As of today, Dick Jordan has stopped posting updates to the WordPress.com version of the blog (http://meanderinginmarinontuesdays.wordpress.com) which he set up to mirror the Blogger version of the blogger before it was “optimized” for viewing on mobile devices.

The hike dates and a link to the on-line copy of the hike details can also be found on the “Upcoming Hikes”  page on the Meandering blog.

Remember to bring plate, utensils, cups, and a delicious dish to share at the post-hike luncheon.

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!

Directions to trailhead: Meet at Deer Park to carpool. Take Bolinas Avenue in Fairfax, turn left on Porteous. (If you see Deer Park Villa you’ve gone a bit too far, turn around.) Go to the parking lot at the end. Drivers leave food in cars at Deer Park.  Shuttle drivers will take us to the parking area just beyond the Sky Oaks pay station and leave their cars there.

The day use fee is $8.  You can use $1, $5, or $10 bills and coins at the automated pay station, or a Visa or Mastercard. Annual entrance passes are normally $60 ($30 for those 62 and older), but after September 1st you can buy one for half of those prices and the pass will be valid through January 31, 2011.  (You can pay the annual pass fee at the automated pay station.  Keep one part of the receipt which is a temporary pass good for two weeks, then: 1) stop at the Sky Oaks Ranger Station on the way out and ask them to send the other half of your receipt to the main office in Corte Madera which will issue the permanent pass and mail it to you, or 2) send or take the receipt to the main office yourself).

Restrooms at Deer Park and portable at Sky Oaks, and porta-potty en route. Carpool from St. Rita Church in Fairfax at 9:25 a.m.

Weather forecast: As of Thursday, January 20, the National Weather Service forecast for the hike was mostly sunny with a high near 60.  (Click here for an updated forecast).

More on this hike: The Martins’ book, Hiking Marin, does not have a hike that matches this one.  But their hikes “C 12 Taylor-Concrete Pipe-Bullfrog FR” and “C7 Deer Park FR-Canyon-Six Points” shows the the general area where we will be hiking as does the MMWD watershed map.

A map of the closed section is available at:

http://www.marinwater.org/documents/AlpineDamClosure.pdf

For more information, please contact:

Dick Paulson

MMWD Senior Construction Inspector

Tele: 415-945-1569

or go to MMWD > Construction Updates at marinwater.org

There is an elevation gain of about 600’.

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!

Directions to meeting point: Meet 0.2 miles past the Shafter Bridge (and Cronin Fish Viewing Area parking lot) in Samuel P. Taylor State Park. There is some parking along the road here. We’ll leave some cars and carpool to Conifer Way in Woodacre.  No restrooms at trailhead. Carpool from St. Rita Church in Fairfax at 9:20 a.m.

Directions to trailhead from meeting point: For those who will drive to the trailhead from the meeting point, here are directions to Conifer Way: Go east on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard. Turn right on Railroad Avenue. Set your odometer when you turn right on Carson Road. At the 0.6 mile mark you will see a sign saying Ivy that makes you think the name of the street as changed. Go right and you will still be on Carson. Go 0.2 miles to the junction of Carson and Conifer Way. (There is another junction of Carson and Conifer which you will pass and ignore.) Cars that can do an “unmaintained road” can turn left on Conifer Way and go to the top to park. Others with low clearance (like the Prius!) park at Carson and Conifer and we’ll walk up.

Weather forecast: As of Tuesday, January 11, the National Weather Service forecast for the hike was sunny with a high near 65. (Click here for an updated forecast).

More on this hike: On this outing we’ll be hiking through the County of Marin’s Gary Giacomini Open Space Preserve. After starting up the Conifer Fire Road, then head west along the San Geronimo Ridge Fire Road. (Click here for the MCOS District map which shows these trails). Barry Spitz’ book, Open Spaces: Lands of the Marin County Open Space District, discusses this area.
The following Google Earth image shows the area we’ll be hiking through; click on it to open a larger image in your Web browser:

If you discover any thing else on the blog that isn’t working properly, be sure to e-mail Dick Jordan so he can beat on those IT dogs and get it fixed ASAP.

After our usual roundtable discussion, we headed up the steep, rocky Pine Mountain Fire Road.  The trail climbs a little over 300’ in the first mile to Oat Hill Road (which heads south and provides access to Little Carson Falls which we visited during our 2009 hike).

This time we skipped the side trip to those falls and continued westward for another four-tenths of a mile over a somewhat level section of the route until we met the junction of the Pine Mountain Fire Road (which swings south) and the San Geronimo Ridge Fire Road.  Along this chaparral-lined stretch we encountered Dark-Eyed Juncos, a Meadowlark, a Scrub Jay, and a Kestrel “kiting” (hovering over the brushy slope looking for a late morning snack).

