Hike #14: Ring Mountain Open Space Reserve

Location: Marin County

Distance: 3m

Entry fee: $0

What a beautiful day.

We also started this hike off on a schedule…I had to be back in the city before noon.  So I picked Molly up at 9am on a sunny Saturday morning and we headed off to the Ring Mountain Open Space Reserve just across the Golden Gate bridge: not too far away, not too long.

The early part of this hike was nothing to write home about…trails were muddy (but we’re pros at that), kind of hilly, some views of San Quentin and the north bay.  The instructions also mentioned that “there are many informal trails cut into the hillside, and it is often a confounding proposition to stay on the real trail.” Troublesome considering our history.

But the scenery started to change about a mile in and we entered some terrain unlike anything we’ve seen on past hikes.   Rolling green hills with large boulders and random clusters of California live oak and shaded thickets.  The whole area is very reminiscent of Lord of the Rings or something.  At the top of the hill we got some amazing views of the Bay and the city from all directions.  It was absolutely gorgeous.

We did have a few disagreements about which was the right path to take, but that is the beauty of short hikes where your destination is the top of a hill.  If you just keep heading towards the ridge and you can’t be THAT far off track.  And this trail has plenty of markers to let you know you are indeed following the right path.

Hike #14: a short, sweet success.  I can’t think of a better way to spend a sunny spring morning in the Bay Area.

Lessons learned: the Miwoks were the Native American tribe in Northern California (apparently I’m the only person who lives up here that didn’t know that…the tribes in Marin were the Coast Miwoks…other Miwok subgroups include Lake, Bay, Plains, and Sierra Miwoks)

Flora and Fauna: California Poppies, Yellow Mule Ear, Miwok carving