TAKE
A HIKE WITH BRETT
Personalized tours of the Point Reyes National Seashore,
Marin Coast, and nearby Wine Country for singles, couples,
and small groups.
Brett Poirier, co-innkeeper at Ten Inverness
Way, has been guiding outdoor tours for 30 years - canoeing,
kayaking, hiking, walking and bicycling. His travels have
taken him to the British Isles, southern Europe, Central
America, and throughout the U.S.
Brett's interest in outdoor travel was
sparked by hikes as a teen in the Great Smokies of western
NC. With college studies in outdoor recreation and natural
history, he found his first perfect job - guiding biking
and hiking tours - at an outdoor center in the Smokies.
In more recent years, he has worked with VBT Bicycle Tours
and Country Walkers, and as co-owner of Wonder Walks,
which plans private walking tours for small groups.
Brett places a high value on being active,
preferring fresh air to a desk job. "Being outside
and attuned to the walking environment - all senses engaged
with the natural world - is good for one's physical and
mental well-being," he says emphatically.
His favorite walking areas? "It's
hard to beat the footpaths of southern England, Hawaii's
upcountry areas, Maine's Acadia coastline, pristine parts
of the Colorado Plateau, and, of course, many California
places - its parks, preserves, and protected coastal areas.
Brett
invites others to connect with the natural world - as
well as with the human history of places - on his personalized
tours. If you are interested in taking a hike with Brett
(for one or more days), please contact him via email:
brett@teninvernessway.com or phone 1.415.669.1648.
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Perhaps
the open, wildflower-clad wall painting in this room will
inspire a meadow-hunting walk during your stay. If so, it's
hard to beat sampling the aptly-named Meadow Trail's 1.6 miles,
which connect Bear Valley to the Sky Trail - 1000' elevation
gain.
The
trail is an old ranch road starting up quite vigorously
amidst madrone, bay, and fir trees. In about 1/2 mile (and
400' elevation gain), the walker breaks out into a beautiful
meadow about 100 yards wide and slanted upward as steeply
as the trail itself. As writer Phil Arnot says: " A
fir forest fringes the meadow offering rest spots for lunch
or for quiet contemplation, having the entire spot all to
oneself." If you wish to continue on, the forested
trail continues another mile (and another 600' or so of
elevation), passing huckleberries, toyons, alders and holly
to the Sky Trail. Here at the ridge junction is a miniature
meadow, another potential stop in soft green grass.
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you are feeling ambitious, or exhilarated, at the prospect
of more miles and a loop hike, you can follow the Sky Trail,
here all in woodlands, southward for 1.1 miles, then fork
left onto the Old Pine Trail, down 1.9 miles to Divide Meadow
in Bear Valley. Another 1.6 miles brings you back to the Bear
Valley Visitor Center - a grand total of 7 miles. One of the
best circular walks in the park! |
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The
blue sky seen through the skylights makes us think of the
heavenly views enjoyed from parts of the ridge-wandering
Sky Trail. "The first time I ever hiked the Sky Trail,
I was struck by the sudden emergence onto open sunlit hills
of green grass sprinkled liberally with wild oats,"
says writer Phil Arnot.
The
Sky Trail is 5.9 miles long and follows the main spine of
the national seashore lands, averaging about 1000' above
the sea, until descending, at its southern end, to remote
Kelham Beach.
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The
trail's northern terminus starts at a car park on the Limantour
Road. This
gives relatively easy walking access, via side trails, to
the slopes of 1400' high Mount Wittenberg and many nice
picnic spots, including the area around Sky Camp.
Other
side trails descend through the douglas fir forest to Bear
Valley, making loop walks possible. Besides grassy knolls
loaded with spring wildflowers, the trails passes conifers,
huckleberries, madrones, bays, ferns, and toyons during
its highlands romp. Whether you do two miles or double-digits,
this trail has great diversity and is exhilarating. |
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Your
windows take in a superb view of one wind-sculpted, easterly
arm of Mount Vision - the majestic centerpiece of the six-mile-long
"spine" of the national seashore's northern section
known as the Inverness Ridge.
From north to south, elevations along the broad ridge range
from 400' on pasture-lined L Ranch Road, near Tomales Bay
State Park, to 1300' at Mount Vision and Point Reyes Hill,
in the middle, then tapering down to 800' at the top of
the Limantour Road.
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Parts
of the western side of Inverness Ridge burned in an October
1995 forest fire, burning large sections of the bishop pine
forest. This fire opened up coastal views on the upper part
of the Mt Vision Road as well as along the three miles of
the Inverness Ridge Trail. This trail can be reached from
the end of the Mount Vision Road, elevation 1300' or from
the trailhead along the Limantour Road, elevation 800'.
