Fun times at the PCTR Woodside Trail Runs at Huddart Park! This was my third year in a row running the event, which features distances of 10k, 17k, 35k, and 50k. I call it my “home course” since I often run at Huddart. Last year I did the 17k in 1:11:00 and was coming in hoping to break 1:10 this year. Weather forecasts all week predicted rain for Saturday morning and that is exactly what happened. It was wet out there and I was completely covered in mud by the end. Fortunately, the majority of the trails were resurfaced over the past year with hardpack gravel making it fast even in wet conditions. However, the unimproved sections were covered in sticky, slippery, and deep mud and you can imagine what kind of a mess it was after 500 runners stomped through it! I had a good run coming in at 1:07:40 (6:23 pace) indicating that I still have some speed despite doing no speed work in months. This PCTR event was excellently organized, as usual. Congratulations to all the participants and thanks to the directors and all the volunteers for making it a great day!
Wallace Falls is one of the gems of the Washington State Park system. It is located about 1 hour northeast of Seattle in the wonderfully scenic Skykomish River Valley and it’s a popular destination on weekends, especially during the summer. However, winter is perhaps the best time to visit when Wallace Creek is flowing hard with high volume. There are three separate falls, with the middle falls being the most iconic with a 367 foot drop over three tiers with the largest and most famous tier dropping 265 feet. This photogenic falls is even visible from the Skykomish River Valley. The upper falls has five separate tiers totaling 240 feet, with one larger drop that is also very scenic. Finally, the lower falls also has five separate tiers totaling 212 feet. This area can have snow cover for much of the winter, but El Nino was making its presence known in Washington State which means relatively dry and mild weather conditions. I have never seen the trails so dry and the air temperature so warm in January – it felt like spring for Western Washington. In fact, January 2010 turned out to be the warmest January on record for Seattle! Fortunately, the waterfalls were still flowing strong due to snow melt higher up and rains earlier in the month. Check out the video(4:28) I made of the falls!
Wallace Falls used to be a stretch destination for quality trail running. The single track trail next to the falls is highly technical and steep while the rest of the options were abandoned logging roads (i.e. not the most engaging). This all changed with completion of the 1.9 mile Greg Ball Trail which allows for a great loop with majority on single track. The trail provides an awesome descent with tight turns, but not very technical so you can keep up your speed. It follows near the north fork of Wallace Creek for a section with more great waterfalls and cascades in a rocky chasm. In addition, I made a side trip around Wallace Lake for total mileage of around 11 miles.
The new trail is named in honor of Greg Ball (1944-2004) who was the founder and director of the volunteer trial maintenance program for the Washington Trails Association. Over a decade, Greg grew the program into one of the largest volunteer trail building programs in the nation, with over 500,000 volunteer hours logged over a ten year span in the Cascade and Olympic Mountains. I was fortunate enough to work with Greg Ball on a trail building project on the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River back in 2001. Greg left an impression on me that day and I was inspired by his love of the mountains and his dedication to the community. I was sad to hear of his passing several years later. He designed the trail now named after him, but it was only completed a couple years ago. I’m glad that such a beautiful trail was named in honor of Greg and it was great to finally check it out.
"Sky Country" from the Snohomish River Valley
Upper Wallace Falls
Extremely Lush
Famous Middle Wallace Falls
Many more photos of the falls, lush scenery, Wallace Lake, and Greg Ball Trail after the jump!
Dad O’Rourke’s Bench is one of the best places to watch sunset or sunrise in the Bay Area. In fact, it is one of the best viewpoints at any point in the day. It is located in Mount Tamalpais State Park about 0.3 miles away from the Rock Springs parking area and 0.3 miles away from another small parking area along Bolinas Ridge Road. The entire ridgeline is open terrain with great views and numerous fantastic perches. However, the bench itself is hidden below a patch of trees, I assume to provide some shelter from the winds that frequent this otherwise exposed area. It is a fairly large bench built into a rock using rocks.
Sunset from the bench
From the bench, the hills of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area at your feet. City views include the skyscrapers of downtown San Francisco, the Bay Bridge, and Oakland. Further out, the Santa Cruz Mountains and Diablo Range can be seen with Mount Diablo rising above everything. On the other side, the slope falls precipitously down to the Pacific Ocean and Stinson Beach nearly 2,000 feet below. The waves look like ripples from this high perch and extend as far as the eye can see. On a clear day the Farallon Islands can be spotted about 25 miles away. On this day, it was a bit windy and cold but we persisted to watch a great sunset as the sun poked through the cloud layers.
The Bay Area has many waterfalls in beautiful settings. However, most of them are trickles a good portion of the year. With heavy rains expected all week in the Bay Area, it’s time to think about checking out waterfalls! Here is a selection of some waterfalls I have visited and want to visit. With 21 waterfalls on this list and a relatively short rainy season in the Bay Area, it will take some time to visit all these waterfalls in idyllic conditions.
