about elephant seals

Top of the dune!

This time of year the adult male elephant seals are molting, so our observations of them were not exactly action-packed. However, we did see harbor seals in the ocean and a ton of gorgeous blue dragonflies. It was a perfect day for hiking on the coast -- not too hot with fog blowing in.

This hike is featured in my 60 Hikes book, although note that the trail names are shown wrong on my map and described incorrectly in the text. Pond and Ano Nuevo Point Trail are reversed. The park changed  them sometime in the past 10 years and I didn't notice it until checking yesterday.

Tennesee Valley Hike, August 6, 2013

Old Springs Trail, descending into Tennessee Valley

I'd been meaning to update my Tennessee Valley page for years. Every time I  read the outdated description I started pining for the old Miwok Trail segment that's been closed now for hmm, maybe 15 years. Not sure why I miss the trail, it was so steep and rutted. I suppose I liked it because it offered a choice of a trail rather than a fire road. You can still make out the path on satellite images. Oh, well, the past is past and that trail is not coming back.

Snowberries on Old Spring Trail

It was a foggy morning at the ridgeline, so I didn't get to enjoy the usual spectacular views. It's definitely fruit season for the local coyotes -- lots of coffeeberry-studded scat on the trails. I chuckled watching a few young birds on Old Springs Trail. This is their first summer, and the scrub jays and spotted towhees were spreading their wings (literally) away from their parents, with comical awkward flying and panicky chirping. No doubt they are enjoying the tasty fruit on the trailside blackberry brambles (I know I did).

Lower Old Springs Trail

I fell in love all over again with Old Springs Trail. The views, the little boardwalks, the lush trailside scenery and rock formations... what a wonderful trail. A few last lingering wild roses were blooming before their transformation into rosehips. Ghostly snowberries, pink-hued thistles, and a few vivid paintbrush flowers along the trail splashed some color onto the drab summer army coat worn by these hills. I'm enjoying the foggy summer, but looking forward to coming back in winter.

 

Mountain Home-Muir Woods Loop, July 31, 2013

Bootjack Trail

Although we had a mild, dry winter, the forested slopes above Muir Woods had several slides this past year. Segments of Troop 80, Bootjack, and Fern Creek trails were rebuilt and rerouted. The Troop 80 reroute switchbacks uphill away from a slide, with a lovely rock retaining wall keeping the trail secure. Bootjack now crosses the creek and sweeps easily down (or up, depending on how you hike it) through the woods to the Bootjack bridge, parts of which were also rebuilt. When I got to Fern Creek, I honestly couldn't remember exactly where the trail ran past the Kent Tree, but I think the new section crosses, then recrosses the creek. Lost Trail was exactly the same, although it needs some TLC in sections.

Bootjack Trail

I encountered no hikers at all on Troop 80 and only saw a few hikers on the last part of Bootjack, near Muir Woods. Lost Trail was hopping, with many tourists making a loop out of it in combination with Ocean View.

Ceanothus

I was surprised to find all the huckleberries already eaten! Only a few bushes down in the flats of Bootjack held some stragglers. However, it looks to be an excellent blackberry year, with massive berries nearly ripe on the trail from the upper section of Ocean View Trail to Mountain Home (I noticed some bushes ripe for the picking while driving on Panoramic as well). As expected, nearly all the annual wildflowers were done for the year. I saw some buckwheat along Alice Eastwood, a smattering of clarkia at the edge of  Van Wyck Meadow, and a nice bunch of sticky rosinweed on Troop 80 spur. On Troop 80 and Bootjack within 1/2 mile of Van Wyck Meadow an occasional Indian pink brightened the sides of the trail. But what did I see on Troop 80 spur? A blooming ceanothus! Don't know this one. Bigleaf maples were beginning to think about autumn on Bootjack Trail.

This hike is included in my book, 60 Hikes in 60 Miles: San Francisco, 3rd edition, just out in bookstores now! Read more about the hike on Bay Area Hiker.