After another three-tenths of a mile and a couple hours into the hike we arrived at the intersection of the San Geronimo Ridge Fire Road and the Cascade Fire Road (shown as the “Repack Road” on some maps) where we had stopped for lunch during our 2009 hike.  But since we had skipped Little Carson, we decided to put off our midday meal and began the long descent toward Cascade Canyon.

The Cascade Fire Road runs roughly northeast so over our right shoulders we could look back to the East Peak of Mount Tamalpais as well as straight ahead to a waterfall plunging down White Hill into Cascade Canyon, and over Fairfax and Terra Linda to the Bay.  Although this part of the MMWD watershed covers a largely treeless terrain, we did find a few mushrooms (including one that smells a bit like the inside of a cedar chest) pushing up through the soil in shady spots.

We paused for lunch about 1:15 pm at one of the few level spots along the road.  The sunshine warmed us up and we gazed at Tam while filling our stomachs.

Less than half an hour later we were hiking passed a stand of madrone trees still heavy with berries.  The first Indian Warrior of 2011 poked its head toward us in a sign that true Spring was not that far away.

Within another thirty minutes we had entered  what the County of Marin Open Space District is now calling the “Cascade Canyon Nature Preserve.”  A left turn took us two-tenths of a mile up a narrow side canyon to roaring Cascade Falls.

After retracing our steps to the floor of Cascade Canyon, we crossed a bridge and walked another three-tenths of a mile until ending the hike where some of us had left our cars parked at the end of Cascade Drive.  In 2009 water levels were low enough for us to cross the stream that runs along the canyon bottom and take the wide fire road on the south side of the canyon.  This time the rushing water forced us to make our way along much narrower trail that runs along the the north face of the canyon.

After knocking the mud off our boots, we climbed into the waiting vehicles and shuttled those who had parked at the trailhead back to their cars.  About five hours after we started out we were headed home having hiked about four and a half miles, ascending a little over 400’ to the highest point from the trailhead, and then dropping down to about 200’ above sea level at the end.

You can view them on the blog or click here to go to the on-line album.

Dick Jordan spoke to the Sky Oaks Ranger Station on Monday and confirmed that the road will be open for our Alpine-Bon Tempe hike tomorrow, Tuesday, January 11.  However, the ranger staff has been told that the closure will occur by the Meadow Club which means that you will not be able to drive to the parking area for the Pine Mountain Fire Road (where we met for last week’s hike into the Elliott Nature Preserve).

If you are planning on driving the Fairfax-Bolinas Road in January you should call the MMWD Public Information number (415) 945-1438 to find out if the road is open.  (You can also try the Mt. Tam Watershed number, (415) 945-1181 which may have recorded information or allow you to speak directly to a ranger at Sky Oaks).

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!

Directions to trailhead: Take the Fairfax-Bolinas Road. Turn in as you would to go to Lake Lagunitas. After the ranger station at Sky Oaks (but before Shaver Grade) there is an unpaved road to the right. Take this to Lake Bon Tempe and park.  MEET HERE AT 9:15 a.m. Porta potties are in the parking lot. (Click here for directions from the MMWD Web site).

From Bon Tempe we’ll carpool to the trailhead (near Alpine Dam). Do not pay the $8 day use fee at the Sky Oaks entrance kiosk if you plan to take people to the trailhead. (You can use $1, $5, or $10 bills and coins at the automated pay station, or a Visa or Mastercard. Annual entrance passes are normally $60 ($30 for those 62 and older), but after September 1st you can buy one for half of those prices and the pass will be valid through January 31, 2011.  (You can pay the annual pass fee at the automated pay station.  Keep one part of the receipt which is a temporary pass good for two weeks, then: 1) stop at the Sky Oaks Ranger Station on the way out and ask them to send the other half of your receipt to the main office in Corte Madera which will issue the permanent pass and mail it to you, or 2) send or take the receipt to the main office yourself).

We’ll need people who are not in a rush to take the driver’s back to their cars parked near Alpine Dam.

Carpool leaves St. Rita Church in Fairfax at 8:55 a.m.

Weather forecast: As of January 4th, the National Weather Service forecast for this area during the hike was mostly cloudy, with a high near 57 and a slight chance of rain. (Click here for an updated forecast).

More on this hike: There is no comparable hike in the Martins’ book, Hiking Marin, but we’ll begin our hike just past the dam at Alpine Lake and head east on the Helen Markt Trail, eventually pick up one of the fire roads, and wind our way back to Bon Tempe Lake. (Click here to view, zoom in on, or print a map of the MWWD watershed lands).