Stinson Beach Journal

The Peak: Mt. Tamalpais, CA

2010-03-16T12:18:00.000-07:00

From Backpacker.com:

"At Mt. Tam you'll find wilderness solitude with Pacific views only 20 miles from San Francisco. Plus, there's a beer garden.

You don’t need a million-dollar penthouse to savor the best view in San Francisco. Just hike to Mt. Tam, as locals call this iconic peak. Twenty miles north of the city, it’s the centerpiece of a 6,300-acre pocket of undeveloped woodland, lakes, and open meadows laced with more than 50 miles of trail and capped by one of the best views on the West Coast: a 360-degree panorama of the mighty Pacific, San Francisco Bay, and, on a clear day, the Sierra Nevada a couple hundred miles to the east. But the view isn’t even its best feature. What is: the opportunity for a real wilderness experience amidst redwood forests, grasslands, and rugged coast within minutes of one of the most densely populated areas of the country.

With a road to the summit, the top can get busy, but you can nab the same view from its uncrowded ridges on this stout 14.8-mile out-and-back. From the Dipsea trailhead in Mill Valley, climb 671 stairs into the heart of Mt. Tamalpais State Park. Continue under a canopy of coast redwoods paralleling Muir Redwoods National Monument. From here, the trail climbs steadily to Windy Gap before losing elevation to the base of Cardiac Hill. This long (and aptly named) climb tops out at 1,360 feet, where views of Stinson Beach and the Pacific open up.

Enjoy a gradual downhill to Stinson Beach and its perfect arc of soft sand (picnic, anyone?), then retrace your steps. Just before reaching the trailhead, sidehike .7 mile on the narrow Sun Trail to a paved path leading to the Alpine Tourist Club, built in 1914 by German immigrants. This private club opens its outdoor beer garden on weekends until 5 p.m."

What is sickening and killing California's brown pelicans?

2010-02-19T13:35:00.000-08:00

Hundreds of brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) have been found sick or dead off the coasts of California in the past month, the victims of a mysterious ailment that has scientists baffled.

When found alive, the birds appear hungry and disoriented. But necropsies performed on dead pelicans found that they had been eating, so the casualties don't appear to be from lack of prey. But their stomachs did contain unusual prey, like squid—not the sardines and anchovies they normally dine on.

Many of the pelicans also appear to have some sort of unidentified residue on their feathers, which may affect the feathers' insulating ability. "When we wash them, you can tell something is coming off. The water is discolored, like when you wash really dirty clothes," Jay Holcomb, director of the International Bird Rescue Research Center (IBRRC) in Cordelia, Calif., told The Mercury News. "That's not normal."

Read the entire article.

A Momentous Moment

2010-02-19T13:32:00.000-08:00

Sea Otters not arriving in Stinson Beach... yet

2010-02-03T14:33:00.000-08:00

The territory for southern sea otters (also know as California sea otters) is expanding.

That's good and potentially bad news, according to this Scientific American article.

More about sea turtles

2010-01-18T15:23:00.000-08:00

This site has remarkable resources, from adopting sea turtles to groups and organizations dedicated to sea turtle preservation.

Only one place to go for breakfast in Stinson Beach, but that's all you need

2010-01-11T12:34:00.000-08:00

Whether you are out there fishing:

or running:

if you need a good breakfast there's just one place to go - The Parkside:

Running on endurance

2010-01-05T11:02:00.000-08:00

There is distance running, and then there is Dipsea running, up and over the slippery slope that separates Mill Valley from Stinson Beach. Steve Jaber, 58, of Mill Valley just completed his 10th Quad Dipsea - two round trips on the Dipsea Trail, totaling 28.4 miles.

Why: I am not a very fast runner, but I have really good endurance. In a race of this type, people tend to really slow down toward the end. I am able to maintain a steady pace throughout the entire run. This allows me to enjoy my time on the trails without suffering too much.

