Marin Segment 8                                                                                               April 30, 2014

From Muir Beach (GGNRA) to Pantoll Ranger Station (Mt. Tamalpais St. Park)

     The drive from Benicia was via my usual back roads route to West Marin.  Leaving Hwy. 37 at the Junction with Hwy. 101, I took Novato Boulevard to the Pt. Reyes -- Petaluma Road.  Joined Hwy 1. at Olema and continued South past Bolinas and Stinson Beach to Muir Beach.  This route avoids freeway traffic and some of the high ridges with their switches.  But only some.  Coming from South or North, there's no avoiding the squiggly roads that lead to Muir Beach.  A second advantage is the opportunity to stop at the Marin French Cheese Factory for a coffee, pastry (apple tart), and some -- uh, cheese.  (Petite Breakfast Brie and Petite Truffle Brie.)  Got to Muir Beach around noon.

Ye Olde English lunch joint.


       I had lunch at the Pelican Inn, which aspires -- rather successfully -- to the look and menu of an English country pub.  I had an excellent Shepherd's Pie, some Anchor Porter and the last available seat.  Turns out there was a reason that the place was packed at noon in the middle of nowhere.  A group of Morgan enthusiasts were passing through.  The back parking lot was filled with a plethora of classic English sports cars.  About as many Morgans as one normally sees in 5 or 10 years.

Demi-plethora of Morgans

Yet more Morgans with classic Alfa Romeo in the distance. 

You don't often see this sort of thing.

Or this!

   Filled with good pub food and beer, and entertained by the sight of more Morgans than one is likely to see this side of a dealership (if such exists!), I set off on my merry afternoon's stroll.  First a short way North along Hwy. One to Muir Woods Road.  My roadside trail being closed, I continued along the road to the Horse Arena that marks the Heather Cut Off trailhead.  It's rather like the scene in Ghostbusters when the stairway appears.  (R. Stans: "Where does this staircase lead?"  P. Venkman: "Up!")   1.3 miles of switchbacks up a steep hill. 

This trail leads up.

It turned out that the Heather Cut Off climb was the easiest one of the day.  It had switchbacks galore unlike what was to come.
     On my way up the hill, I passed numerous wildflowers.  West Marin is still quite green and looks like Spring.  Even Nicasio Reservoir, although low, was looking substantially better than when I last saw it before the Winter rains.  So flowers aplenty along the way up.

     At the top of Heather Cut Off, lies the junction with the Coastal Trail with 3.1 miles to Pantoll Ranger Station.  This walk turned out to be more difficult than the steeper Heather Cut Off Trail.  The Coastal Trail is basically up, up and more up till you start gasping for breath and realize it's time for a break.  The views in all directions make up for the hard work.  You can see South to the City: Sutro Tower, Land's End and Ocean Beach all clearly visible.  Atmospheric Perspective shading off to Point Mori in San Mateo County.  Over the Ocean there was a light haze but you could still see out to the Farallons.  Perhaps with just a little effort you could skip a stone out to them.  Once you get to the reverse slope you can look out over the populated part of Marin and beyond to the East Bay.  I could see the Campenile but from where I was, UC Berkeley might as well have been on the Moon.  The countryside was mostly open, coastal chaparral.

Looking toward San Francisco.

Looking toward the East Bay.  The Campenile is a little right of center.  (Honest.)

You'll have to take it on faith that the Farallons are just to the right of the snag.

     On the side of Mt. Tam I could see a white radar dome.  Back in the early Fifties, my older brother Bob served in the Air Force.  While the F-86 pilots battled  the North Koreans and Chinese (and Russians, truth be told) in MiG Alley, my brother was manning a radar station on Mt. Tamalpais defending West Marin from Joe Stalin's Tu-4 Bull bombers.  When they weren't fixing the radar equipment, he and his fellow enlisted men liked to sunbathe in the parking lot.  Our servicemen travelled all over the world but Bob spent his time in the Air Force  less than 25 air miles away from our home in the Berkeley Hills.

The little white dot at the top of the hill -- was that where my brother spent the Korean War?

      I only met one other hiker coming or going but did encounter maybe 6 or 8 cyclists.  One young couple passed me headed in the same direction.  A few minutes later I caught up to them as the stopped to examine a sign and figure out where they were going.  I suggested that they should pick up the pace: you don't want to be overtaken by some geezer old enough to be your grandfather . . . on foot!    Eventually the trail entered wooded country as it neared Pantoll.  I followed the Old Mine Trail below the ranger station then looped back on the Coastal Trail.

There is some shade in West Marin after all!

Old Mine Trail.

     The trip in to Pantoll took about 2 1/2 hours.  A total of 5 horizontal miles and about a 1500 foot climb.  The return trip, almost entirely downhill was much brisker, about 1 3/4 hours.  The difficult haul up the Coastal Trail sped by in reverse with hardly a pause except to drink some water or take a picture.



Look closely to see the brightly colored tents of a distant campground.

So near and yet so far -- the horse arena a quarter of a mile away by air, a mile and a quarter on foot.

     As I came back down the Heather Cut Off, I was able to see just how many switchbacks it had involved.  From the top the Horse Arena was only a quarter of a mile away as the crow flies.  Unfortunately, that's a mile and a quarter as the penguin waddles.  But eventually I was back on level ground and retraced my steps to Muir Beach.  After four and a quarter hours of hiking, 1500 feet of ascent and the same of descent, I was sore and tired but well satisfied with the day's effort.  Back at the Muir Beach parking lot, I broke out my Coke Zero and Apple Tart for a brief celebration before facing the last twisting miles of Hwy. One and the rush hour traffic between West Marin and Benicia.



A nice selection of switch backs.

Muir Beach.  Back where I started 4 1/4 hours ago.