hikes

As a special post honoring the upcoming Valentine’s Day, I’ll be putting on my psychology hat and analyzing the heck out of the Ano Nuevo hike. I wrote about this hike a couple months ago and suggested that anyone who wanted to go see the baby elephant seals book their tickets. On the day that Closet Granola and I had reservations, his roommate and her boyfriend also wanted to go. They called Ano Nuevo State Park to see if they could get tickets and all they could hear on the other end of the receiver was laughing. So if you haven’t made reservations, remember this lesson for next year: Good Things Come To Those Who Plan. Or read my special comment below.

This docent-led hike lasts about 2.5 hours and is pretty easy. Upon arrival at the state park, we picked up our tickets and waited for our tour to start. There a few picnic tables if you want to grab a quick bite before heading out. Food is not allowed once the tour starts, so better eat now. The tour begins with a quick introduction from one of the volunteers at the visitors center. The group of 20 or so hikers head out towards the ranger station by themselves, passing a lake meant for bird watching. Closet Granola and I didn’t stop as we’re not the bird-watching types.

At the ranger station, there were some exhibits that I found too creepy - the skull of an elephant seal, fur from a sea otter, etc. A docent picked up the group and started the hike and heading towards the beach where the elephant seals were. We stopped at several points along the way where the docent could address the group and relay facts about the elephant seals. Many people asked questions along the way as well, which were sometimes interesting and sometimes not. This was definitely the most educational hike we’ve been on.

Here are a few things we saw/learned on the hike along with Dr. Hiking Diva’s interpretation:

• There’s an alpha male for every 40-50 females, known as the harem. (Loosely translated: Men aren’t meant for monogamy. In their ideal world, the dominant males would have a harem and all the other men would get nothing.)
• The beta males roam the outskirts of the harem trying to sneak in some action, but the females only want to mate with the alpha male. (Loosely translated: We know the best men are taken, but we want them anyway. We don’t want no scrubs.)
• The mama elephant seal weans her baby after about 25-28 days by abandonment, and then mates with an alpha male again. (Loosely translated: No good man is going to want me while I’m saddled with a kid. Time for the kid to grow up on its own.)
• Males fight to gain dominance and the right to breed. They rear up and slam their bodies against each other. (Loosely translated: They still haven’t learned to use their words.)
• The elephant seals come ashore to mate but rarely go back out to sea for food and water. They may fast for several months. (Loosely translated: (The only time you should be this fat is when you’re not planning to eat for the next 3 months.)

Special Note: I overplanned my trip to Ano Nuevo and bought two tickets for two separate weekends, in case the first weekend was a bust. It’s hard to plan these hiking trips around ski weekends, which depend on the fickle weather. But since Closet Granola and I did this hike a couple weekends ago, I’m giving away my backup tickets for this Saturday, Valentine’s Day, February 14th. If you want the 2 tickets for a 2 p.m. hike, leave a comment or send me an email if you have my private email address.

Overall Rating: Flip-flops

Rating system:

• Heels: So easy you can hike it in heels
• Flip-flops: Too long or hard to hike in heels, but flat flip-flops would work
• Pumas: A nice stroll not much harder than walking in the city
• Trailblazers: If you want to be nice to your feet on this hike, they’ll need some more serious protection and support.
• Hiking boots: Pull out the ugly shoes and summon your closet granola. This hike is going to kick your ass.

Here in San Francisco is one of Northern California’s treasure, a hike so stunning that it’s hard to imagine that it’s in right here in our own backyard. Without leaving the city, you are tranported to nature’s finest with views of the ocean, dramatic cliffs, cypress trees, and views of the Golden Gate bridge that rival Crissy Field or Marin Headlands.

We started this hike near Seacliff and parked on El Camino del Mar near 32nd Avenue. It was very easy to find the sign for Land’s End and the Coastal Trail, especially since so many others were also entering and leaving the hike. The only downside to this hike is that it is rather crowded. One of the best things about this hike, however, is that it also crowded with dogs. To that end, we had come prepared with one half of the Fluffy Puppies. It was Bianca’s first hike (while Sorcha stayed at home getting ready for the dinner party scheduled for later that night) and she thoroughly enjoyed it.