Greatest accomplishment: Finishing my 10th Quad Dipsea in late November. There is 9,276 feet of elevation gain and almost no flat sections. It took me eight hours to finish, placing me near the end.

Read more

Rare Turtle Rescued Off California Coast

2009-12-05T17:28:00.000-08:00

"A rare sea turtle, found washed ashore at Stinson Beach last week, is now recuperating at SeaWorld San Diego.

On Nov. 25, the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, Calif., rescued a female olive ridley turtle, rarely seen in northern California, covered with barnacles, ghost shrimp and even crabs.

Rescue staff nicknamed her Donatello and soon found the turtle, weighing just 54 pounds, was in very poor condition, suffering from dehydration, malnutrition, and low body temperature.

Veterinarians at the center immediately gave her fluids, antibiotics, and vitamins but arranged for care at SeaWorld San Diego, where she’s being tube fed twice a day.

If the turtle regains her strength, she could be released as early as Summer 2010, according to the staff at the Marine Mammal Center.

This is only the third report of an olive ridley turtle in Marin waters in the past decade. They're more commonly found in southern California, according to NOAA's Office of Protected Fisheries."

Click here for the full article.

Debate Flares on Limits of Nature and Commerce in Parks

2009-11-01T07:50:00.000-08:00

It seems a perfect marriage of nature and commerce. As boats ferry oysters to the shore, pelicans swoop by and seals pop their heads out of the water.

But this spot on the Point Reyes National Seashore has become a flashpoint for a bitter debate over the limits of wilderness and commercial interest within America’s national parks.

The National Park Service has said it cannot renew the permit to farm oysters in a tidal estuary here, which lapses in 2012, because federal law requires it to return the area to wilderness by eliminating intrusive commercial activity.

Kevin Lunny, the owner of the Drakes Bay Oyster Company, says he feels persecuted by the National Park Service and has sought legislation that could allow him to continue operating.

He argues that the 70-year-old oyster farm, which predates the park, is part of the historical working landscape of the area — and every bit as in need of protection as the harbor seals and eelgrass that share the bay.

Read the entire New York Times article here.

Leatherback Turtles Along the California Coast

2009-10-28T20:17:00.000-07:00

The California Academy of Sciences presents a one hour video by marine ecologist Scott Benson on the leatherback turtle population along the California coast.

Learn about leatherback turtles in coastal central California and their origins in the remote beaches of Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

Click here for the video.

San Francisco: On the hippy trail

2009-10-18T17:34:00.000-07:00

"The three-mile strip of sandy beach -- where Janis Joplin's ashes were scattered -- is a favourite for surfers and city-dwellers looking for a weekend getaway. With the 6,200-acre Mount Tamalpais State Park encircling Stinson, it has the appeal of being somewhere you can disappear into the countryside in a matter of minutes, as well as enjoy a chilled glass of Californian white wine with a bowl of local Tomales Bay mussels while looking out to sea."

Read the entire article here.

Sometimes its not about the beach

2009-10-12T23:50:00.000-07:00

Mt. Tam before sunset. (Click for a larger version.)

Looking up the "hill," as the locals say. (Click for a larger version.)

Marin beaches get top marks in summer report

2009-10-04T20:42:00.000-07:00

"Marin beaches received top marks for water quality in Heal the Bay's annual end-of-summer report released Wednesday.

An A or A+ was given to the following Marin beaches: Bolinas Beach, China Camp, Dillon Beach, Drake's Beach, Drakes Estero, Heart's Desire, Lawson's Landing, Limantour Beach, Miller Park, Millerton Point, Muir Beach, Rodeo Beach, Schoonmaker Beach, Shell Beach, Stinson Beach and Baker Beach at Horseshoe Cove.

The Santa Monica-based group assigned an A to F letter grade to 458 beaches along the California coast, based on levels of bacterial pollution reported from Memorial Day through Labor Day. This summer, 92 percent of sites received A or B grades during the high-traffic beachgoing season. The grades are slightly better than last year, when 91 percent of beaches received high marks."

