The Campers Have Returned

Hiking on Cataract Creek on our day off.

    Samuel P Taylor State Park, along with many other California State Parks, reopened for overnight camping on Friday, January 29, so now we are returning to doing daily camp checks, selling shower tokens and answering questions of campers in addition to those of the many day users of this park. Not many people knew about the campground opening last weekend so we only had two or three campers a night, but this weekend more than half the available sites are occupied. Until this coming Friday, February 12, campsites are available on a first come, first serve basis, but starting the 12th reservations are being honored once again. Each morning when I sit by my campfire I have been hearing birds chirping, cars going by on the highway and the rustling of my fire. For the first time in two months, this morning I could also hear nearby campers around their morning fire and children from campsites in a distance - the world as it should be in this beautiful state park.

    I mentioned previously that we had met THE director of California State Parks on Christmas Eve when he stopped by just to say thank you to us when we were working in the entrance kiosk. Last Saturday we encountered him again when he came to the park to participate in a an interview for a live broadcast commemorating the 100th anniversary of Humboldt Redwoods State Park. California State Parks, on their Facebook Page, are doing many interesting and informative programs pulling together folks from all areas of the state park system. Last Saturday's program included interpreters who were at Humboldt Redwoods State Park and Director Quintero here amongst our redwoods at Samuel P Taylor near his home in Fairfax. The only "in person" audience here was one ranger and Rob and me, but we could hear over the cell phone camera the others talking and of course Armando Quintero - very interesting and inspiring! First he talked about his own experience with redwood trees and the awe inspiring reality that the redwoods that surround us here are directly related to redwood trees that would have been here thousands of years ago when the land and the creatures that inhabited the area were quite different than today. He talked of the value of the state parks, especially recognized during COVID, as a place for people to nurture their physical, social, mental and spiritual health. He also talked about the importance of the establishment of Humboldt Redwoods State Park and the California State Parks in general as a foundation of park lands preserved all over the world. Quintero told of the goal of the California administration to assure that 30% of it's land is publicly protected as natural space, and that now is a good time for collaboration with the Department of the Interior, Indigenous people and others. Rob and I both came away from watching the program and talking with Director Quintero following it with new enthusiasm for our tiny role in caring for California State Parks. Quintero talked some about increasing accessibility to the parks for all, and I followed up on that in our conversation after his presentation. I shared that when we were first married and money was tight, camping in the state parks ($15 a night then) was cost prohibitive to us. We felt like the California State Parks were like the "Hilton" of camping. Today most state parks are $35 a night, and that's still cost prohibitive to many. 

Armando Quintero, Director of California State Parks preparing to be interviewed online

    Saturday afternoon I drove to Tiburon to pick up Erin from the Angel Island Ferry to retrieve some mail from her and then to take her over to Richmond to meet up with Shawn on his sailboat, "Wind Horse." Shawn and Erin later sailed over to Angel Island to return her there. This was the first time I have seen his boat and I look forward some day soon to Rob and I joining Shawn on the boat sailing. I'm sorry I didn't take a better picture of the boat.

Shawn, Erin and me with "Wind Horse" behind us

    Here in the first week of February we are half way between winter solstice and spring equinox and though the nights are still cold (35 degrees this morning), the sun is further north and we experience it in our very shady campsite for a little longer each day.

The sun coming through the trees less than an hour after "sunrise" - something we haven't seen until now because the sun was too far south and the trees blocked it until much later in the morning.

    I must admit that it's been fun and interesting to have the campers back, so we've been walking through the main campground loop multiple times a day rather than the one time we need to for campground checks. In addition to that we have started sweeping  a section of campsites behind us by the creek that is closed for the season. During the heavy rainstorm a couple of weeks ago lots of redwood needles, cones and small branches came down on the roads. Before the Orchard Hill Loop opened last week that all needed to be cleaned up. A very hard working maintenance worker used a leaf blower all day one day clearing the road and 30 campsite parking areas. I can't stand leaf blowers! They are noisy and polluting, but I recognize they save time and effort.  But I wonder, would it be possible to keep things clean with a broom? Rob and I decided we'd like to try to see if it is possible, so we asked to borrow a street broom and last Saturday we started sweeping the road and parking spots for 14 campsites that are currently closed. We didn't try to accomplish it all in one day, figuring it's sort of like painting the Golden Gate Bridge - a job that's never done. Working a little each day we finished that section this morning, but will be back at it each day for a short time in the morning. Those campsites aren't due to reopen until March or April, but our goal is for them to be cleaned up and ready long before.

