Tamalpais State Park, Marin County, California – March 5-6, 2005.

This is an entry transcribed from my journal, and edited somewhat for brevity and clarity.

I had a wonderful time this weekend camping at the Pan Toll campground of Mount Tamalpais State Park. I drove up to Marin County from my apartment in San Mateo on Saturday morning. The camp site I chose was on a ridge overlooking Muir Woods National Monument. It was a most pleasant camp site, even though it was quite a walk from the camp ground parking lot.

After setting up camp, I took a hike along beautiful oak savannah hillsides and then along a stream which descended steeply though a densely wooded canyon in a series of gorgeous waterfalls. The woods were filled with the songs of juncos, winter wrens, and brown creepers.

In the evening the stars were very bright overhead, so I tried looking at them with my spotting scope. I don’t know much about astronomy, so I didn’t really know what I was looking at, but I think I found some nebulae in Orion’s sword which I didn’t know were there.

In the wee hours of the morning I was awaken by an owl going “hu-hoo, hoo”. I couldn’t really tell for sure what kind of owl it was, even though it was quite close to my tent. I think it was probably a great horned owl, though I tried hard to convince myself that it was a spotted owl.

After breakfast, I hiked down from my campsite to Muir Woods, through the stunningly beautiful old-growth redwood forest. As I got to the bottom of the valley, the trails got crowded with people, as they always are there on the weekends, but unlike the first time I was there (several months ago), I was savvier about avoiding the crowds. When I am among those giant firs and redwoods, I feel as if I am in church, only much more so. To me, quiet reverence seems only acceptable attitude. Unfortunately, so many others there act as though they are at a carnival side show, and I get a bit annoyed with them.

After having lunch at the Muir Woods visitor’s center, I hiked a round-about path back to my car at the campground parking lot, going along the sunny chaparral to the west of the national monument. The usual sunny hillside birds were they, including western bluebirds, band-tailed pigeons, and several birds of prey. I got a beautiful view of a peregrine falcon perched in at large broken fir tree at the forest edge.