Trestle Glen - Dec. 18, 2012

Walking Distance: 1.4 mi.
Walking Time: 27 min. (4:13 - 4:40 p.m.)
Start and End Point: Blackie's Pasture overflow (packed dirt) parking lot, Tiburon, CA

This afternoon's walk segment, on a beautiful, clear, December day, was a continuation of a previous walk, after a brief break in between.

It's a subject few people talk about (except distance hikers perhaps). Restrooms are an important part of long-distance walking. A big thank you to those who provide and maintain facilities in parks and public spaces. Without this service, bikers and hikers would have to ride or drive miles into town and back. And, today, I wouldn't have had time to walk the last part of Trestle Glen (that connects Tiburon Blvd. with Paradise Drive), if there hadn't been facilities near Blackie's Pasture.

Now, on to the walk...

After admiring a new piece of headgear (a red Boston University ball cap) on the statue of Blackie* (a horse), I followed the asphalt trail toward the intersection of Tiburon Blvd. and Trestle Glen.

After crossing Tiburon Blvd., I hiked up Trestle Glen (the first solid, dark green line is considered part of the official developed Bay Trail, with wider setbacks for pedestrians and cyclists), as far as a white road marker, where I'd left off earlier this afternoon.

I then turned around and walked back down to Blackie's Pasture parking lot to my car, just as the light was fading and the shadows were lengthening. I enjoyed seeing two deer, very close to the spot where I'd spotted a pair of deer on my first walk around the Bay Trail a few years ago. I couldn't help but wonder if these were the same deer.

Wildlife Sightings:
1 green tennis ball; 6 turkey vultures; 2 deer on hill (where I saw a pair a few years ago); 2 robins; 2 little brown jobs (LBJs)

*Mysterious hats, scarves, bandanas and other gifts of clothing tend to show up on Blackie, a beloved local horse who left this world several years back.

Tiburon, Belvedere - Oct. 19, 2012

Walking Distance: 8.3 mi.
Walking Time: 5 hrs., 47 min. (11:08 a.m. - 4:55 p.m. - includes 1 hour lunch, photo stops)
Start and Stop Point: Blackie's Pasture parking lot, Tiburon, CA

Today was a long walk, along the Tiburon peninsula, a beautiful stretch of the San Francisco Bay Trail with a well-developed walking and bicycling corridor. This segment offered, on a clear day, views of the San Francisco skyline and Angel Island to the south/southeast, and Richardson Bay, Sausalito and Mt. Tamalpais to the west/northwest. You may also, weather permitting, catch a glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge.

I walked this (solid green line* trail) with Mark Sommer, founder of Cocoa Rustica and radio host. We started this walk, in light misty weather, at Blackie's Pasture parking lot (Tiburon Boulevard and Trestle Glen Blvd.), and followed a paved (asphalt) walkway southeast toward Belvedere. Standing in open grass pasture space was a bronze statue of Blackie, the area's namesake. Blackie was a popular horse that, on a bet, successfully swam across the Bay from Marin to Crissy Field (San Francisco) in 1938.

After walking southeast for a few miles the sun came out. We passed a kayak beached for a few moments on the shore, which got us thinking about possibilities for a walk + kayak on the Bay Trail (and new Water Trail). We chose to take a detour, to walk through Belvedere (not part of the Bay Trail), including a walk up to the hilltops of this small, but exclusive, peninsula community. The walk was beautiful and quiet (enough to say hello to a deer without it immediately bolting); and the views through the trees were fairly sweeping.

After making our way downhill and making a few stops on Main Street, in downtown Tiburon, we stopped at Sam's Anchor Cafe, for lunch outside on the water. A few sea gulls eyed us and other diners from a polite distance (for sea gulls that is), hoping for a tidbit or two. Had we lived locally, we could tied up at the dock, or caught a water taxi from the dock, back home.

After lunch we walked the Bay Trail back (northwest) to Blackie's Pasture.

Toward the end of the walk, I lagged behind (happens often) to photograph some mallard ducks in a pond, and was glad I did. Shades of emerald green, in the vegetation and on the ducks, were striking.

Wildlife:
17 cormorants; 31 ducks; 2 coots; 12 crows; 3 little brown jobs (LBJs); 1 hummingbird; 1 deer; 8 brown pelicans; 13 sea gulls; 5 Western/Clarks grebes; 1 UFO grebe; 8 pigeons

*The 2013 Bay Trail Map Set has adopted a green line system to indicate developed (solid green line v. the old solid red line shown on older Bay Trail maps) vs. lesser developed or planned trail segments (dotted/broken green lines vs. dotted and double yellow lines). I will be referencing this new map system in the future.

To Blackie's Pasture - Oct. 13, '12

Walking Distance: 3.6 mi.
Walking Time: 2 hrs., 12 min. (4:35 - 6:47 p.m.)
Start and End Point: on street parking, along Strawberry Drive, Mill Valley, CA

My walk this afternoon took place late in the day along a primarily unimproved stretch of trail and paths along the Bay (shown as two double yellow lines on Bay Trail map), past homes and apartments, and the Richardson Bay Audobon Sanctuary and historic Lyford house, with nice views looking down toward the mouth of the Bay, and occasional glimpses of a distant San Francisco skyline.

Road/trail surfaces varied greatly, from narrow dirt paths to paved asphalt roadways, with a touch of sidewalk thrown in occasionally. Sadly, the tail end of today's walk took place in near darkness, so these dim photos of today's sights don't do these places justice.

