Oh man, I could really get used to this. Can you believe that another 20 mile hike was scheduled for this Saturday and better than that, it was going to be led by my favorite trail guide, “V.” Kick-ass… =)
At first I wasn’t sure whether I was going to go because Marshall’s 30th birthday (yep 30th!) was on Friday and I knew it might be a late night. I had also gone to see “Wicked” in the city and didn’t get home till 12:30am that night so I was already tired. However Ksenya e-mailed me and was interested in going too so of course I was going to go. Come on, I live for this stuff! 😉
When we got to Samuel P. Taylor State Park, we saw a number of familiar faces (Marek and his Jetta, Lothar, Elena, Magdalena, Tiffany and Andrew) but no “V.” We learned this was because he had fallen ill and wasn’t going to be able to make it. =( Fortunately he had chosen a super awesome replacement named Valerie so we were set to go. After shuttling Valerie’s Vanagon (seats 5 with some room) and a Toyota Camry (seats 5) to the end point we hit the trail at 10:45, an hour later than we thought and now with 17 people instead of 13. Do the math, this is going to be fun coming back. =)
All of us just before starting the hike. =)
As always there were amazing views, scenery and conversation to be enjoyed every step of the way. Towards the beginning of the hike I hiked slower so I could talk to people, take pictures and hear all the great stories Valerie had to tell about the history of the area we were hiking. Let me take the opportunity now to saw Valerie was so awesome and I’m really glad I had the chance to get to know her better. As Ksenya pointed out, “Hey, she’s another “V”,” which is to say her name starts with “V” AND she’s also uniquely kick-ass just like “V.” I’m definitely adding her to my list of people I like to hike with. =)
Ok, so now on to the pictures. First up, I found bones! Yeah, a whole bunch of them. This was just off the road so the animal had probably been hit by a car (or bike as there were tons of cyclists on that road). I wonder what happens to the skulls of these animals. I can never seem to find them except in the case of that seal at Marina State Beach.
Jackpot! Ah, we've hit the motherload, a full backbone and scattered ribs of some deceased animal. A small deer or coyote perhaps?
Next we saw some amazing wildflowers. I was especially excited when I found a big fat bumblebee clinging to the stem of this purple Douglas Iris. Why? Well because my buddy Mike has an extreme aversion to bees/wasps and his involuntary freakout reaction to “bee”ing in the same vicinity as a buzzing bee is downright hilarious (sorry, it so is). I knew I had to get like 6 inches from this bee and flower to get the perfect shot. Enjoy. =)
Mike, this one's for you. A bumblebee on a wild iris. I had to get down REAL close to get this shot. 😉
After enjoying the wildflower meadows and additional information from Valerie on how the beautiful yellow flowering shrubs known as Scotch Broom are actually non-native invasive species that are nearly impossible to eradicate, we came down to our next junction. Dogtown, USA – Population: 30. Had I known I would have brought Sierra and made it 31. 😉
Dogtown - Population: 30. Compare that with Strongbadia - Population: Tire. Dogtown is still ahead. 😉
From Dogtown we headed into the Point Reyes park land our lowest elevation which meant lots of swampy muckiness to wade through. I’ll admit, I squealed like a little piggy upon having my shoes sink down into the bog. Although my feet were already wet from having to walk through a really cold creek, the sucky sensation of having your shoe sink into the mud is quite a different feeling altogether. I still love it. =)
After navigating through swampy waters Ksenyacat expresses her true feelings about that experience. Yuck! =)
After traipsing through the swamp land we headed back into the hills. Here I found my next forest friend. A little froggy. Hey froggy!
A frog! Hey new frog friend. How about a close up. =)
Amazingly enough, even with us leaving an hour late we still finished the hike at 7pm. Now we had to figure out how to get back to our cars. Remember how I said two cars, 17 people? Yeah, it was a very cozy ride back to the park. Somehow we managed to fit 11 people into the Vanagon and 6 into the Camry. Valerie was a little worried about the weight and getting up this one hill but come on, it’s a VW, it can do anything! And it did. =)
Valerie drove her totally kickin' VW Vanagon to shuttle all 11 (yes 11) of us back to Samuel Taylor SP. Go VW!!
Of course with Marek and me both being Jetta owners and totally obsessed with our vehicles, even though it was getting dark, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to show our love for these super sexy vehicles. I had to laugh because I think Marek was almost as much in love with his car as I am with mine. I mean who wouldn’t be, that’s a dang good looking Jetta (don’t be jealous white Jetta). I actually think my Jetta was sad to leave at the end of the day. It really liked Marek’s Jet. Don’t worry Jetta, we’ll see them at a future hike. 😉
Two very proud Jetta owners. =)
So that’s pretty much if for this hike post. We had an awesome time and I can’t wait for the next one. Thanks to Valerie for her excellent leadership of this hike and for shuttling us all back in her awesome Vanagon. I had a blast!
For all the pictures from this hike, check out my Picasa album. Note: A lot of the pictures are out of focus but I still thought they helped tell the story so I left them in. =)
You must be logged in to post a comment.