I am back from a long hiatus and figured out how to continue adventures without selling myself to the castoreum industry! Hurrah! Even though Labor Day snuck up on me this year, I, and my good friend, Felipe, managed to leap aboard MEGABUS for another overnight adventure to the Bay Area. The target this time: Muir Woods National Monument!
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I had originally intended to make this a cleanup mission in San Francisco and Marin Counties. However, I had not planned on the Bay Bridge being closed for Labor Day weekend! How ridiculous is that? So, MEGABUS took us to Oakland, where we were able to rent a car and head across the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge to reach Mill Valley!
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I called Muir Woods ahead of time, being that it was the Labor Day weekend and the whole car rental debacle had set us back several hours, and learned that the best time to avoid the crowds was before 10:00 AM or after 3:00 PM. So, off we went, and sure enough, on arriving at 9:30, we found all parking full within a mile of the monument! Well, we were there, so there was no time like the present to get started!
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Whenever there are crowds, my motto is “Get Higher!” So, we forked off onto the Ocean View Trail and marveled at the size of the redwoods. This redwood forest was donated to the federal government by Congressman William Kent and his wife, Elizabeth, in honor of famed naturalist, John Muir. Their aim was to protect this grove from rampant logging that was going on at the time. Luckily, by now, most old-growth redwood groves are under some form of state or federal protection!
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As I hustled on, trying to play catch-up and taking in only the largest of the trees (some up to 258 feet in height!), Felipe lagged behind. When I turned back to find out what was the matter, he asked me if I could smell what he smelled. I couldn’t place it, but he said it was a California bay tree (Umbellularia californica), whose herbal scent reminded me of Italian cooking! Then, he pointed out some beautiful lichens, a camera-shy banana slug, and light filtering through a dense bed of shamrocks. Wow! I really need to remember to slow down and take things in at my own height! Sometimes I get lost in the big picture.
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The crowds thinned as we approached the height of the Ocean View Trail, as did the redwoods. In fact, they got smaller and thinner the higher we went, until at last, we burst into sunlight and chaparral! It was amazing to look down upon this self-contained ecosystem from above, at least until hunger and the heat of the sun drove us back into the shady forest.
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We returned down the Lost Trail, without actually getting lost, and indulged in a yummy lunch at the Muir Woods Trading Company Café, where the adjoining gift shop sold chocolate banana slugs! I couldn’t bring myself to stomach one, but maybe next time? The highlight of this establishment, in any case, was the free drinking fountain outside, which pumped up water from the local water table: cold, refreshing, and free of chemical contaminants! Yum!
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The afternoon was wearing on, and I realized that we surely would not be able to visit all of our intended Historical Landmarks. Not to be daunted, though, we decided to see as many as we could, or at least as many as were left to see. For instance, the Lime Kilns (#222) by Olema were relics of the Russian occupation of Sonoma County in 1812, but now, there is nothing to see but barbed wire and grass! It’s sort of the same with the Site of the Lighter Wharf at Bolinas (#221), now just the sludgy edge of a lagoon covered in pieces of blasted bottles and clay pigeons. Darn!
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Our luck was somewhat better back in Mill Valley, where we found the First Sawmill in Marin County (#207) after doubling back from the wrong intersection of Throckmorton and Cascade. We also tried to see the Outdoor Art Club (#922), which is a private, nonprofit organization that promotes the beautification and preservation of nature; however, there was a special event taking place there, which left us stumped.
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More misadventures ensued as we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge in order to get a photo of the elusive Presidio sign, which I’d missed on two previous trips to San Francisco because of lighting and a dead battery. But I was determined to make the third time the charm, no matter how unfavorably the winds blew!
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With the sun going down, our time was almost up! We only had half an hour before dark, so we went to find the Site of the Laurel Hill Cemetery (#760). This used to be a famous burial site for artists, inventors, and politicians until 1900 when the city passed an ordinance banning the burial of the dead within city limits. That meant the entire cemetery had to be relocated! Many of the people were moved to mass graves, while families with enough means purchased private plots for their own dead. The whole process took 48 years! Now the site is home to the University of San Francisco Laurel Heights Campus, and after wandering around for 20 minutes, we discovered that someone had absconded with the plaque too! I think a curse will surely follow the thieves!
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The delay gave us time for one last Landmark: The Conservatory of Flowers (#841). This is the oldest wood and glass plant conservatory in North America! After years of accidents and disasters, it was on the World Monuments Trust list of 100 Most Endangered World Monuments, but after years of repairs, it is open once more for visitors, at least during daylight hours! Maybe I’ll have to come back in the day time and take a look inside!
So the day wound down, and it was time to return to Oakland and catch the 12:05 MEGABUS home. I thought an hour and a half would be enough to get there, return the car, shuttle to the airport terminal, take the 73 bus to the BART station, and catch the 11:26 BART from Coliseum to West Oakland. Well… We returned the car all right, at about 11:05, sat on the airport shuttle for ten minutes and reached the airport at about 11:19. There was no sign of the 73 bus! The Air BART showed up and took us straightaway to the Coliseum station. We arrived at 11:30. The next train to West Oakland wasn’t until 11:50!
We had to think quickly. The next train into the station would be an orange line train bound for Richmond, which had two stops in common, even though the closest was 1.5 miles away from the West Oakland Station! Given the choice between running through Oakland at night and spending the night on a train station bench, I thought we should take our chances on the jog. I looked at Felipe, he nodded, and as soon as the Richmond train arrived, we jumped aboard.
Once the train pulled up to the Lake Merritt station at 11:47, we took off. It was easier for me because I don’t wear pants, but poor Felipe was wearing heavy jeans and carrying a backpack full of reading material! Luckily, there was no one on the street and minimal traffic to notice two travelers running like mad through the sketchy side of the Bay Area, close to midnight! Now there was definitely no time to stop and admire the shamrocks!
The station gradually came into view, and we put on a burst of speed, skidding to the check-in line just as the last person was boarding! We half leapt onto the bus and settled in for a hot, sweaty night trip home. Lesson learned! It takes two hours to get back to the BART Station, not one and a half!
Off to saw logs (not redwood ones, I promise!),