Jones Gulch Falls, small but beautiful
Waterfall Trail, Garland Ranch: This waterfall near Carmel Valley is dry or a drip except for a few weeks of the year.
Uvas Canyon, Uvas County Park:Includes five waterfalls along a trail loop in oak woodland. Known as the best waterfalls in the southbay, but I have yet to see them myself and hope to do so soon.
Murietta Falls, Ohlone Wilderness: This one takes a lot of work to get to, but it’s apparently beautiful.
Donner Creek Falls, Mount Diablo State Park: Flowing off the north side of Mount Diablo, I have yet to see these falls, but I have heard they are very nice after heavy rains when Donner Creek comes alive.
Berry Creek Falls, Big Basin State Park: Surrounded by lush redwood forest, this is my favorite falls in the Bay Area. Since it is relatively downstream, Berry Creek Falls has decent flow well into the summer.
Silver Falls and Golden Cascade, Big Basin State Park: Located about 1 mile upstream from Berry Creek Falls, these falls are composed of several cascades and include the same lush setting as Berry Creek Falls. The trail also passes right next to the top of Silver Falls climbing over steps cut into the rock.
Sempervirens Falls, Big Basin State Park: A small waterfall near the park headquarters worth a visit if you have a few extra minutes after gazing at giant redwoods.
Five Finger Falls, Forest of the Nisine Marks: A small ~20 ft falls falling into a cavernous rock formation in a lush setting with (you guessed it) five finger ferns! This small falls flows from a small tributary of Aptos Creek so higher flow is needed, but be aware that crossings of Aptos Creek are required.
Maple Falls, Forest of the Nisine Marks: A small waterfall like Five Finger Falls, but in a nice setting. Also flows from the upper reaches of Bridge Creek so higher flow is required for it to look impressive.
Castle Rock Falls, Castle Rock State Park: A 75 foot drop over shear cliffs that comes alive after rains. The Saratoga Gap Trail passes above the falls so the accessible view is only from above.
Tiptoe Falls, Portola Redwoods State Park: This falls is only 6 feet tall, but sometimes the delicate falls are the pretiest. It’s located in a redwood forest with lush ferns.
Pomponio Falls, Memorial County Park: Peterson Creek drops 24 feet into Pescadero Creek. Easily accessible, but might be impossible to view when Pescadero Creek is flowing high.
Jones Gulch Falls, Pescadero County Park: Another delicate falls near Pescadero Creek in a sublime setting, this one can be viewed from the Jones Gulch Bridge.
Brooks Falls, San Pedro Valley County Park:A tall, thin waterfall flowing off of Montara Mountain and seen from Brooks Trail that is only flowing after rains. There is no close-up view of the falls, which is surrounded by cliffs and brush, but you get a good profile view from the trail.
Morses Gulch Falls, GGNRA: This is a hidden falls that is located off Highway 1 and up an unmaintained pathway. I have yet to see this falls.
Steep Ravine Falls, Mt. Tamalpais State Park: A series of cascades along Steep Ravine and a small waterfall next to a wooden ladder combined with old growth redwoods make this one a highlight on Mount Tamalpais.
Cataract Falls, Mt. Tamalpais Watershed: The most famous falls in Marin County with numerous waterfalls and an extremely lush setting. This is a must-see after a heavy rain.
Carson Falls, Mt. Tamalpais Watershed: Near Pine Mountain in the Mount Tamalpais Watershed, this falls is apparently spectacular after rains. It’s on my list to see.
Phantom Falls, Point Reyes National Seashore: Aptly named, this falls is usually non-existent. However, after a heavy rain, this 160 ft waterfall comes to life, tumbling over shear ocean cliffs to the beach. It is located north of Wildcat camp and low-tide conditions are necessary to walk the beach to see it. This could be an ideal time to see the Phantom!
Alamere Falls, Point Reyes National Seashore: An iconic waterfall tumbling from ocean cliffs into the ocean. There is descent flow in this falls even during drier periods. It can be reached in a few miles from Palomarin.
Stairstep Falls, Samuel P. Taylor State Park: A small waterfall that might be worth a visit after a heavy rain.
I returned to Mount Tamalpais with Serena to see sunset from Dad O’Rourke’s bench, but beforehand we did a hike in the Marin Watershed, including a stop at gorgeous Cataract Falls. The trail down to Cataract descends an incredibly lush canyon with bright green moss and ferns covering virtually everything. Cataract falls consists of several waterfalls and on this day we only had time to see the upper falls before we had to return up to Rock Springs. The water flow was decent, but this is a must-see destination after a heavy rain and I look forward to returning here after the current barrage of storms passes through and seeing all the waterfalls! Low lighting made it difficult to capture a clear image but here are some photos from the hike!
