Muir Woods/Mount Tamalpais
Directions: From 101 take the Stinson Beach/Highway 1 exit. Turn left at the stop sign. Turn left onto the Shoreline Highway. At the Highway 1/Panoramic Highway split, take the Panoramic Highway and follow it taking the left fork at the intersection down to Muir Woods..
Parking Fee: free but $3.00 admission to Muir Woods
Facilities: Gift ship, restrooms, bus shuttle to Muir Woods
Starting the hike in Muir Woods
Heading up the Bootjack Trail
The Mountain Theater
Looking out from the Mountain Theater
Looking up at parking near the Mountain Theater
On the Bernstein Trail
Going through some open chaparral
Potrero Meadows
Hiking on ...
Oops! Don’t go up there to the West Peak!
Heading off to the East Peak
Climbing the boardwalk to the East Peak
What a view!
View of the City and a tower of the GG Bridge
Image105.jpg
Mount Diable!
Another shot of the City
The top of the East Peak
Looking at the Middle and West Peaks
East Peak parking
View down the coast
Another shot of the City
A couple of rock climbers
Benchmark up on the East Peak
Heading back down
Walking down the Gravity Car Grade
Water tank along the Gravity Car Grade
Walking along the Panoramic Highway
Going down the Ocean View Trail
And back at Muir Woods to end the hike.
On Saturday, 21-July-2007, I joined in with the Stanford Outing Club for a hike from Muir Woods up to the East Peak of Mount Tamalpais and back.
The route (more or less): Muir Woods Main Trail -> Bootjack Trail -> Alpine Trail -> Easy Grade Trail -> Bernstein Trail -> Upper Northside Trail -> International Trail -> Eldridge Grade -> Verna Dunshee Trail -> East Peak -> Temelpa Trail -> Vic Haun Trail -> Gravity Car Grade -> Panoramic Highway -> Ocean View Trail -> end.
(note that there were short sections of other trails interspersed in this route)
National Geographic TOPO! software website:
GPS Stats
Distance hiked: 17.8 miles
Total ascent: 3499 ft
Trailhead Elevation: ~ 200 ft
Max Elevation: 2565 ft
Moving time: 5 hrs 30 min
Moving Average: 3.3 mph
Overall average: 2.1 mph
Time stopped: 2 hrs 15 min
Personal stats
Dates Hiked:
21-Jul-2007
Start time: 10:45 AM
Weather: Clear and sunny, temperatures in the upper 70’s to low 80’s.
Water consumed: 3.4 liters plus 600 ml Gatorade.
Finish time: 6:30 PM
Total time: 7 hrs 45 min
Beauty: Very.
Wildlife seen: Nothing beyond lizards and birds but then hiking with a large group scares off the animals.
Difficulty: This was a strenuous hike, especially with all the steps along the Bootjack trail.
Note on the GPS stats, map, and profile: My GPS was not able to obtain accurate waypoints within Muir Woods. I have not had this trouble in other areas such as Henry Cowell or Purisima. In Muir Woods though most of my tracks were garbage and so my stats are not necessarily accurate.
This hike was yet another one led by “V” for the Stanford Outing Club. I met up with this group at Muir Woods and despite arriving first, I had to park way down the road. “V” arrived later and got right in the parking lot grabbing a spot just as someone was leaving. Arghh! But I guess since most visitors to Muir Woods only hike the main loop, they finish quickly and leave and so patience for parking can pay off.
After paying our admission though we headed into Muir Woods and up the Bootjack trail. As per usual I was the slowest one up the hills and though the Bootjack trail is not the steepest around, I bogged down badly. The trail does have what feels like hundreds of steps up and certainly the constant stepping up took a toll on me. I just don’t understand though, why, when I ride the bike and hike up as many big hills as I can, I just can’t get better at it. Just once, I would love to hike up a steep hill and hold my own along with everyone else. But it’s not happening.
Otherwise, this hike sure went through some nice areas from lush redwoods to gorgeous open chaparral. We climbed through some pretty good hills and ended up topping a ridge by the Mountain Theater and then hiked down along the other side to some pretty areas, including Potrero Meadows. From there it was on to the Peaks.
We took one wrong turn up by the West Peak, crawled through a fence we should not have and ended up in a restricted area that a sheriff told us we didn’t belong. Ooops. But it was no big deal. He directed us out and we got back on track, making our way by the Middle Peak and then the East Peak.
There is a parking area at the East Peak as you can drive up there and there is a little snack hut where you can buy stuff to eat and drink. I didn’t buy anything and just headed on up the boardwalk to the top trying to get a head start on everyone else. And yet several people who spent time at the snack hut still passed me on the way up. Even with a big head start I could not beat them!
And so, like on Mount Diablo, I made the summit at 4PM and we spent maybe a good half hour up there, eating lunch, taking pictures and enjoying the view. Then we headed down a different trail so we could descend quickly and get back to our cars in short order.
My GPS said we walked over 12 miles getting to the summit, and only 5 miles to get back. That sounds about right in spite of the garbled waypoints.
Heading downhill I was able to keep up with the group most of the time, though on the last mile or so as we neared Muir woods, I got separated from the main group when another big group of people passed us heading up the trail in the opposite direction and I fell behind and lost my group. That was OK though as I caught up to them at the end.
A fun moment for me came though when I ran unexpectedly into a woman heading up the Ocean View trail who I had met on the Meetup.com hike at Purisima. Guess it really is a small world!
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