Rain, Rain, and more Rain, and then the sun came out!

Sunday, January 8, 2023

Wild Cat Canyon Creek at my morning bench

The rains in large parts of California, including Marin County, just kept coming! We had occasional hours and even a full day or two without rain from New Year's Eve through the middle of January, but things got really wet. Lagunitas Creek and its tributary creeks and every hill side around us at Samuel P Taylor State Park were flowing with lots and lots of water. The rain doesn't keep me inside all the time, but once I've been out in it and eventually drenched, I am content to stay inside where it's dry and warm! Occasionally we heard a falling branch, and witnessed lots of them on the ground, and there was some thunder and lightening and flickering of electricity off and on.

On Sunday, January 8, after my usual morning walk to the bench in Wild Cat Canyon and doing a quick check of the campground I headed to Richmond to take care of granddaughters Sophia (9) and Naomi (6) while our son Shawn headed off to Denver for a business trip. My grandmother duties included keeping the girls entertained on Sunday, including getting them to a Girl Scout Meeting, getting them to bed at a reasonable hour, and getting them off to school on Monday morning. Their mother Lindsey would pick them up after school. Some how I managed to get no pictures - I think the three of us were all too busy to think about pictures! We enjoyed playing a game; Settlers of Catan, which our whole family is well acquainted with. Naomi loves trading resource cards to build things and Sophia's main goal seems to be gathering Development Cards. All of our children and grandchildren, except one, are now experienced Catan players!

There was a brief break in the rain when I drove back to Samuel P Taylor State Park on Monday morning and when I got back Rob and I went to look at the rising creek levels. A park ranger said we'd had over 3 inches of rain the night before! The creeks were all the highest we had personally seen them, including Wild Cat Canyon Creek.

Wild Cat Canyon Creek at my bench on Monday, January 9, 2023.

Tuesday, January 10, I decided I wanted to try to walk the whole Pioneer Tree Trail. I've only walked the whole 2 1/2 mile trail twice this season, partly because of all the rain. I fully expected to get turned back by fallen trees on my Tuesday morning hike because of all of the recent windy, rainy storms, and all of the debris we've seen around the campground. In our previous two seasons we have cleared a lot of fallen branches and trees off the trail and reported larger stuff to park management. I was surprised that there really wasn't too much to go over, under or through on the trail, and I made it the whole way with only one challenging spot.

Looking down to Wild Cat Canyon Creek from the Pioneer Tree Trail up above.

In front of a big Redwood Tree.

It's impossible to capture the size of the trees in a photo.

Two attached trees with "rooms" just below the trail.

One of two banana slugs I saw on my Tuesday morning hike.

Beautiful orange fungi

Approaching a shattered fir tree that fell to the side of the trail.

Looking back at the shattered tree after I passed it.

The first obstacle I encountered, but this was easy to step over.

Looking up to a peak in front of Barnabe Peak from an overlook on the Pioneer Tree Trail.

Creek or trail?

Actually this is the trail forming the bed of a seasonal creek!

The last half to 3/4 mile of the trail is full of water when there has been lots of rain.

My water proof shoes proving they are water proof.

This is my second pair of Hoka waterproof shoes.

I bought the first pair a year ago and they worked really well until one rainy day hike in early December when my feet got soaked. I contacted the company and they asked me to send them the shoes. They replaced them with a brand new pair - no charge. I don't know why the first ones failed, but at least Hoka stands behind their product, and I have a new pair of shoes to keep my feet dry.

Here is a tree across the trail that wasn't difficult to walk under.

But here is the top of that previous tree across the trail below.

I managed to get through this, but Rob and I will come back later to clear it.

A little seasonal water fall next to the trail.

And here is another "stair stepping" down by the Cross Marin Trail.

A 3 foot diameter Redwood tree that fell between Wednesday, January 11 and Thursday, January 12.

Thursday, January 12, the 105th anniversary of my mother's birth, dawned with no rain! Rob and I took advantage of it to do some trail maintenance on the Pioneer Tree Trail. It was so nice to walk around without getting wet, though the trail had plenty of water on it! Lots of people hiking in the park too.

Rob clearing the top of the tree I had to weave my way through two days earlier.