Contra Costa Times

Water Sports

2009-08-31T22:48:00.000-07:00

Fishing for Salt Perch (and whatever else comes along):

and ball fetching (and watching):

Sea lions swarm long-abandoned Seal Rocks

2009-08-04T15:36:00.000-07:00

"A bumper crop of 59,000 California sea lions born last year means more animals along the coast. And scientists say El Niño is sending warmer water to the California Current, the band of water that stretches from British Columbia to Baja California, bringing more sea lions to Central and Northern California.

It's not just Seal Rocks that are crowded, but also Pier 39 and Año Nuevo on the San Mateo County coast, said Frances Gulland, a veterinarian and researcher at the Marine Mammal Center.

The animals are moving farther north, perhaps following fish that are seeking colder water."

Sea lions swarm long-abandoned Seal Rocks

NRDC Ratings for a Sample of 200 Popular Swimming Beaches in the United States

2009-07-29T10:58:00.000-07:00

Stinson Beach has great results:

History watch: Happening hotel - Marin Independent Journal

2009-07-15T17:31:00.000-07:00

"On July 8, 1891, the Sausalito News poked fun at the social swirl going on in neighboring Mill Valley. At the center of the frivolity was the Blithedale Hotel, which featured parties, plays and such activities as fishing and burro rides up Mount Tamalpais. ('Fashionable' guests included the Sutros, Astons and Monteagles.) Years before, San Francisco physician Dr. John Cushing had homesteaded 360 'lost' acres between John Reed's rancho to the east and William Richardson's land to the west, where he built a sanitarium and a large home he called Blithedale - after Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'Blithedale Romance.' His heirs opened the summer resort hotel after his death in 1879.

This feature is provided by the Marin History Museum, www.marinhistory.org, and appears Tuesdays in the Lifestyles Generations section."

History watch: Happening hotel - Marin Independent Journal

Marine Mammal Center deals with mass sea lion stranding

2009-06-27T23:16:00.000-07:00

A lack of food in the ocean is causing a large number of juvenile sea lions to come ashore, unable to return to the water because they are malnourished, say officials at the Marine Mammal Center in the Marin Headlands.

In Marin, the young sea lions - usually about a year old - have turned up at Angel Island, Rodeo Beach, Dillon Beach, Stinson Beach and in Sausalito on Wednesday.

"They just keep coming," said center spokesman Jim Oswald. "They can't find food and they become too weak to swim so they come on shore. Then they are too weak to go back into the water."

Since Jan. 1, there have been 313 reported strandings from the Mendocino to San Luis Obispo coasts; there were 485 in all of 2008.

Scientists are still trying to determine where the squid, anchovies and herring - staples of the sea lions' diet - have gone and why. There were a large number of sea lion pups born on the West Coast last year, Oswald said.

"That may have some effect, but there still should be enough food for all of them," Oswald said.

Full article here: Marin Independent Journal

Jumbo Squid Attack the West Coast

2009-06-03T09:45:00.000-07:00

"A type of squid native to the Pacific coast of Mexico is attacking dolphins and tuna as the species expands into new waters as far north as Alaska. Now for the first time marine biologists can watch these battles from a boat above, monitoring the squids' movements with acoustic technology similar to the equipment used by fisherman to follow school of fish.

Echo-locating sensors developed at Oregon State University and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) in California have revealed large numbers of Humboldt squid just off Mexico's Pacific coast, in an area where the squid are commercially fished. This tracking system could soon shed some light on whether the squid population's spread out of Mexican waters and up the coastline is due to global warming -- and whether it poses a potential threat to U.S. fisheries and ecosystems."

Jumbo Squid Attack the West Coast

Lawsuit seeks more protection of sea turtles

2009-05-29T10:12:00.000-07:00

Posted in the San Francisco Chronicle: The U.S. government is failing to adequately protect the world's oldest and most imperiled sea turtles, leaving them vulnerable to capture and injury off the California and Oregon coasts, according to a lawsuit filed by three environmental groups in a San Francisco federal court Thursday.

