Bay Area Guidebooks

GUIDEBOOKS NEWS BLOG FREE DOWNLOADS PARK LINKS

August 30, 2010
A new chapter preview, entitled Mount Tamalpais Place Names is now available in the Free Downloads section of the website. It is a sample chapter from A Visitor's Guide to Mount Tamalpais and Muir Woods. It tells the human history of Mount Tamalpais, looking at the origins of names of trails, creeks, meadows, and other features that the hiker will encounter on the mountain.

I've always wondered about the origins of place names around Mount Tamalpais. These names really tell a lot about the history of the mountain, which is such a great story. For all the hiking I've done around the Mount Tam, I always thought the Benstein Trail was named after someone named Ben Stein, and wondered why it was written as one word. I found out it was actually named after Henry Benstein, who built this trail in 1921. Lots of other people, such as Alice Eastwood, Matt Davis, Ben Johnson, and Mickey O'Brian had a huge impact on the preservation of wilderness on Mount Tam, and the creation of the state park.

August 29, 2010
An updated version of A Visitor's Guide to Mount Tamalpais and Muir Woods is now available for download, with expanded chapters on the Mount Tamalpais Railway, Camping and Accommodations, and Flora and Fauna. Also included are several new chapters, including A Profile of Alice Eastwood, Hiking Clubs of Mount Tamalpais, and Books About Mount Tamalpais. An additional added feature is a directory of Mount Tamalpais Place Names, revealing the history of the mountain through the names given to trails, creeks, meadows, and other features.

This is a free update if you have already purchased a previous version.

$1 from every sale goes to support the California State Parks Foundation, which is leading the fight to save our state parks from the fiscal neglect that has been taking place for years now. Vote Yes on Proposition 21 this November 2!.

Rodeo Beach

August 23, 2010
After a long, cold, foggy summer, we finally have a heat wave. It was a great day to go to Rodeo Beach in the Marin Headlands, and I was surprised that the beach was not more crowded. I guess because it was a Monday. Funny to think that this was the same beach where I saw sea lions Soccer Mom and Contador released by the Marine Mammal Center just a few days ago. It was so cold and gray that day, it felt like winter. Today was different, with people, instead of seals, sprawled on the beach. Dozens of surfers bobbed in the water, waiting for the next big wave. Ocean breezes tempered the hot sun.

I hiked around the hills, going up to Battery Townsend and finding a nice sunny hillside to sit and read a book. When it got too hot, I sought out the shade of El Castillo, another old military bunker perched high on a hilltop. Beautiful day, sunshine, waves crashing, hawks circling overhead, the buoys ringing out in the ocean. Lulled me into a euphoric bliss.

August 21, 2010
It was a big week for architectural design awards in the national parks of the Bay Area.

The California Preservation Foundation announced 15 recipients of its 27th Annual Preservation Design Awards, including two in the Presidio: the Walt Disney Family Museum and the Fort Scott Cultural Landscape Assessment.

The California Council of the American Institute of Architects gave a merit award in architecture to Ogrydziak/Prillinger Architects for the Visitor Center of the Presidio Habitats exhibition, an innovative energy-efficient conglomeration of salvaged shipping containers.

The National Park Service presented a Designing the Parks award to the Architectural Resource Group and Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects, and Office of Cheryl Barton, for their work on the restoration of Fort Baker in the Marin Headlands to develop the Cavallo Point Lodge.

Cavallo Point Lodge

Click here to view the video

In this video, Soccer Mom and Contador are released
by the Marine Mammal Center at Rodeo Beach.

August 14, 2010
Two California Sea Lions, who were treated for acute domoic acid toxicity (a disease contracted from agricultural pesticide runoff) were released by the Marine Mammal Center at Rodeo Beach this morning. Soccer Mom and Contador were stranded at Pismo Beach in early July and nursed back to health. Now they are free. This was a special event for donors to the Marine Mammal Center and for me, it was a special moment in time. Last night was my last night at the Harbor Seal Hospital, a volunteer job I've been doing since March. At one point we had more than 70 patients, but now we are down to just six. Three of those will be released next week and the remaining three will be moved into a pen on "topside," the part of the Marine Mammal Center where the sea lions and elephant seals are kept. Next week I will start working with these much larger animals and I feel like I'm ready for the challenge.

I arrived at Rodeo Beach early in the morning, because I knew a release event like this, held so close to San Francisco, was going to be very popular and attract a large crowd. I went for a hike in the Marin Headlands before the event started, going along the coastal trail to a small promontory that juts out into the Pacific Ocean, surrounded on three sides by crashing surf. The hills are dry at this time of year, but there were still plenty of wildflowers carpeting the steep slopes, giving color to an otherwise gray and foggy day. I sat out on the promontory, reading a biography of Alice Eastwood, and listening to the soothing sound of the waves below me.