That spot is almost clear!

Clearing another tree - this one had come down since I was on the trail two days earlier.

The old, fallen Pioneer Tree behind an orange fence.

This tree is too big for us to clear, but it's easy enough to get over.

The trail crew will have to take care of it next time they come through.

White fungi on a tree log.

My taking pictures of mushrooms and the like reminds me of my mother who took many, many pictures of clouds. I was hoping to see pretty clouds on her birthday to take pictures of, but even though there was no rain, the sky was pretty solid with clouds.

Seasonal cascade of water coming down the hillside in Wild Cat Canyon.

Interesting moss covered section of an old Redwood Tree on the Pioneer Tree Trail.

Rob taking down the Christmas lights from the RV on January 12.

As a child we didn't put up the Christmas tree until Christmas Eve, but we left it up until my mother's birthday on January 12.

Pretty clouds finally appeared in the late afternoon sky January 12, 2023 on the 105th anniversary of my mother's birth. My mother loved the clouds and took many pictures of them.

A very full Lagunitas Creek on January 12.

Depth markers in Lagunitas Creek on January 13.

Normally the one in the water is on dry land.

A tree across North Creek Trail on January 13, 2023.

Throughout the stormy weather trees and branches continued to come down.

Wild Cat Canyon Creek on January 14.

January 14, 2023 - the creek is even higher.

Note the short distance the water falls before reaching the creek coming out of the pipe.

Note the logs and other debris floating down the creek - January 14.

This is the highest we saw the creek on the markers

-about 1/2 mile downstream from our campsite - January 14.

The markers on January 14.

Where those trees are is usually an island.

A barrel floating down the creek.

On Sunday, January 15, a small tour bus appeared at the entrance kiosk when I happened to be there. There were 16 passengers from all over the world who had boarded the bus in San Francisco to be taken to the Golden Gate Bridge, Muir Woods and Sausalito. Muir Woods, a National Park administered site, was closed due to storm damage and since we have beautiful redwood trees too they brought the tourists here. I asked the driver if he knew where to send his passengers to see our big trees and when he said no I offered to play "tour guide." I had fun sharing some of what I know about the park and leading folks into Wildcat Canyon at the beginning of the Pioneer Tree Trail. There were folks from Miami, New York, Australia and Scotland and they appreciated what I had to share on the impromptu tour.

The tour bus.

Actually, this group was not legally in the park - all such organized groups need to have a permit ahead of time. A ranger talked to the driver later, and as the ranger said, "It's not the bus driver's fault - he just goes where the company tells him to go." And our new Park Aids at the entrance weren't trained in this aspect of park procedure, but I was happy to get to unofficially lead a tour this one day.

On Monday, January 16, we headed to Colfax for an overnight visit and an appointment in the area. Got to visit with family and to take my morning walk up to the Boardman Canal and the top of the hill at Weimar Water Company. We had a break from the rain on Tuesday, so I didn't get wet.

Rain drops on a neighbor's tree.

The Crystal Range from the top of the hill.

Mountains to the north east.

Old Man Mountain to the left.

Looking west to the Sutter Buttes and beyond to the snow topped coastal range.

Back at Wild Cat Canyon Creek in Samuel P Taylor State Park, January 18.

The water flow had substantially subsided after the rains stopped.

Lagunitas Creek was substantially down too.

On Wednesday morning, January 18, between morning and noon campground checks I decided to walk to Jewel Trail for the first time this season. The trail is in the National Recreation Area and begins along the Cross Marin Trail about 1 3/4 miles west from our campsite. From past experience I knew there might be some pretty wet spots on the Jewel Trail so I was expecting to turn around because of impassable areas. I was surprised when I got to the wet spots that they were fairly easy to get around and I went the whole length of the Jewel Trail (.9 mile) to where it meets the Bolinas Ridge Trail. The Cross Marin Trail and Bolinas Ridge Trail are part of the 550 mile Bay Area Ridge Trail and Jewel Trail connects the two trails. It is really a beautiful trail as it climbs up from the Redwood shaded Cross Marin into the open fields with oak and chaparral. Once I was climbing and in the sunshine I quickly warmed up!

