- Remember in my last post how I said you plan carefully. This does not stop applying. It goes faster, but I forgot my climbing rope (just in case), and almost forgot my camera and my sleeping bag. PLAN EVERY TIME!
- Despite remembering my camera, I still forgot to charge it. So the photos that will be posted are horrible. But horrible beats nothing. Most of the time.
- The trail map for Mt. Tam State Park doesn't list mileage information, and I was writing it down as I went, so all distances are approximate and designed to make me look better. :-)
It was a dark and stormy nig... morning. Okay, so it was kind of bright, but I definitely just wanted to go back to bed and sleep through the rain. Even so, I got up and headed out about 9am from my apartment to Mt. Tam.
It actually took me longer to get there than I thought, what with driving through the winding roads of Mill Valley, but I arrived at Pan Toll Campground (or Pantoll; I've seen it both ways) around 11:30 and got checked in.
Around noon, I hit the Matt Davis trail and headed east toward the East Peak. I connected into the Hoo-Koo-E-Koo Trail (the coolest trail name in the park), up Vic Huan Trail, and lastly up Temelpa Trail to the top of the East Peak. A summitted around 2:30pm.
The view from the top of the mountain is spectacular. I could see all of Marin, Stinson Beach, Oakland, San Francisco and most of the Bay - almost to San Jose.
There is a short trail, the Verna Dunshee Trail (0.7 miles), around the top of the mountain, and the Plank Trail (0.3 miles) leads to the very peak, where the fire lookout is. The peak is also very developed, with a visitors' center, restrooms, and even a snack bar.
It turns out that in 1896 a railroad was completed that would take tourists to the top of the mountain. It was called the "Crookedest Railroad in the World," at one point paralleling itself five times in 200 yards. A tavern and an inn were also built at the top for guests. Luminaries such as John Muir and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle were among the visitors.
I headed back down after exploring the top and talking to ranger in their visitors' center. I took the Fern Creek trail down to the Old Railroad Grade. That led me to the West Point Inn, a cute little place with detached cottages and views of the Bay. From there I took the Spring Trail to the Mountain Theater.
The Mountain Theater is an amphitheater made of tiered stones. It is pretty cool and apparently they still have shows out there.
From there I took Bootjack Trail back to Pan Toll and arrived about 5:30pm.
Chad showed up a bit later, and we got catch up over dinner and cigars.
Day 2:
Chad and I took off down the Dipsea Trail. About a mile from Stinson Beach we ran into some runners. There were three circuits, a 7 mile, a 25k, and a marathon. We had to make way several times for the runners both on Dipsea, and when we were climbing the Matt Davis Trail back to camp. The Matt Davis Trail should really only be taken west to the beach, not east, because the trail climbs about 1200 feet in about 2 miles, making it very steep.
The trails around Mt. Tam are beautiful, typically surrounded by tall oaks, pines and redwoods, passing creeks covered in ferns. Matt Davis crosses two large meadows with beautiful views of the surrounding areas. Much of the east-side of the mountain is covered in low brush, live oak, and manzanita.
After returning to camp for lunch, we took a quick loop following the TCC and Alpine trails. Finally, we drove up to the top so Chad could the view from there.
We both took off about 5pm to head our separate ways.
I'll upload the trip pictures tomorrow.
UPDATE: Pictures have been uploaded to http://picasaweb.google.com/jheckey/MtTam. Please take a look.
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