Chimney Rock
Chimney Rock, Point Reyes National Seashore
Leader: Ann Elliott Thursday, March 27, 2024 10 am to 2 pm
Meetup registration link. Opens 2/29/24. Limit 20. Please sign the Waiver for Marin Chapter 2024.
Chimney Rock is a spectacular walk year-round. During this mid-spring visit we hope to find some of the flowers on the 50th Anniversary Challenge list: Wight’s paintbrush (Castilleja wightii), goldfields (Lasthenia californica), tidytips (Layia platyglossa), suncups (Taraxia ovata), and more. We will see some elephant pups before they take off to deeper ocean and maybe the beginning of the pacific gray whale northward migration.
Directions: Meet at the Chimney Rock parking area, located in outer Point Reyes, near the end of Sir Francis Drake, a mile or so before reaching the Lighthouse. Please remember, even if it’s warm and sunny when you leave home, it could be cold and foggy and very, very, very windy at Point Reyes.
Bring: Water, a snack, and rain gear. Heavy rain cancels.
Email Ann with any questions. annonfire@gmail.com Text for day-of-trip questions or issues: 530-521-4402
This classic Marin County outing will start on the Cascade Fire Road, passing a few sargeant cypress (Hesperocyparis [formerly Cupressus] sargentii) individuals, and pipe vines, (Aristolochia californica) and then continuing on the High Water Trail to visit a rock outcropping where there are some less common species, including nude buckwheat (Eriogonum nudum) and Canyon live-forever (Dudleya cymosa). After passing through an undisturbed oak-madrone woodland with many native understory species, including checker lily (Fritillaria affinis), the route will then rejoin the Cascade Fire Road and lead up to Cascade Falls along a stretch of San Anselmo Creek (also called Cascade Creek). Along the way, we’ll see many creekside plants including Western Columbine (Aquilegia formosa), Hazelnut (Corylus cornuta var. californica), Gooseberry (Ribes menziesii), Seep monkeyflower (Diplacus guttatus), maidenhair fern (Adiantum jordanii) and others. From Cascade Falls we will retrace our steps to the Cascade Fire Road. We may take a quick detour and ramble along the San Anselmo Creek Trail (a short stretch) for more of a riparian/forest ecotone and a creek crossing into a secluded bay forest area with a hillside of native fern species. Our return will be via the Canyon and Cary Camp Trials.
This field trip will cover about 2.5 easy to moderately strenuous miles.
An early spring visit to Loma Alta includes magnificent vistas and wildflowers. Views include grasslands, serpentine, ravines, ridges, valleys, and San Francisco Bay. The lower part of the fire road has many native wildflowers typical of serpentine. Loma Alta Fire Road continues along the ridge and goes uphill for two miles, gaining about 1000 feet (650 to 1592 feet). The climb is easy to moderate. The fire road climbs, then levels off, etc. It is a pleasant climb as the views all around keep expanding. Wildflowers we may see include red maids (Calandrinia ciliata), rock lettuce (Dudleya cymosa ssp. cymosa), wild cucumber (Marah fabacea), Popcorn flower (Plagiobothrys nothofulus), False lupine (Thermopsis californica), Purple-flowered blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium bellum), Checker-bloom (Sidalcea malviflora ssp. laciniata), wild strawberry (Fragaria vesca), and Ithuriel’s Spear (Tritelia laxa). The length of Lucas Valley, much of San Francisco Bay, Inverness Ridge, the Ross Valley, and Mt Tam are among the wonderful views.
Bowman Canyon is a recently acquired addition to Mount Burdell Open Space. It includes riparian, grassland, woodland and serpentine habitats. We will observe plants in these habitats along the Serpentine and WB-03 Fire Roads. The 2.5-mile loop is easy to moderate except for a steep, rocky uphill climb for about ¼ mile. This portion is slippery because of rocks, mud and puddles. The first part of the field trip passes through a bay, oak and buckeye forest along Bowman Creek and then opens to the large serpentine area. We will walk along the edge of the serpentine, cross it, and return through bay, oak and buckeye woodland. Wildflowers we are likely to see include cream cups (Platystemon californicus), longspur sea blush (Plectritis ciliosa), little spring beauty (Claytonia exigua ssp. exigua), tuberous sanicle (Sanicula tuberosa), common yellow monkey flower (Erythranthe guttata), hillside collinsia (Collinsia sparsiflora var. sparsiflora), dwarf plantain (Plantago erecta), blue dicks (Dipterostemon capitatus ssp. capitatus), and possibly clarkias (Clarkia spp.).