Cone Peak is a spectacular summit along the rugged Big Sur coast. At 5,155 feet, it is the second highest mountain in the Santa Lucia Mountain range, but it’s the highest mountain to offer a view of the ocean. The mountain rises nearly a vertical mile in less than three miles from the coastline as the crow flies. This is one of the steepest gradients from ocean to summit in the contiguous United States, hence the name “Sea to Sky.” In fact, the average gradient from sea level to summit is around 33%, which is steeper than the average gradient from Owens Valley to the summit of Mount Whitney. The three canyons that descend from Cone Peak to the ocean are impressively steep with thick stands of redwoods and cascading streams. The ridgelines contain oak woodland and chaparral transitioning to a pine forest higher up and even some firs near the top.
A rugged dirt road reaches the 3,800 ft level on the mountain leaving a 2.25 mile hike to the summit, but a far more aesthetic approach is to climb the mountain from Hwy 1 near the ocean. There are two possible routes – the Stone Ridge/Gamboa Trail and the Vicente Flat Trail. The Stone Ridge/Gamboa option is the shortest route, but it’s largely unmaintained and entails eroded trail along steep hillsides, brush, bountiful poison oak, ticks, and rattle snakes so it almost certainly takes longer. The Vicente Flat Trail is well maintained all the way up to the Coast Ridge Road and the Cone Peak Trail. The Vicente Flat option is also more scenic with great views of the coastline and passage through Hare Canyon, including redwoods, streams, and views of the canyon. This is the route we chose as an out-and-back. In all, the trip was over 22 miles and included over 6,000 feet of total elevation gain. Complete trip report with many photos here.
Cone Peak
Winter and spring are good times to hike and run Cone Peak. The coast is fog-free and the temperatures are pleasant from top to bottom. In the summer, the upper part of the mountain is almost always above the marine layer leaving it brutally hot with swarming black flies. It’s the persistent summer marine layer that allows the canyons to remain cool and sustain a redwood forest. In the winter and spring the streams are also flowing with greater volume, the redwood forest is lush, and wildflowers are in bloom – I was amazed at how many wildflowers were out in January!
Steep terrain
This entire area was burned in the fires of 2008 by varying degrees. These fires were largely beneficial and fire suppression had artificially prevented a wide ranging wildfire for many decades. Most of the redwoods survived and rehabilitation is well under way. Other species which can only germinate after a fire are finally getting a chance.
Hare Canyon
Be sure to check out the video many more photos that I posted here.
The Forest of Nisene Marks is not known for old growth redwoods. However, there is about a dozen big trees near the park entrance that can be viewed from a 1 mile long trail loop. After my trail run, I decided to check out this loop and found some impressively large trees. I was also intrigued by the “Twisted Grove.” Typically redwoods grow very straight, but in this grove all the trees are bending in different directions and twisting around each other. Redwoods are known to sometimes stray from growing straight, but this is an extreme case. The fact that these are large trees makes it all the more impressive. The most plausible theory in my opinion is a genetic issue. The largest tree on the loop is called the Advocate Tree and it is immense! Why weren’t these trees cut when 24 million square feet of other redwood as ripped out of the canyon? One theory is that loggers used to leave trees that had a tilt because the wood would be of inferior quality. Another is that loggers occasionally left a few old trees in the forest that they felt had particular beauty. I find it hard to believe the second theory, so lets go with human nature and the reduced profitability theory. Here are some photos of the Twisted Grove and the other old growth trees, including the Advocate Tree.
The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park is located outside of Aptos in the Santa Cruz area. The entire park is essentially covered in a redwood forest canopy and the canyons of Aptos Creek and Bridge Creek are exceptionally lush with sorrel, ferns, and moss in abundance. The area has a long history of human extraction and destruction. At the turn of the century loggers ravaged these canyons and pulled out 24 million square feet of lumber. All logging operations ended in the early 1920’s and thankfully, nature has reclaimed these canyons. Many of the redwoods are now over 100 years old and the maturing forest is becoming very pleasant. Moreover, little evidence of the mill sites and logging infrastructure remains. For instance, what once was the Porter House, is now brush and young redwoods. Occasionally, I spotted an old cable track or rusting piece of metal.
The park contains excellent single track and two remote waterfalls – Five Finger Falls and Maple Falls. On this day I ran up the West Ridge Trail and down the Big Slide/Aptos Creek Trails and then Loma Prieta Grade. I started at the winter closure gate for a total of about 16 miles. The West Ridge trail starts in a lush canyon and then ascends to the ridgeline, occasionally dropping to the south side of the ridge where it traverses small gullies. The trail is well maintained and gains elevation at a moderate pace. It’s a relatively fast trail with minimal technicality and a soft surface of redwood needles. I imagine the trails in Bridge Creek are of similar quality, and I will check them out next time I visit. The upland redwood forest is mixed with oaks and other hardwood. At 1,400 feet, 0.6 miles after Big Stump Gap, a small area of chaparral is reached providing views of Bridge Creek Canyon and Aptos Creek Canyon down to Aptos, Santa Cruz, and the Ocean. After the viewpoint, the trail passes through a nice stand old growth upland redwoods, before reaching the West Ridge Trail Camp, which is currently closed due to budget restrictions. A 1.5 mile section on fireroad was followed by a turn onto White’s Lagoon Road and then the Big Slide Trail.