Besides getting to see the pine forest coming back to life
with vigorous new growth, there are terrific views and wildflowers
galore, including the pretty blue blossoms of the ceanothus
bushes in springtime and the long-lasting, orange monkeyflowers
of summer.
Whether
you do just the ridge walk or the 6.5 mile loop hike, which
utilizes the Bucklin, Muddy Hollow, and Drake's View Trails,
as well the ridge trail, you have a nice walk going for
you.
Writer
Tacy Dunham: "Views from Inverness Ridge not only give
a bird's eye view of Drakes Bay and the Point Reyes Headlands,
but also spill over the ridge and include the long, slender
Tomales Bay. Looking eastward are the ridges of West Marin
and Mount St. Helena (Napa) in the distance." |
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Your
room overlooks the back garden as well as Park Avenue as
it climbs steeply up from the valley floor towards the hillside
neighborhood here in heavily-forested Inverness.
The
inn is near the mouth of First Valley Creek, where the fresh
water from springs on Mount Vision's eastern slopes, joins
the salt water of Tomales Bay.
For
hundreds of years, the Miwok people lived undisturbed in
this abundance of woods, wildlife, and water. The first
vacationers - escapees from the city - arrived in the 1880s,
camping along "Brook Ness" (as it was called then)
and the bayfront. Houses and other buildings started to
be built by 1900. One of the first families to settle, the
Shafters, had ties to Scotland; thus leading to the place
names of community and streets.
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First
Valley is a walker's paradise, whether following the paved
neighborhood lanes or snooping out some of the footpaths
that weave through the local woodlands. The clear creek
is spanned by no less than five lovely footbridges right
here in the village!
For
an energetic walk into the wilds, take Perth Way until it
turns unpaved (1 mile from #10), then continue briskly climbing
on the right fork's switchbacks another mile or more up
the side of Mount Vision, with wonderful glimpses of Tomales
Bay seen through the gnarled bishop pines. The other fork
is an easier walk with some nice down-valley views and an
osprey nest or two along the way.
Poet
Brock Schreiber: "While strolling in the lovely Inverness
woods,/Where the sun shines bright through the ferns and
the trees,/Be very quiet and then glance about,/You may
see some wood nymphs and fairies as they come out." |
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This
is a little-known gem of a trail just uphill of the Limantour
Estero. (There no longer is a white gate - no doubt it was
a ranch gate years ago - so we put a commemorative one in
our back garden - visible from your room!) It's just under
a mile long and connects the old Muddy Hollow Road with
the long and winding Estero Trail.
When
we first walked it, in the springtime lushness of green
grass and wildflowers, we couldn't have come upon a better
picnic spot on the hillside just above what we will call
the White Gate Pond.
This
1/2-mile-long pond nestles among the gentle hills of the
pre-national seashore ranchlands, sparsely vegetated yet
beguiling. Egrets and herons hunkered along the water's
edge while we rested and the pond was a shimmering blue
teardrop in the fold of the hills. Vultures
circled high above in thermal updrafts.
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From the White Gate Trail, the heights of Inverness Ridge
loom to the east - a mix of forest and chaparral. To the
south lies the pretty marsh, with its sinuous creek, at
the head of Limantour Estero; then the loch-like Estero
itself. Even a smidge of Limantour Spit visible beyond that.
The
closest access to the White Gate Trail is from Muddy Hollow
Trailhead, off the Limantour Road - 2.1 fairly easy miles
along the old Muddy Hollow ranch lane. Longer, hillier access
is about 4.5 miles from Limantour Beach along the Estero
Trail (southern part) or four miles in along the Estero
Trail (northern part) from the Estero carpark off the Lighthouse
Road. A very nice loop hike of 8.7 miles, starting at Muddy
Hollow or Limantour Beach, takes in the White Gate Trail
at its midpoint. Keep in mind there aren't many trees in
this part of the park - so not much shade and maybe windy.
Then again, it might be still and foggy. Some short muddy
sections in the spring. Regardless, a great walk at any
time of the year!
Seashore
veteran Phil Arnot: "The Estero region, situated in
the northwest corner of the national seashore, has no broad
beaches, no ocean caves, no waterfalls, no deep forests
or high hills. Yet it is distinctive. It has sweeping moors
reminiscent of Scotland and visible, abundant wildlife -
bobcats, three types of deer (axis, fallow, blacktail),
marsh hawks, and white pelicans, to name just a few."
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Point Reyes National Seashore Activity Guide - click here.
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