hiking &pictures ranjeet on 15 Aug 2009 08:11 pm
Cataract Falls/Potrero Meadows, Mount Tamalpais, June 2009
For this outing (June 21st), I was planning on trying out Mount Diablo, in East Bay. However, it was forecast to be pretty hot, so I decided to pick a hike that would be cooler, temperature wise. For the most part, that means the coast. Since I had never been, I made the drive up north of San Francisco, a hike-rich area that includes Muir Woods, Point Reyes Nat’l Seashore, the Marin Headlands, and my destination, Mount Tamalpais State Park. However, I was not alone with this idea, as it seemed like half of San Francisco was up there with me. Once past the Golden Gate, I saw signs letting me now that the Muir woods parking lot was full. Luckily, I was heading to a trailhead that wasn’t quite as popular. I had just received my first trail book in the mail, and had picked out a 7ish mile hike. Starting at the Rock Springs Trailhead, I started on the Cataract Trail, which follows the Cataract Creek on it’s way to Alpine Lake. From the Cataract Trail, I then continued on the High Marsh, Kent, and Benstein Trails to make a large loop. Although this was only supposed to be a 6.5 mile hike, I missed the turn from Cataract to High Marsh…so it ended up being more of a 10 mile hike. Because of the varied cover and the topography, this hike wasn’t much for the vistas (except in the parking lot). However, the varied landscape, moving from Douglas fir forest through chapparal and meadow, made for a real enjoyable hike. Once off the Cataract Trail, it was blissfully uncrowded, with few intrusions to break the illusion of solitude. I give this hike an A.
Flick set here.
Slideshow below.
Pictures after the jump.
So, I can’t say that I’ve seen much "wildlife" on my hikes. But I have seen plenty of lizards. When I told people that I’ve been hiking, the first question that someone asked was "Did you see any rattlesnakes?" That put me off for a second, because I was thinking "Why would I be seeing rattlesnakes?" Then I find out that yeah, California has rattlesnakes. People in California ask me about snakes. Everyone else asks me about bears.
One thing that some trees have to deal with is a constantly eroding floor beneath their feet. I felt bad for this tree, because it was clearly hanging on for dear life. Hopefully it ends up winning the good fight.
This reminded me of the movie that The Matrix ripped off, Dark City. I assume that the swirl was put there by whoever cut down that tree, but it would be totally awesome if that mark was natural.
When they decide to lay out these hikes, I wonder if they consider just how many bridges they’ll need to build. Because on this one segment of the hike, probably only 1.5 miles, there were three or four bridges. My guess is that they were heavily invested in bridge-making companies. Either that or some boy scouts were trying to get their bridge-making badges.
While not very impressive on this first day of summer (hasn’t rained very much recently), this section of the trail followed a babbled creek as it made it’s way to Alpine Lake. Along the way, there were quite a few sections of cascades. I followed this trail for about 1.5 miles and 500 feet of descent before I realized that I had missed a turn, and had to backtrack.
You see, instead of continuing on the Cataract trail (which I’m glad I did), I was supposed turn right onto the high marsh trail, which quickly pops up out of the trees and into the sun for half a mile or so.
This picture was taken about an hour after the previous picture. In the interval between pictures, there wasn’t really anything picture worthy; I was just in a forest of Douglas Firs and such. While the Cataract trail was bustling with people and their dogs, the High Marsh trail was devoid of almost all traffic. I came across another couple who were as unsure of the trail as I was. It turns out, we were both following the same guidebook, so we couldn’t be positive that was all just a trap. Many of the checkpoints, like "you will cross a creek", weren’t applicable because all the creeks were bone dry. However, I just reasoned that since I was on a trail, and that trail had to go somewhere, I just forged ahead, and luckily I was on the right track all along. Here I am on the Kent Trail, I think, poking out of the trees once again. I saw either a small coyote or a large fox around here, but it quickly scampered away before I could take a picture.
I think these are azaleas. I’m not much of a flower person, but my guidebook said to look for. So if you don’t find this picture interesting, blame the book, not me.
Well, okay, I’m not on Mt. Tam. This is from a hill about 500 feet from the parking lot, and from the top you can just see Downtown S.F, the Bay Bridge, and an inkling of Oakland.
Before I left the parking lot, I saw a doe and her foal in this field. Can you imagine! Deer! In America! It was so amazing that I had to take a picture.