August 4, 2010
I did a long hike in the Presidio this morning, following the route of the Presidio Habitats exhibition. This innovative year-long art installation combines a number of ideas, concepts, and activities that are important to me: art, wildlife, environmental awareness, and hiking. The exhibit features 11 art installations, focusing on a theme of wildlife habitat, that are scattered throughout the Presidio. The sites are linked by a 2.5 mile hike, which ties together the exhibit into a cohesive whole.

Each installation is intented to evoke the habitat for a particular animal, bird, insect, or a grouping of wildlife. My favorite one is entitled Winged Wisdom, in which the habitat of the American Robin is depicted by words spelled out in a quiet forest. Each letter is about three feet high, contructed of straw, similar to the robin's nesting material, encased in wire mesh. The words spell out various aspects of robin behavior, such as adapt to change or resolve conflict with song.

Patience is the name of an exhibit that graces the Fort Scott lawn, a subtle invitation to sit quietly and observe the variety of wildlife that finds its home in the old military Parade Ground. The varying points of view are set up to simulate the quiet patient observatory behavior of the great blue heron, which can often be seen around the lawn.

The Owl Dome is a geodesic orb perched high in a protective tripod, calling to mind the tree cavities that are commonly used by the Western Screech-Owl. The Dome has an opening in it that can accommodate an owl, although the Western Screech-Owl has not been seen in San Francisco for many years. The installation sits in a small clearing, and one can imagine that an owl would have a good lookout from this vantage point to find its prey.

Another habitat for the Western Screech-Owl is done with Chinese porcelain vessels, which hang high in the branches of a Monterey cypress. The vessels depict tree cavities in an abstract way that ties in with San Francisco's Chinese heritage and long trading relationship with China and the Pacific Rim.

Sculpture Habitat for the Gray Fox is composed of stacked wooden blocks, set in a forest clearing, shaped like the ear of a fox. Blending in with forest, the wood for the project comes from salvaged Monterey cypress trees from the Presidio reforestation program. I love the way that many of the artists have tied their projects not only to the theme of habitat, but have also sought to connect the project directly with the Presidio or San Francisco.

The staggered terraces of the Habitat for Anna's Hummingbird form a circle that corresponds with the stages of the bird's annual cycle, from breeding to migrating to molting. The rich palette of flowers layering the terraces provides a banquet for the hummingbird. Like several of the other projects, the wood used in the construction comes from salvaged trees from the Presidio reforestation program.

After the hike, I went to my volunteer job at the Presidio Nursery, which is also the site of Pollen Balls, one of the Presidio Habitats installations. We do different activities every week at the Nursery, depending on what projects need to be accomplished, and today I was able to participate in a task that tied in directly with the Presidio Habitats exhibit. One of the pollen balls was damaged, because it was placed in the Nursery shadehouse, where black netting came in contact with the top of the ball and caused it to melt.

The pollen balls are made of beeswax and designed to be giant representations of pollen that Digger Bees bury underground to nourish their eggs. The damaged ball needed to be moved to a new location, so I spent the afternoon with Damien and Frank, wandering around the Nursery to find a suitable place for the ball. We selected a spot next to Dragonfly Creek, where visitors could see the pollen ball as they walk down the hill toward the Nursery. Next week, we will work on restoring the melted wax on the top of the ball. What a great way to finish up my view of the Presidio Habitats exhibition - to actually play a role in its installation and maintenance!

Presidio Habitats: Western Screech-Owl Habitats

Presidio Habitats: Sculpture Habitat for the Gray Fox

Presidio Habitats: Habitat for Anna's Hummingbird

August 2, 2010
Cold foggy mornings are a great time for a hike - there is a certain atmosphere at times like this that feels like a dream. I did the easy hike to Tennessee Beach this morning, and found that it was low tide when I got to the beach. The remains of the old SS Tennessee, shipwrecked in 1853 and the namesake for the beach and the valley, are visible when the tide is out. Thick metal bars protrude above the sand, looking like an ancient ruin from a lost civilization.

A large flock of seagulls gathers next to the ruin, oblivious to the historical significance that arises from the beach. The waves at this beach are hypnotic in their soothing constant ebb and flow. The cool fog billows in over the surrounding hills, adding to the ethereal look of this therapeutic locale. Low tide also opens up another beach to the south of Tennessee Beach, a quiet secluded stretch of sand that is only accessible for a short time. The door to it opens briefly at the lowest ebb of the tide, then quickly slams shut again, sealing off the beach completely. Wouldn't want to get stuck out there when the tide comes in ...