Rob Sweeping

Can you see the difference between where we've swept and where we haven't?

    We walk the main trail in the park frequently, clearing branches and other minor trail maintenance. Lots of stuff came down in the recent storm, but even when it's not stormy branches still find their way on to the paths. More and more we feel responsible for keeping those paths clear.

A very large magnolia branch across Pioneer Tree Trail this week.

First Rob on one end and I on the other shook the branch free of a small tree it was hung up on.

Here is Rob using his trusty brush saw to cut through several inches of the branch thus making it possible to move both ends off the trail. As of February 1 there are no chain saws allowed in the park in order to protect the spotted owls. I can't believe that leaf blowers are any better for them than chain saws!

    Last Monday on our day off, our "big" outing was to drive to the Olema RV Park six miles a way in LesThora to refill her propane tank. The last time we did that was early December. There is no way to refill the tank while here in camp, but it's not a long drive to get propane, and we figure it's good to drive the RV occasionally anyway. It does make me not want to run the propane heater too much, but since it lasted two months last time, I'm going to turn on the heater more often when it's cold inside in the morning. After getting propane we drove an additional couple of miles to the library in Point Reyes Station to pick up more books. We have really enjoyed having our library card, ordering books and picking them up weekly.

Daffodils near the library in Point Reyes Station - a sure sign of spring coming!

    Tuesday's day off outing was to Cataract Falls by Alpine Lake on the Bolinas Fairfax Road. Sharon Sligh, a friend from Humboldt County, sent me a message about a posting online she had seen about Cataract Falls and suggested we might like to try a hike there, so that's where we headed. The trail description was that it was a 3 1/2 mile out and back trail. As it turned out the whole trail followed Cataract Creek, that in its entirety was a series of "cataract" falls. Truly beautiful!

A stop along the way on the Bolinas Fairfax Road at a trail head of the Bolinas Ridge Trail - a trail we can access from our campsite. I think that spot is about 12 miles from here by trail, a lot more by road. 

The redwoods up there were beautiful!

And so, another hiking adventure begins!

It wasn't far at all until we saw cataracts!

More beautiful falling water!

As we kept going up, the water kept coming down!

Pretty falling water

More pretty falling water

Coming Down

I confess, we didn't go all the way on this trail, not even half way. There were many steps and many of them were quite tall. We figured we'd seen enough of the beautiful water and turned around before we'd regret having to descend too many of those tall, uneven stairs.

    After our hike up Cataract Trail we continued on the Bolinas Fairfax Road and stopped at the Azalea Hill Trail Head. We walked a short way south east and found some nice rocks to sit on to eat our lunch.

Looking northeast from the Azalea Hill Trail

A red tail hawk on a tree top with the San Francisco Bay behind.

The view of Bon Tempe Lake, Mount Tamalpais and the Richmond San Rafael Bridge from our lunch spot. It was a beautiful day for a beautiful outing!

    We are delighted with all the places to explore beyond Samuel P Taylor State Park, but we never tire of our winter home. We like it so much that we accepted the invitation to come back next year for another six months. I'm already looking forward to salmon spawning season again, but for now, we continue to enjoy the lengthening days, the beautiful redwoods and our time in Marin County.

On the trail to my morning bench one day this week.

Cataract Falls were beautiful, but this falling water is also beautiful right next to my morning bench. I wonder how long the water will keep flowing. This creek bed was dry when we arrived here in November.

Walking back from my morning bench

Here is a newt - the second one we've seen since arriving here, and both were spotted this week. I imagine we'll be seeing more as spring approaches.

A picture of Straus showing off his bob tail.

A picture of Elsie "posing"

Two balls of fur

Elsie and Straus in their usual perch