New protections for the turtles, including as few as 3,000 nesting females remaining in the world, would result in stricter controls on gillnet and longline fishing, oil drilling and wave-energy projects, the groups argue.

The western Pacific leatherbacks travel 6,000 miles from Indonesia to forage for food off the Golden Gate, and the North Pacific loggerheads come from the Japanese archipelago to feed from Alaska to Baja.

At the same time, Turtle Island Restoration Network, Center for Biological Diversity and Oceana, the groups that filed the suit in U.S. District Court, are asking the federal government to deny a permit to begin the first hooked-longline fishing for swordfish in California waters, which they say snags turtles. Currently, West Coast commercial fishermen may use only harpoons or drift gillnets to catch swordfish, and longline gear is prohibited along the California coast and out 200 miles.

Cutest Puppy on the Beach? Yes!

2009-05-27T13:50:00.000-07:00

Horseback ride halted across Golden Gate Bridge

2009-05-04T21:13:00.000-07:00

Monday, May 4, 2009

A man riding his horse across the Golden Gate Bridge on Sunday evening didn't get far before the California Highway Patrol stopped him.

The spectacle of horse and rider on San Francisco's famous span slowed traffic at 6:20 p.m. The rider was heading from Marin to San Francisco in the sidewalk when the CHP caught up to him.

'We had him turn around and exit the bridge, and he had someone pick him up with a trailer,' said bridge district Sgt. Bill Sangregory."

Horseback ride halted across Golden Gate Bridge

A Couple of Photos

2009-04-27T16:35:00.000-07:00

A windy day at Stinson Beach:

Driving through Marin County, near Olema:

Stairway to heaven - the Dipsea Trail

2009-04-27T12:08:00.000-07:00

From the examiner.com:

As Bay Area hikes go, the Dipsea Trail is probably the most well known among local hikers and runners. While it's notoriety stems mainly from being home to the oldest footrace in the US - The Dipsea has been run every year since 1905 - it's equally known for the 667 steps that greet casual hikers at the start of the trail in Mill Valley. But don't let the stories fool you, the end of this hike is even more impressive as it offers unparalleled views of Stinson Beach as you descend to the coast. So if you're in the mood for a helluva workout while experiencing the best hike within 100 miles of San Francisco, read on.

The first decision you have to make is whether you want to do the hike as a round trip or one way. If you're doing the round trip, buck up for a long day. At a distance of 14.2 miles, the numerous climbs and descents will defintiely take their toll. So rest up, carbo load, and take plenty of water because the only place to refill is Stinson Beach. Most first timers opt for the more manageable 7.1 mile one way trip. That of course requires you to leave transportation at Stinson before you start, so it's a decision that you need to make in advance.

When you're ready to get started, make sure you leave ample time for a pre-hike breakfast at the Dipsea Cafe. It's a favorite among locals and is on the way to the trailhead if you're coming from San Francisco or points south. The pancakes are fantastic and huge...and highly recommended. When you're finished, make your way to the trail near downtown Mill Valley. For complete directions as well as a great description of the entire course, go here.

Read more here.

Uni-flipper turtle gets it straight with swimsuit

2009-04-13T10:18:00.000-07:00

Not exactly Stinson Beach material but we do have a lot of sea turtle fans who visit this site. So check this out:

"Allison, a green sea turtle with only one flipper, has been going around and around and around for most of her life.

But swimming in tight circles is tough for a 5-year-old turtle whose life expectancy is about 150 years.

Allison was set straight Wednesday, when researchers outfitted her in a black neoprene suit with a carbon-fiber dorsal fin on the back that allows her to glide gracefully with other turtles.

'That's a sea turtle doing what a sea turtle does,' said Dave Cromwell, a worker who watched the turtle's new moves at Sea Turtle Inc., a Texas not-for-profit group that rehabilitates injured sea turtles."

Read more here