Upper Five Finger Falls
There is little evidence of use on the Aptos Creek Trail and Big Slide Trail because Aptos Creek Trail has been closed since January 2007 due to a massive landslide. Big Slide trail is followable, but it is covered in a thick layer of leaves and small debris. The trail descends through a generally bland open redwood forest before reaching the Aptos Creek Trail, which runs a couple hundred feet above Aptos Creek. A use path descends down to the stream and up to Five Finger Falls (see Vimeo Video). This use path is overgrown and eroded in spots, but the setting is very lush with moss covered maples and a carpet of redwood sorrel in the redwoods. Aptos Creek is crossed and the canyon becomes narrower with Five Finger Ferns clinging to the rock walls. Around a corner lies Five Finger Falls, which tumbles around 25 feet into a cavernous rock formation. The stream that feeds Five Finger Falls is a relatively small tributary so there is never a great volume of water, although I imagine it is more impressive after a heavy rain. Continuing down the Aptos Creek Trail, I came across the landslide area that has closed the trail since January 2007. An impressive impasse was created and the trail will need significant rerouting when it is reconstructed. Others have sought access to upper Aptos Creek and use path exists which goes up and over the rock cliff using a series of rope handlines.
Redwood sorrel carpet
Overall, The Forest of Nisene Marks has some great trail running and I will definitely return to explore the Bridge Creek Trail and Maple Falls.
Big Basin is one of my favorite places to run. Established in 1902, it’s California’s oldest state park and features the largest continuous stand of old growth redwood forest (in square miles) south of Humboldt State Park (250 miles to the north). It’s only 1.5 hours away from the population centers of the Bay Area, but feels much further. Big Basin’s boundaries contain over 18,000 acres, but trails link to adjacent protected lands. All told, there are hundreds of miles of delicious single track to explore in the “redwood belt” of the Santa Cruz Mountains.
In my opinion, winter is the best time to visit Big Basin; the forest is lush and vibrant with a carpet of redwood sorrel and ferns and ambient fresh air. The most famous hike in the park is the Berry Creek Falls Loop which passes through an area of impressive waterfalls, including Berry Creek Falls, Silver Falls, Golden Cascade, and numerous smaller waterfalls. These waterfalls are particularly inspiring in the winter after a heavy rain when they turn into swift torrents (see February 2009). The 11 mile waterfall loop starts at the Park Headquarters and entails 2,245 feet of elevation gain and is entirely under old growth redwoods. I extended the run to 20 miles by starting at China Grade, including a portion along Opal Creek which has some of the best redwoods in the park. I also ran the Timms Creek Trail, which follows a stream and a passes through a nice grove of redwoods. There was decent flow in the waterfalls, but with El Nino kicking into high gear, I expect the volume to increase dramatically over the next few weeks. In the mean time, here are some photos and a video of the run!
Believe it or not, I have never actually done the paved tourist loop at Muir Woods National Monument. I have run across the parking lot along the Dipsea Trail and come down the Ben Johnson Trail only to turn up on the Camp Eastwood Trail. Serena has never seen Muir Woods either, so as part of an afternoon in the Marin Hills, we stopped at the park to see what over one million visitors see every year. True to form, the parking situation was a zoo and entirely inadequate to match the droves of tourists coming to the park. By the time we left, the line-up of cars hoping to snag a spot was over 1/4 mile up the hill! Fortunately, we found a spot along the road without too much trouble and began the loop of the famous old-growth grove along Redwood Creek.
Redwood Creek
Towering giants
It had rained the previous evening and the redwood forest felt particularly lush and refreshing. While the experience will inevitably be shared with others, particularly on weekends, I found the grove to be quite pleasant with a nice collection of large redwoods. It’s amazing such a beautiful place exists so close to the concrete streets and towers of San Francisco, and even more amazing that this stand of trees, so close to the industrial center, was protected from ravenous loggers. What remains is an excellent example of how many of the canyons along Central and Northern California looked before loggers arrived, all within a short drive from the man-made attractions in San Francisco. I’m also happy the park service “enclosed” the paved path with a wooden fence to prevent children and disrespectful visitors from trampling all over the redwood sorrel and fragile forest environment.
The complexities of snow forecasts... winter weather advisory dropped for all but the Santa Lucia Mtns but snow still possible above 3k ft 11 hours ago