Within minutes of starting this hike, we had beautiful views of the Golden Gate Bridge spanning from San Francisco to Marin. We thought the views couldn’t get any better, but there are benches from lookout points and cypress trees that perfectly frame the bridge further along on this hike.

The trail is well-trodden and there are steps to help you go down to the beach and lookout points. If you skip these optional parts, the hike is relatively flat and easy. As you approach the second half of the hike, the trail is paved as it heads to Sutro Baths and the Cliff House. Before we reached the destination, we saw a sheet of rain and storm clouds approaching and decided to call it a day and head back to the car. After all, Sorcha and a dinner party awaited.

This is the perfect hike for this city girl/hiking diva. It’s not far, it’s beautiful, and we can get a hike in and still have brunch and dinner in the city. Perfection!

Overall Rating: Flip-flops (although I did the hike in Pumas)

Rating system:

• Heels: So easy you can hike it in heels
• Flip-flops: Too long or hard to hike in heels, but flat flip-flops would work
• Pumas: A nice stroll not much harder than walking in the city
• Trailblazers: If you want to be nice to your feet on this hike, they’ll need some more serious protection and support.
• Hiking boots: Pull out the ugly shoes and summon your closet granola. This hike is going to kick your ass.

Tip #1: If you have time before or after the hike, stop by the Palace of Legion of Honor. Even if you don’t go into the museum, you can still see Rodin’s Thinker in the courtyard.

Tip #2: Take a drive through Seacliff before or after your hike and see how the rich and wealthy live in San Francisco.

Coastline

The weather this weekend was just glorious…one of those days where you’re so happy to be living in California and not somewhere in the Northeast. Notice how quickly we attribute 80 degree weather in San Francisco in the middle of November to living in California rather than global warming. Even the hippies can’t complain when the weather is this spectacular.

To take advantage of this unprecedented state of affairs on our one and only hike in the month of November, Closet Granola surprised me by suggesting a hike in Point Reyes. Normally, I am arguing for a Point Reyes hike and he is adamantly opposed, but even he believes that the weather will be nice up there. And it is!

Bear Valley Trail

I’ve been bugging him to go on this trail since April, but he’s always found an excuse to go somewhere else. The Bear Valley to Arch Rock Trail is also a bike-and-hike, but we weren’t certain if my cheap commuter bike with its thin road tires could handle the trail. After hiking the entire trail, we’ve decided it would have been fine. A mountain bike would be better, but my little bike could have made it.

With bikers and hikers and strollers, the trail can get very crowded. And since this is a really easy hike with only 300 feet in elevation gain, it doesn’t scare off the weaklings (like myself). This may have been the most crowded hike I’ve been on. Luckily, the trail is very wide for passing people as well as engaging your significant other in forced conversations regarding where the relationship is going. You may be in the great outdoors, Closet Granola, but there’s nowhere to run! <<insert evil laugh>>

Meadow

But I digress…on the trail, we passed a meadow along the way, where we stopped to eat a little snack. We wanted to save the true picnic for when we reached our destination, Arch Rock. Incidentally, there are those dreaded toilets available if you need to make a little stop, but beware the horrendous odor. You’ve been warned.

The first leg of the hike is about 3.5 miles of a mostly shaded, sometimes muddy, but very well-kept trail. At the end of the bike trail, there’s a bike rack for parking your bike (so bring your lock if you plan to make this a bike-and-hike). After that, it’s less than a mile to the destination.

Coastal views

Arch Rock juts out into the ocean providing beautiful views of the coastline up and down from where we were. There are a few other rocks out at sea that make the views even more picturesque. Unfortunately, there were a lot of people also picnicking, but I’m pretty sure we had the best spread - bread, smoked salmon, four types of cheese, and turkey pepperoni. The scenery makes up for the lack of privacy.

At around 3:30, we decided to call it a day. Closet Granola was not going to be tricked into a night hike like Eagle Lake, so we packed up and headed back the way we came. A little over 9 miles total and four hours including picnic time, we were ready to head back to our city life.

