July 10, 2021 Rocky Mouth Falls

 July 10, 2021

Rocky Mouth Falls

hikers: Ethan, Lecia, Mark

distance: about a mile, since we went a little way on the spur that goes to the bonneville shoreline trail.

elevation gain:  just under 300 feet.

This is such a fun and convenient little hike.  It has been on this blog before and that is because we do it at least once every summer.  

It's easy to get to, easy to hike (and a good hike for kids although we didn't have any with us), a good hike and worthwhile destination.

This is next to the parking lot where you start the hike, just off Wasatch Blvd.  Surprisingly we almost always find a parking spot although we have parked on Wasatch Blvd. before.

First park of the hike is these stairs. At the top is a sign that points you in the right direction to go through a neighborhood.

Walking through the neighborhood to get to the trailhead.

trailhead

First part of the trail.

A sign points the way to go.  If you veer right it takes you to the Bonneville shoreline trail.  On our way back we took this trail for a little ways.

The falls!  There wasn't a lot of water and it doesn't look very exciting but even without water this is a cool place.  Literally.  It is beautiful and lots of rocks and this time we hardly saw any people.  Sometimes it is crowded with people.  There are rocks you can sit on and it is very pleasant.

As I said before, on the way back we took a split off the main trail that leads to the Bonneville shoreline trail.  

We crossed this bridge and headed up the trail a ways.  There were some good views on the trail but we didn't go far before turning around.

When we were driving home we stopped at Hidden Valley Park because we saw this big, beautiful American Flag flying in a nearby canyon. 

I walked over towards the canyon to get a better look.  The flag was so beautiful in the breeze.  Turns out it is only up between the 4th of July and the 24th of July so we were lucky to be over there and see it!  

Little Willow Canyon is a hike we could do another day.  Maybe next Summer in the middle of July so we can see the flag!

June 26, 2021 Browns Valley Open Space

June 26, 2021

 Browns Valley open space

Vacaville, CA

hikers: Brian, Carol, Mark, Lecia, and Bailey the dog.

distance: we went a couple of miles. We hiked to the top of a hill with a view, and back the same way.

    We spent the night at Brian and Carol's home and the next morning they took us on a hike.  The trailhead was just a couple of blocks from their house so we walked there.  Isn't that great to have hiking so close to home?

They like to bring their grandsons, who are maybe 6 and 8ish, here to hike when they are in town.  

    It looks dry and barren.  Much of it was this time of year with the recent hot weather .  It was a good thing we went in the morning because there isn't a lot of shade.  It wouldn't be pleasant on a hot afternoon.  

                                                 There were a few things growing.

It is uphill.  The further you go the better the view.  

This is Bailey.  Brian borrowed her from his neighbor for the hike. We came to a huge rock and Bailey was ready for a rest.  

There were some trees and this one had a really fun rope swing!

At the top of the hill was a bench,

and a nice view of Vacaville!

Bailey kept the pace nice and slow for the rest of us but on the way down 

it was too much for her.  Brian helped her out.  You can see she is not a small dog. 

 June 25, 2021

Pirate's Cove

near Muir Beach

hikers:  Mark & Lecia

distance:  3.6 miles, out and back.  elevation gain 820 feet

difficulty: I would say it is medium hard because of the distance and it has some steep parts. The short scramble down to the cove is definitely difficult but  but doable. 

This is not a shaded hike. Wear sunscreen. The trail at the beginning is a road and it's pretty steep, and the short scramble to the cove is a very steep and rocky trail.  The rest is up and down the coastal hills. Not a good hike for very young children, but older kids, anyone who can walk 3 and a half miles, would really really like Pirate's Cove!  It is definitely worth it.  You should be aware of the tides as it is a small beach and I don't know what it is like at high tide.

This was a really fun hike because destination was so great!

Pirates' Cove isn't really that far down the coast from Muir beach, but other than by boat the only way to get there is to hike there!  That makes it a secluded and private beach.  But we weren't the only hikers and there were some other people there  besides us.  But is was definitely worth the hike.

We started at the Muir Beach parking lot.  There was a sign that showed us the nearby trails.

We walked across the bridge, as shown on the map, and instead of going down to the beach we turned left to go to the Coastal trail. The entire trail is near the coast but up above the bluff.

This pointed us in the right direction.  

We saw lots of California Poppies, the state flower.

This is the steep part of the trail that is a road. 

 A picture just doesn't capture the angle quite right.  

Not all of the trail is a road.  Much of it is like this.

As I mentioned there are a lot of hills.  You get to the top of one and see that the trail just goes on and on.

There are some beautiful ocean views!  That is what makes it a great hike.

 

We went over this picturesque bridge.

And had more fantastic ocean views!

Then we saw the trail goes on and on!   My  thought was "oh no we have to go up those stairs!"

But right before the stairs was the turn off to Pirates Cove!  

On the way down.

This is from the bottom looking up.

This little cove is the reward for hiking!  And it was well worth it.  There were a few other people there when we arrived, but we hardly saw them and it felt secluded.

And this was lunch!  We picked up some sandwiches at Panera before we headed to Muir Beach and this vegetarian sandwich and the kitchen sink cookie were excellent choices!

After spending some time at Pirates Cove we scrambled back up the trail to this point where the stairs go towards Tennessee Valley.  We decided to go up that trail a little ways after all.

So up we went.  Mark went further than I did.  

Then we turned around and headed back towards Muir Beach.  

There were other people on the trail but it was not crowded.

I believe that is San Francisco in the background.

And here is Muir Beach.  

We walked down to the beach and looked around before we left. 

We brought our kids to this beach many, many years ago and it has good memories!  

 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!