June 24, 2021

Chimney Rock Hike at Point Reyes National Seashore

hikers:  Mark and Lecia

distance:  1.7 miles out and back

difficulty: easy since it is short and pretty flat.

The Chimney Rock hike is the short line marked in yellow.  It was about a 45 minute drive from the visitor center and the trail sits on the very eastern point of Point Reyes. It's quite remote but there is a house near the trailhead!  There are some ranches in that area of Point Reyes.  

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You don't get lost on this trail although there are opportunities to stray as you will see later.

The historic Chimney Rock lifeboat station as seen from the trail above, since we didn't walk down there.  

There are a lot of trails that leave the main trail and go closer to the edge of the cliffs above the ocean.  We saw people on some of these trails.  

They are all marked with a sign that declares they are unauthorized trails.  They obviously feel a need to put up warning signs.  hmmm. 

These are the kinds of view of the ocean you get from this peninsula.

Some kind of survey marker.

You can see that it was windy up on this peninsula above the ocean.

The view at the tip!

One really cool thing about this hike was the wildlife we saw.  Mark heard an owl and we were able to spot him in some trees.  There aren't many trees on most of the hike but there several near the house I mentioned earlier.  

I have never seen an owl in the wild and it was quite amazing!

Not too far from the Chimney Rock parking lot is a trail that goes to  a colony or community, whatever it is you call a lot of elephant seals!  The trail was closed this time of year, but we were able to see them from a distance.  Some other tourists pointed them out to us or we might have missed them.  This photo is really zoomed in .  If you watched closely you could see them moving and then you knew it wasn't just rocks!

 June 24, 2021

Limantour Beach

At Point Reyes National Seashore: 

from youth hostel on coast trail to the beach and back on Muddy Hollow Trail.

hikers:  Mark and Lecia

distance: about a 4.9 mile loop and 200 feet of elevation drop and then gain.

We parked near the hostel and headed down the Coast Trail, which is really a road.  You can park near Limantour beach if you don't want to hike.  But hiking is our thing and part of the adventure.  Here is a map with our hike in orange

This was the start of the coastal trail, just across the road from the hostel.

Besides the deer we saw other hikers going both directions but it wasn't busy.  When we got to the beach, it was pretty secluded.   It was the south end of Limantour Beach or maybe the Santa Maria Beach.  At least that is what I think after looking at the map afterwards.  While we were enjoying the view and the loudness of the waves, I didn't even know there was more than one beach, since it is all connected. I didn't realize how long of a beach it is.

It was very pleasant and we had a log to sit on and eat our picnic lunch from Subway.  It was an enjoyable place to spend some time and we were mostly by ourselves.  The sand was crusty and you could pick up a piece.  

When we were ready to go back we went on over to Limantour beach.  

This is the sign as you are heading to Limantour beach from the parking lot.  You also cross this bridge going from the parking lot to the beach.  

And there are restrooms here.  

But instead of going to the parking lot we took the Muddy Hollow Trail. 

This trail was very pretty.  

 

Prettiest dandelions I've ever seen!

After a while you leave the open areas and are in shady paths. 

 We saw beautiful wildflowers and lots of quail, the California State bird!

The muddy hollow trail connects to the muddy hollow road, as you can see 

on the map, and that crosses Limantour Road and you are back to the hostel!

 

June, 23, 2021

 June 21, 2021

Coastal Trail, Lagoon Trail Loop to Rodeo Beach

Golden Gate National Recreation Area

hikers:  Mark and Lecia

distance:  a mile and a half loop, easy.

There is actually parking at Rodeo beach but we wanted a little walk so we parked in the parking lot for the Marin Headlands Visitor Center, which was closed unfortunately.  We took the Coastal Trail to Rodeo Beach.

That strip of sand out there is the beach 

and the water on this side of it is Rodeo Lagoon.

There's the ocean and what looks like a pile of rocks.

Only it wasn't a pile of rocks!  It was a beached whale.  A baby whale I guess 

but then I don't know a lot about whales.  It has been there for a while 

and if you are on the side away from the ocean the breeze blows your way 

and it has quite a stench!  

It was actually really cool.  Not every day you see a beached whale.  

First time ever for me!

You can see it's size compared to me.

Here is the ocean

And on the other side of the beach is the lagoon.

The white building you see on the other side of the lagoon is the visitors center, where we parked.  We walked back on the other side of the lagoon, 

the Lagoon Trail Loop.  