Arch Rock

On our way back to the city, we stopped for dinner at Guaymas in Tiburon.  We drank margaritas, snacked on tortillas and salsa, ate chile poblano and arroz con mariscos on the outdoor deck with a to-die-for view of the San Francisco skyline. It was the absolutely perfect ending to the perfect day.

Overall Rating: Heels for difficulty, flip-flops for length

Rating system:

• Heels: So easy you can hike it in heels
• Flip-flops: Too long or hard to hike in heels, but flat flip-flops would work
• Pumas: A nice stroll not much harder than walking in the city
• Trailblazers: If you want to be nice to your feet on this hike, they’ll need some more serious protection and support.
• Hiking boots: Pull out the ugly shoes and summon your closet granola. This hike is going to kick your ass.

Tip #1: A city girl’s necessity equals a hiking diva’s luxury. I’ve learned to dread hikes where the guidebooks mention pit toilets at the trailhead. Luckily, the restrooms at Bear Valley are not only clean with functional toilets and running water, but the hand dryers are Xcelerator. Nice touch! (or actually no touch!)

Tip #2: For more serious hikers, bike out to the end of the Bear Valley Trail and hike some of the more strenuous trails rather than sitting on your butt at Arch Rock like we did. When I’m back in shape, we might have to try that.

Women are better planners. Not all of them are better planners, but overall, we just kick men’s butts at planning. And that is why I’m letting you in on a little secret now regarding a hike I haven’t even been on yet.

Baby Elephant Seal by Chris Pearson

I plan on going on the Ano Nuevo hike to see the baby elephant seals in late January or early Feburary. According to the California State Parks site, Northern Elephant Seals come ashore to mate and give birth from December to March. Although you can’t time it exactly, it sounds as if the best times to see the cute cuddly little babies are January and February. These tours are led by docents and must be reserved ahead of time. There are some first-come first-serve tickets, but you don’t want to drive all the way down there only to get turned away.

So take some initiative and plan for this hike if you want to see the cuddly little baby seals. The cost is $7 per person and you can book online 8 weeks in advance. Book your tickets now and look for my review of the hike in a couple months.

The View

Most weekends we’ll flee the city in search of better weather and greener pastures, but when the weather is finally warm in San Francisco (usually September or October), the best we can manage is a quickie in Marin to satisfy the outdoors bug before heading back and drinking sangria at an outdoor cafe.

The warm weather and lack of fog in San Francisco made it an ideal day for otherwise windy and chilly Marin Headlands. We drove out to Rodeo Beach and had a long lazy picnic with sandwiches and wine. The beach was not overly crowded and we hung out for a while chatting and digging holes in the sand.

Stairs

We took the Coastal Trail up to Hill 88. This was by far the most scenic part of the hike and also the most challenging. It’s basically a climb from sea level to the top of the cliff, with views of the beach, the coast and ocean, and the San Francisco skyline including Twin Peaks. We could see the fog start to roll in around Coit Tower. It’s definitely better to watch it roll in than to feel it roll in.

Hill 88

At the top of the ridge, we passed the junction with the Wolf Ridge Trail and continued to the top to see Hill 88. It’s easy to forget that this area used to be a military site, but along the trails, you’ll see some stark reminders. At the top of the hill, we took a break at the former radar station with its eerie abandoned buildings with graffiti.

Coit Tower

We then turned around and walked back to the junction with Wolf Ridge Trail. This trail then meets up with the Miwok Trail. These trails go around the backside of the ridge and is less scenic. We also came across a snake, but at least this time it was slithering away from me, not towards me (like in the Alamere Falls hike). The Miwok trail took us around the Rodeo Lagoon and back to the parking lot.

If I were to do this hike again, I would probably turn around at the top of Hill 88 and do an out-and-back hike just on the Coastal Trail. The rest of the hike wasn’t scenic enough for me.

Overall Rating: Flip-flops

Rating system:

• Heels: So easy you can hike it in heels
• Flip-flops: Too long or hard to hike in heels, but flat flip-flops would work
• Pumas: A nice stroll not much harder than walking in the city
• Trailblazers: If you want to be nice to your feet on this hike, they’ll need some more serious protection and support.
• Hiking boots: Pull out the ugly shoes and summon your closet granola. This hike is going to kick your ass.