Posts Tagged With: Muir Woods National Monument

Muir Woods National Monument

Pleasant Hill, CA Feb. 24

The second phase of our journey began Wednesday the 22nd as we left downtown San Francisco to explore the larger San Francisco Bay Area. Once again we walked to the BART station, leaving the hotel around 7 AM, and went to the airport to pick up our rental car. While the temperatures were in the lower 40s, at least there was no rain. Rain, however, is forecast for today and the next 10 days. We were headed for Muir Woods National Monument on the north side of the Golden Gate Bridge. Muir Woods requires you to obtain an advance purchase parking reservation given its nearness to San Francisco, its few parking spaces, and its popularity.

We had chosen a 10:30 to 11 AM window not knowing how much time we would need to pick up the rental car, etc. Luck was on our side and we were early enough that we stopped for a McDonalds breakfast. To get to Muir Woods, we drove over the Golden Gate bridge, up into the mountains north of San Francisco. Much of this land is protected between state and federal parks with abundant opportunities to enjoy the outdoors.

Instead of its normal 8 AM opening, Muir Woods opened at 10 AM Wednesday. Tuesday the heavy winds mentioned in yesterday’s blog had forced the park to close early. Wednesday they delayed the opening time to allow staff to inspect the trails and the buildings to minimize injuries to park visitors. Thus, our 10:30 time got us in ahead of most visitors for the day. Surprisingly the expected rains were holding off and we were able to get numerous pictures with lovely blue skies surrounding the treetops.

Chris and I can’t agree if we have been here before. We do know we visited Point Reyes Lighthouse just north of here and climbed up and down the 313 or so stairs to the lighthouse. Muir Woods was established in the early 20th century to protect its natural beauty and prevent logging of its massive redwoods. Our walk in the woods was magical, looking up at the towering trees and gazing at their massive trunks. The main trail meanders along a small brook and is in a valley so you also look up at the trees growing higher on the hillside. Some of the trails are off-limits due to trail erosion. We spent about an hour here, walking, admiring, enjoying the peace and quiet, and just plain relaxing.

We left John Muir and drove through the mountains and along the coast to Point Reyes National Seashore. This was our first look in a number of years at the Pacific ocean coast, much different than the coastline of the Atlantic ocean. Although close to downtown San Francisco, this area has small towns, two lane roads, ocean and mountains, and surprisingly to us, a fair amount of agriculture. We had known that California has passed Wisconsin as the number one dairy state but still we were not expecting to see cattle, sheep, goats, etc. populating the area that would normally be crowded suburban developments.

Point Reyes National Seashore was set up and accommodated concerns and opposition from local landowners. In this case, the agricultural interests that had been in the area worked together with conservationists to create a park that co-exists with agriculture. The seashore is maintained and protected while inland farms predominate. The visitor center is in the Bear Creek Valley area, part of the flatter, agricultural area. As mentioned, we skipped the lighthouse this time and chose not to walk down to the ocean. We expect to do more of that in the Big Sur area later in this trip.

The journey continued, driving through the ever-changing mixture of flat lands, valleys, mountainsides, and coastline hugging the narrow two lane road. Our lodging for Wednesday and Thursday nights was in the town of Jenner, population 120 people. We chose it not because of the abundance of restaurants, definitely not the abundance of restaurants, but for the cabin overlooking the Russian River emptying into the Pacific Ocean. The cabin sits on the bluff and its view was unobstructed towards the rocks, coastline, river, and harbor seals that were frequently populating the land buffering the river from the ocean. Our lodging was not glamorous but clean and neat and, as noted, with a fantastic view. Parking was tricky, as we had to make sure we stopped before we hit the wooden fence that would probably not have stopped the car from going over the cliff. The heat from the propane gas fireplace/stove was a little spotty but given that they’re not used to temperatures in the high 30s and low 40s, we put up with it.

We drove inland about 20 miles and had dinner at a restaurant attached to the local golf course in Guerneville California. Food was very good and its name was Northwood, close call to the restaurant in North St. Paul MN owned by my parents back in the 50s through the 70s. The lodging in Jenner had no TV, no cell service, and no Internet. Thus the posting for the last several days has been delayed until we were able to come back into a more technological type of society.

Ed and Chris Pleasant Hill CA Feb. 24.