The coastal trail was the nicer trail because the loop trail goes along the road, but we were able to walk all the way around the lagoon on those trails.  

Monday, June 21, 2021

 Lam Watah Historic Trail at Lake Tahoe

hikers:  Mark and Lecia

length:  2.8 miles

We drove by Lake Tahoe on our way to California and saw this little trail so we tried it out.  It was a walk, not a hike, but it took us to a sandy beach, Nevada Beach, where we dipped our toes in the water and watched parasailers.  

It also had signage to tell us about the Native Americans that lived there and the  planned casino development that was halted by the Nature Conservancy. 

June 19, 2021

Pine Creek Nature Trail 

at Wasatch Mountain State Park

length: 2.5 miles, maybe shorter since we started in the campground.

hikers: the parentals, who are now Grandpa and Nana, first born son and his wife and happy little daughter, son #5 and his wife, and son #6 without his wife since he doesn't have one yet.

 

We camped overnight at the Oak Hollow loop of Wasatch Stake Park and after breakfast and packing up we went on a nearby nature trail.  It started just up the road from where we were camping.  

                                The trail started across the road from this campground.

Apparently dogs are allowed on this trail.  At the top of the post you see the sign pointing to the trail.  It starts out in the open and after going up a little ways we came to this nice bench.

We continued on the trail and there were pretty wildflowers, including this one.  It appears to be a sego lily!  I don't think I've ever seen our state flower in the wild and there were a lot! 

Once we got going up the trail it was quite shady and followed a creek bed.  We walked through the gambel oak and eventually got into maple and aspen.  

  It is an easy hike, going uphill but never steep.  There were a couple of bridges.  Some of our crew turned around at the second bridge and for those who continued on we came to a glacial outwash, which was a very large boulder field.

Geology lesson on glaciers!

Going back to the trail from the glacial outwash.

The rest of the group left us this cairn so we would know they crossed the bridge.  

Hiking back down the trail.

 I think this would be a good hike for kids.  2 year old Rosie was on shoulders most of the time.  

There weren't any hikers on the trail until we were on our way back down.  If you are camping here you should definitely do this hike.  If you're not camping you would need to pay the state park fee to do the hike.

Hike along Kayenta Gulch, May 22, 2021

                   Kayenta Gulch
                   near St. George

Hikers: Mark and Lecia

Easy, until you get to the boulders with a chain and steps cut into the stone.  At that point it is more difficult.

We were in St. George and before coming home on Saturday we went on a hike my brother recommended.  I haven't found this trail online and I don't know the name of it but we followed his directions and found the trailhead.  In Ivins we pulled off on the north side of Kwavasa Drive on a dirt road on the east side of Kayenta gulch. We parked there near a water tower for construction trucks, and headed down the dirt road which turned into a trail.

The first part of the trail is mostly flat.

It runs along the empty wash bed and has lots of trees and vegetation so you don't always see the wash, but eventually you walk in the wash.  

There is some interesting rock along the trail.

Then you come to a fence that forms kind of a gate.

Here's a peek at the empty wash.  

Lots of different vegetation.

I was watching for rattlesnakes when a bird flew out from under the shade of a rock and really startled me!  Better a bird than a rattlesnake!

There were ups and down in the trail, including these stone stairs.

 

At this point there was a little water in the wash.

And lots of red sand on the trail, and some in my shoes.

After going underneath some pipes that run up high up at ground level there are  some rocks you get to hike up.  Steps are cut into the rocks and there is a chain to hang onto.

After that the trail forks.  We chose left.  It gets very rocky and there were a few obstacles. There were a couple of pools with water.  There were lots of guppies of tadpoles swimming around in the shallower one.  We had to go around the larger pool on a sandstone ledge.  It was kind of tricky and made me wonder if we were on the right trail.  Maybe we should have gone right at the fork.

Right after that we came to some large rocks we had to climb up.  That is where I decided it might be a good idea to turn around.  After all, we had to come back the same way and I was feeling like it was enough for me.  Mark went up the rocks to scout it out but we decided stop there and turn around.  Which meant we had to go on the sandstone ledge again to get past the pool of water. We went back the same way we came and since it wasn't a really hot day for St. George it was a pleasant hike even though we were hiking in the afternoon.  We didn't see a soul the entire time!

This hike started out very easy. But eventually it became more difficult as we ran into boulders and obstacles.  My brother hikes it with his family, which includes grandchildren, and they go one way and leave a car on the road at the other end.  We did it out and back and since we didn't go all the way to the road we may have take a different fork than they do!