Hikes in Marin: Mt. Burnabe, Five Brooks, Dipsea, Indian Valley

Click on images for larger version.

Mt. Burnabe

Mt. Burnabe rises out of the corner of Samual P. Taylor State Park, just off of Sir Francis Drake Blvd. It's a great open-fields hike; the picture at left gives the general tenor of the area (and a wayward hiker).

We found all sorts of fascinating flora on the way up.

And fauna. A private individual maintains a llama ranch near the peak.

We made it! The group poses on the summit of Mt. Barnabe: Terrence, Dan, Phil, Bill and Lisa.

Closeup shot of Mr. and Ms. P for the archives.

Five Brooks Trail

In Pt. Reyes National Seashore, about halfway between Bolinas and Pt. Reyes Station, the Five Brooks trails gives access to a big stretch of beautifully undeveloped coastline. Both open ridgelines (like at left) and peaceful tree groves (at right) are available.

Pelican Lake

Poised dramatically above the ocean along that trail is Pelican Lake, a tiny body of water just barely spearated from the ocean. It's hemmed in on all sides by surrounding hills, a good hundred feet above the level of the Pacific (which is just visible if you click on the picture at the below left for the large version).

Dipsea Trail

Parallelling Route 1 as it winds down from Mill Valley to Muir Beach, the Dipsea Trail has some beautiful tree-lined stretches.

Indian Valley

We've frequently done this hike out of the neighborhood in Novato we call "pre-IPO drive" (i.e., all of these people got in before the IPO), but we had rarely seen this much fog, including some god rays close enough to touch (at left). Although the fog stayed out for the whole hike, it was thin and so lots of sunlight streamed through creating some spectacular lighting effects.