Shitty Walks?

Place: Mt. Tamalpais, Pantoll trailhead

For in-depth info, check out Bay Area Hiker

Trail chosen: Bootjack – There are many trails to choose from at Pantoll trailhead

Time: 11:00am, Thursday

Lunch: Cheddar and Swiss cheese sandwich on dutch crunch bread with chipotle and aioli spread, potato salad, water

Trail dessert: M and Ms

Difficulty: Pretty easy going, except for a few slippery parts

Crowds: Very light, only a school group near picnic grounds

View: Flora and fauna

I’m a person that likes to have relaxation time on my days off, and relaxation many times means lounging around on the couch and doing all the puzzles that I can find  in the newspaper. But, I have a newly acquired lust for the outdoors.  Even with this lust, it’s a battle sometimes to get out the door. Leaving ones comfy home is hard to trade for anything.  But I remind myself, I always feel better after getting out on a dirt path and getting some fresh air. I’ve never had a bad walk. I’ve never once said, “that was a shitty walk”.  It is absolutely worth the effort!

Onto the hike-

The first part of the walk on the Bootjack trail from Pantoll trailhead was dark and drizzly because of the dense tree coverage and fog on this morning. We almost turned back but I spotted this.

 A polypore mushroom right near the trail head. My first wild siting of one. (Possibly a Red Belted Conk, id help appreciated) This made me not care about the rain at all. There were three of these on one tree but we didn’t see another mushroom on the whole hike. My friend and I joked that they plant these flashy lures at the beginning at the trails to draw people in.  Trail barkers!

Just a little bit further and we were in a valley where it was drier with a lot of uprooted trees. I mourn the death of a tree, but I do love a good stump or root ball. This one was huge! It’s beautiful in its decaying state.

The above picture looks a little color unbalanced but it was really kinda like this. There is  a visual intensity in the woods. Maybe its the contrast of the complimentary colors of red and green that makes my eyes bug out a little. I always feel a little high in the woods. Anyone else experience this?

After watching a slug eat some juicy moss and getting a healthy forest shower we crossed the road and we were in a completely different world. It was hot and dry and we saw a few good sized lizards sunning themselves right on trail.

The whole hike took 1 1/2 hours for us. We were going really slow and taking it all in. There are many offshoots from this trail. Next time we’re going to go to the Mountain Theater higher up the hill. It was a wonderful walk!

EN