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Golden Gate National Rec Area 2024

Let me try to convince you

The intent of writing a blog is to share my experience with gardening, both indoor and out. So, writing about a hiking trail seems a bit tangential to the original intent of the my mission statement -  "gardening from a high-rise apartment in a cold climate." But bear with me, maybe I can illustrate how this trail is really a very long garden, and I'm doing field work, not purely hiking for pleasure.

Why we are visiting this park

As I wrote in my previous blog post we chose this area for hiking because we could do a multiday hike, walking from inn to inn using only our own two legs and public transportation (not including the flight). We walked from Muir Woods into the section of the Golden Gate Rec Area located in Marin County. Nestled within the park is the little village of Muir Beach where we spent a couple of nights enjoying coastal trails in the area. The sunny coastal trails were a great contrast to the shady quiet of Muir Woods.

Golden Gate Nat'l Recreation Area

A little bit of context: over the years the Golden Gate Rec Area has grown to be one of the largest urban park systems in the world with over 82,000 acres of park land. It is not one big continuous mass, but a string of large areas stretching 59 miles from south to north with the city of San Francisco sitting in the middle of it all. Notably, the park operates Muir Woods Nat'l Monument, the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island and the large Presidio Park in San Francisco, and many others. 

The trail from Muir Woods to Muir Beach

The transition from redwoods to coastal trail happened very abruptly on the trail we chose to take out of Muir Woods. Suddenly, we were dumped out of the shade of the forest into the bright sunshine and green hills overlooking the Pacific. It was a Wizard of Oz moment.

A view from the trail overlooking Marin County and San Francisco Bay

It is remarkable how few trees are present on the hills overlooking the ocean. They seemed to be limited to sheltered valleys and river beds. The exposed hills were dotted with wildflowers, with dozens of varieties, all intermixed. I've selected a few photos to illustrate the highlights. I've separated them into native and non-native groups.

The natives

The photos are of a few of the native plants that struck me particularly for their color and frequency. I'm sure I missed many, many more species than I'm showing here.

Scattering of wildflowers along the trail

Sandstone escarpment decorated with native California poppies

California poppies (Eschscholzia californica) are the edible state flower of California. The petals are often used as a garnish. They bloom from February through September, which is amazing to me. Each flower has four petals which close up at night and in rainy weather.

Native California poppies

Silver bush lupine (Lupinus albifrons var. douglasii), native to California

The lupin, or lupine, family is large with many representative (around 200 species), including the bluebonnets. Lupins are native to North and South America and have been naturalized to the Mediterranean area. The plant produces toxins which make it unpalatable to livestock. 

Silver bush lupine, clearly in the bean family (Fabaceae)

Coastal mule's ear (Wyethia glabra), native to California

Native California pipevine swallowtail butterfly (Battus philenor hirsuta)

Introduced plants

I roughly estimate is that there are as many introduced (invasive) plants as there are native varieties. But this is just my opinion, I'm not sure if accurate surveys exist for this part of the park. It is written that 1 in 8 species within California's Sequoia Nat'l Park is non-native.

Sally-my-handsome (Carpobrotus acinaciformis) a coastal succulent native to S. Africa

Giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum), native to Eurasia and introduces to N. America as an ornamental garden plant. It has phototoxic sap.

Ribwort plantain (Plantago lanceolata) is native to Europe. Children in Edinburgh, Scotland use the plant in a game called 1-o'clock gun, where the head is "shot" of the stalk. And, the leaves make a tea for soothing sore throats.

Woodland forget-me-not (Myosotis sylvatica) native to Europe 

Common broom (Cytisus scoparius). This plant covers the hillsides for miles. It was introduced from Europe. It spreads quickly after wild fires. It produces a number of toxic amines which make it unpalatable to grazing animals.

Common broom (Cytisus scoparius) , another plant in the bean family Fabaceae. In Latin it was known as planta genista, and became the royal emblem of the Plantagenet kings of England.

After hiking it was wonderful to kick back in another introduced species: the English pub (I suggest Publican pinticus).

Pelican Inn, Muir Beach, California

The pub, with a restaurant in the next room, and simple en suite bedrooms upstairs.

At the trail's end for the day




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