Starting Spring
It's the middle of February and incredibly enough that means the start of the spring wildflower season in the Bay Area. Yesterday was a beautiful day for a hike, the sun was shining bright and temperatures in the high 60's. Late morning I met the Sierra Club group at Stinson beach for a hike up the Steep Ravine trail to Pan Toll Ranger station then on to Rock Springs and back down the Coastal and Matt Davis trails. The
Steep Ravine is a rather legendary trail in this area and it lives up to the hype. The trail follows a stream bed through a deep, dark, mossy green ravine. Crystal clear water flows down the rocks creating small waterfalls and beautiful pools. It is a steep climb but the cool darkness of the towering redwoods and the babbling brook keep you refreshed as you ascend. The green banks of ferns and moss are quite a contrast to the dry scrubby hillsides along most of the coast. I would almost have preferred to have this part be the last stage of the hike instead of the first to leave the impression of cool serenity at the end of the day.
We emerged from the Steep Ravine at Pan Toll Ranger station where the parking lot was completely full. After a quick stop for lunch we headed off to Rock Springs and again the trail went along a beautiful creek full of cool, clear water though here the trail was not nearly so steep. Eventually we headed back toward the coast and wound our way down the coast trail which clings to the side of a steep drop as it winds its way down to join the Matt Davis trail. The going down seemed to take forever. Though the vast views of the Pacific ocean were a wonderful sight the beach hardly seemed to get any closer with each of the zillion switchbacks. Around 5:00 we arrived back at Stinson Beach absolutely exhausted. The ten mile hike full of up and down is a lot farther than I had walked in a long time.
The spring wildflowers were indeed poking out their heads after the winter rains and week of warm sunshine. Among other which I do not remember we saw giant and pacific trillium, milkmaid, salmonberry, fetch, stick monkey flower, baby blue eyes, fairy bells, fetid adders tongue, california poppy, thimbleberry, strawberry, hounds tongue and the non native forget me not and french broom (generally considered bad plants). Every spring a learn a few of these flowers but forget most of them by the next year. So I resolved to start early this year to get a chance to see them as many times as possible. I was surprised to see so many blooms in February, one of the many advantages of living in California!
Steep Ravine is a rather legendary trail in this area and it lives up to the hype. The trail follows a stream bed through a deep, dark, mossy green ravine. Crystal clear water flows down the rocks creating small waterfalls and beautiful pools. It is a steep climb but the cool darkness of the towering redwoods and the babbling brook keep you refreshed as you ascend. The green banks of ferns and moss are quite a contrast to the dry scrubby hillsides along most of the coast. I would almost have preferred to have this part be the last stage of the hike instead of the first to leave the impression of cool serenity at the end of the day. We emerged from the Steep Ravine at Pan Toll Ranger station where the parking lot was completely full. After a quick stop for lunch we headed off to Rock Springs and again the trail went along a beautiful creek full of cool, clear water though here the trail was not nearly so steep. Eventually we headed back toward the coast and wound our way down the coast trail which clings to the side of a steep drop as it winds its way down to join the Matt Davis trail. The going down seemed to take forever. Though the vast views of the Pacific ocean were a wonderful sight the beach hardly seemed to get any closer with each of the zillion switchbacks. Around 5:00 we arrived back at Stinson Beach absolutely exhausted. The ten mile hike full of up and down is a lot farther than I had walked in a long time.
The spring wildflowers were indeed poking out their heads after the winter rains and week of warm sunshine. Among other which I do not remember we saw giant and pacific trillium, milkmaid, salmonberry, fetch, stick monkey flower, baby blue eyes, fairy bells, fetid adders tongue, california poppy, thimbleberry, strawberry, hounds tongue and the non native forget me not and french broom (generally considered bad plants). Every spring a learn a few of these flowers but forget most of them by the next year. So I resolved to start early this year to get a chance to see them as many times as possible. I was surprised to see so many blooms in February, one of the many advantages of living in California!
Labels: hiking
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