A stand of Eucalyptus trees along the Jewel Trail.

I was surprised to see no storm damage to these non-native trees that seem so fragile a lot of the time.

Looking out to Tamales Bay from the intersection of Jewel and Bolinas Ridge Trails.

New rain clouds were on their way to us.

Barnabe Peak as seen from Jewel Trail.

Mountains to the east behind me.

A marker for the Bay Area Ridge Trail on the Cross Marin Trail.

A very calm Lagunitas Creek, January 20, 2023.

Notice how far the water drops into Lagunitas Creek from the pipe coming out of Wild Cat Canyon.

Quite a contrast to the short drop on January 14, just six days before.

Granddaughter Naomi turned 7 on January 22, so I joined her and her friends and parents at Chuck E Cheese in Pinole to celebrate.

Naomi blowing out her 7 candles with sister Sophia holding her hair back.

Naomi with her new Squishmallow from us.

The little Wild Cat Canyon Creek keeps receding.

A tree across Ox Trail.

A camper told us about this tree - described it as 5 feet in diameter.

It was only about 3 1/2 feet in diameter at the base, but still big enough to make proceeding on the trail difficult.

Sign near the entrance to Samuel P Taylor State Park.

The Bay Area Ridge Trail will be 550 miles long when complete. At the present time there are about 400 miles of trail complete, including the Cross Marin Trail which goes through Samuel P Taylor State Park directly in front of our motor home. I have walked and hiked on various parts of the trail - here, across the Golden Gate Bridge, on the Peninsula, near Santa Rosa, in the Berkeley Hills and in the east bay. Now I want to hike the whole thing! It will take me years covering it in day hiked sections, but I have begun with the section in the Marin Headlands from the Golden Gate Bridge to Tennessee Valley near Sausalito. I'm a little unclear how they figure the 550 miles (or the 400 already complete) since in certain sections there are different routes depending on whether you are hiking, riding a bicycle or on a horse. According to the trail guide I was following my route on Monday, January 23 should have been about 5 miles, but I hiked well over 8 miles! At a fork in the trail where either right or left was marked for the Bay Area Ridge Trail I chose the route that would take me toward the Pacific Ocean to get away from Highway 101. I'm glad I went the way I did, but it meant climbing way up, then back down almost to sea level, and then back up to almost 800 feet before descending into Tennessee Valley where I met Rob with the car.

Rob delivered me to the trail head and then walked up the trail with be a short way before heading back to the car so he would be at Tennessee Valley to meet me.

The distinctive blue markers helped keep me going in the right direction.

There were choices of which trail to take in the right direction.

Looking out to Angel Island not long after starting up the hill.

Looking back to San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Looking ahead to the Rainbow tunnels.

Heading up the trail.

My first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean when I crossed the ridge.

Looking down to the ocean where I would hike down to.

Close to sea level here before heading back up.

Heading up the trail.

Spring is coming.

Blossoms on a tree next to the trail.

I think these are Bermuda Buttercups.

Looking back to the ocean after climbing toward the ridge.

Looking back toward San Francisco.

See the bridge tower on the left?

Pretty Candelabra Aloe with the Pacific behind.

Looking back to San Francisco.

Looking forward to Mt. Tamalpais.

Angel Island with Mt. Diablo in the background.

I was surprised to see flowers blooming on my hike at Marin Headlands and was wondering the next morning when we'd see the first flowers blooming here in the park. Near the entrance to the park are some California Dutchman Pipe vines and I was very surprised to see their very unique blooms on Tuesday morning, January 24. This unusual vine is an integral part of the life cycle of the Pipestem Swallowtail butterflies that we will see later in March and April.

California Dutchman Pipe blossom.

Still pretty small - they will get bigger.

On Tuesday, January 24, I left Rob to do camp host duties while I headed south to Asilomar Conference Grounds near Monterey for a "Gathering of Spiritual Leaders" of the Untied Methodist Church. This is the first such in person gathering since before the pandemic, and the first time in over 20 years since it has been held at the stunningly beautiful Asilomar State Beach. I enjoyed two mornings of walking on the beach and time connecting with colleagues - active and retired.