In the 1800s, this area straddled two large Spanish land grants (made to William A. Richardson (who had married Maria Antonia Martinez), and John T. Reed (who married Ylaria Sanchez). Over time, the land was split into thousands of parcels, but there are still pockets of tree-covered, relatively undeveloped areas, which makes this area feel less urban than it is.

I started this walk by heading north along E. Strawberry Drive to a a hilly area that split traffic, and bore right. Soon after this, I made a right and headed downhill on Harbor Cove Way (Public Shore sign). I passed a gate to a school to the left, and made a right on path toward the small Harbor Cove Dock -- a great miniature picnic spot with a bench that, on a clear day like today, offered views of the distant San Francisco skyline.

From here, I hugged the shoreline and followed a packed dirt path that narrowed considerably in spots, and then became a slightly wider, paved asphalt path (the one stretch of improved trail shown as a solid red line on the Bay Trail map), with a few more benches, eventually emerging onto Greenwood Cove Drive, near The Cove Apartment Homes.

I continued to head north along Greenwood Cove Dr., and passed the historic Lyford house (originally located near Strawberry Point but now residing) at Richardson Bay Audobon Sanctuary property on the Bay side of the road. There was a wedding reception taking place on the grounds, so I wasn't able to hike the pretty oak woodland trail here. I was limited to taking a few pictures of the house, from a distance, on the walk back, when it was almost dark. I'll look forward to returning to walk this piece later.

Continuing along Greenwood Cove Dr. (which became Greenwood Beach Road), I passed some homes and the Tiburon Baptist Church on the left (up slight hill). I walked to the end of Greenwood Beach Road -- which dead-ended to car traffic, but where there was a small paved outlet path that cut through to the parking lot for Blackie's Pasture and Tiburon Linear Park.

Blackie was a local favorite, and a statue (and cross) commemorating the sway-backed horse is often adorned with various items of clothing, hats, or small children. This evening, Blackie was sporting a large red bandana around his neck.

On way back, I re-traced my route, passing my car, and continuing south, back to 414 E. Strawberry Drive, where I left off last time. I enjoyed a few glimpses of post-sunset color over the Bay, between a lace curtain or silhouetted tree branches, then turned around to return to the car.

Wildlife Sightings:
14 crows; 14 sea gulls; 1 Canada goose; 2 cormorants; 17 ducks; 2 snowy egrets; 3 brown pelicans; 2 doves; 13 little brown jobs (LBJs); 1 hummingbird; 2 domestic cats; 2 unidentified brownish shorebirds

Blackie's Pasture to Belvedere, Tiburon - Feb. 13, 2010

Walking Distance: 5.9 miles
Walking Time: 3 hrs., 40 min. (1:05 - 4:45 p.m.) includes stops for lunch, wine tasting, birdwatching
Start and End Point: Blackie's Pasture parking lot, Tiburon, CA

A lovely, sunny afternoon for a walk. Bits of fog were gone by the time we arrived in Tiburon. Thank you to Nanette and Judy for joining me. From Blackie's Pasture (parking lot) we followed the shoreline path, and walked out to the end of the Belvedere spur trail (purple line on map). We then walked into downtown Tiburon via San Rafael Avenue, and stopped for a brief wine tasting and lunch on Main Street. We enjoyed watching a Western (or Clark's) grebe mating dance and dash across the water. These are the Olympic synchronized swimmers of the bird world. After lunch, we walked out as far as Shoreline Park, just past the Ferry stop, where we spotted some pelicans, more grebes,  and other birds, then headed back (NW) along Tiburon Blvd., then cut over to the beach and walked along beach and trail back to the car.

Wildlife Sightings:
1 great egret; 2 snowy egrets; 3 crows; 33 coots; 35 Western grebes, 3 other grebes/divers (Clark's Grebe, smaller grebe); 1 white butterfly; 38 ducks (including 3 buffleheads, some ruddy and other ducks); 30 sea gulls; 15 sanderlings; 5 brown pelicans; 18 unidentified brownish shorebirds including a group of tiny sandpipers and a long-billed curlew; and 1 willet.

Tiburon - Trestle Glen - Jan. 28, 2010

Walking Distance: 2.7 miles
Walking Time: 1 hr., 18 min. (12:31 - 1:49 p.m.)
Start and End Point: Street parking along Greenwood Beach Road, Tiburon, CA

In this second segment today, I walked to Blackie's Pasture area, and around the park area. Eventually I took the fork of the Bay Trail going up Trestle Glen (double yellow lines indicate surface road/street), and saw some deer munching grass by the side of the road.

There were also several robins (I hadn't seen a large group like this for years) going after clusters of red pyracantha berries growing close to the road. As a child I remember huge numbers of birds (before DDT and development killed most of them off) descending on these berries, getting "drunk" and bumping into windows. Unfortunately, my camera battery died, so no robin pictures.

Note: There was not much of a shoulder on Tiburon Blvd. - Trestle Glen roads, so watch traffic carefully if you walk on this road. 

Wildlife Sightings:
37 little brown jobs (LBJs)/songbirds, 7+ robins, 6 crows, 2 Canada geese, 31 sea gulls, 20 unidentified brownish shorebirds, 19 pigeons, 1 great egret, 1 snowy egret, 2 ducks, and 3 deer