Muir Woods: Marin County, California

Monday, November 16, 2014

We took the scenic route along Route #1 to Muir Woods. The view was farmlands, forest, and ocean: a gorgeous drive.  These are some photos along the way.

                                        Oysters and crab are common catches along this shore.

This is a photo of our drive along the ocean portion of Route #1. Often there were no guard rails!

We strolled along Stinson Beach.

We watched the curlews fish. Many didn't seem to like getting their feathers wet because they moved away from the advancing waves. When the tide returned to the ocean, their beaks began to dig into the sand, maybe for crabs. Their beaks are so well adapted for digging.
http://ca.audubon.org/make-home-long-billed-curlew

This photo is of a pine tree on the trail between the beach and the parking lot.

Muir Woods: 

A slice of a redwood tree on display since 1930.
It had lived 1,021 years. The painted lines on the cross-sections highlight some of the historical events that occurred in North America during the tree's life span.

Most redwoods grow from sprouts of other redwoods trees. Redwoods standing close together in a "family circle" indicate growth of new trees from a sprout. Trees that stand alone likely grew from a seed.

                                       I was fascinated by the shape and texture of this tree.

                                                           Some closeups of the bark.

Our trail began at Muir Woods, then it was a steep climb through the Ben Johnson Trail to the Dipsea Trail. The Dipsea Trail was a gradual descent through mixed forests, grasslands with a view of the ocean, mixed forest again and a creek near the trailhead and parking lot.

To return home, we met a connector road to Petaluma from Route #1. It was only less scenic because it was a shorter drive!