West Coast Fun - Hike — Spin the Compass

Oct 28

Oct 28 West Coast Fun - Hike

“Thoreau read Wordsworth, Muir read Thoreau, Teddy Roosevelt read Muir, and you got National Parks.” -Robert Hass

After the San Francisco Pen Show, I spent a few extra days in the city by the Bay. On Tuesday, I rented a car and drove across the Bay Bridge to Muir Woods National Monument, to hike through the redwoods. And I am so glad I did!

It was a fairly easy 90-minute ride through the city, across the Bridge, and up to Muir Woods. You have to make parking reservations, and there is absolutely no cell service in the valley, but as long as you’ve made your reservation, they find space for you. Once there, you are not limited on how long you stay, but you do have to hit your reserved parking time within a short time-gap.

I started out on the Redwood Creek Trail, a mostly boardwalk trail leaving the visitor’s center and going along the creek in the valley bottom. What an amazing way to ensure everyone has an accessible way of getting into the woods, seeing the massive redwoods up close, and breathing some cedar-fresh mountain air. It was surprisingly cool in the valley, under the giant canopy of the redwoods, but it made for great hiking weather. The one downside of assigned entry times is that you tend to start hiking with the small group of people who had the same entry time as you. Wanting to avoid any sort of crowds, I watched as they all veered off to go hiking up the mountain. I kept walking the boardwalk. Most of the trails are loops, which means there are two entry points to the boardwalk. I found the second sign for the Canopy View Trail, via the Fern Creek Trail and the Lost Trail, and exited the boardwalk. I figured even if there were others on this specific loop, I would be passing them against the flow - and this worked perfectly. I didn’t see another person for over an hour, and as I got closer to the end of the loop, passed more and more people, but never felt grouped together since I was going the other way.

“Of all the paths you take in life make sure a few of them are dirt.” -John Muir

I then took a short break at the Muir Woods Gift Shop and Cafe. A refillable coffee and a blueberry muffin hit the spot, as I warmed myself in the sun next to the cafe. I journaled a little and watched a few Steller’s Jays as they scavenged for crumbs and cawed their screechy calls .

I did two more loops through the woods, hiking a total of about 8 miles. It was great to be back in the woods, and invigorating to experience West Coast woods. This entire trip - from the hotel on the water to Muir Woods - allowed me to add 25 birds to my Life List. After reviewing my notes, I realized this is the first time I have birded on the west side of the Rockies, so pretty much any bird would be new save for the European Starlings, Song Sparrows, Robins, and American Crows. I need to remedy this sometime - there’s just too many species out there for me to limit myself to East Coast birds.

Here’s a photo dump of the redwoods, but keep in mind - the photos barely capture the magnificence of these giants. Objects in pictures are almost always larger in real life.