username
X
password
register
for free!
 help
 Home FAQ Contribute Camp Granada Surveys Shop
 TrailDEX Filter Areas A to Z Easy Hikes in Season Dog Hikes in Season
 MapRoute Editor Route Editor Route CloudRoute Scout Route Scout Foliage DEX Wildflower DEX
Publish a Guide
Trail/Hike Guide
 GPS Route
Recorded Track of a Hike
 Triplog
Review/Journal of a Hike
 Photoset
Photos of a Hike
help
  HAZ Forum
ArticlesGuidesRoutes
 
Photosets
 Recent Photosets
Liked PixelMASTERS
Avatars Tagged Notes
 
 Comments
triplogs   photosets   labels comments more
2 triplogs
login for filter options
Jul 28 2013
avatar

 Guides 111
 Routes 433
 Photos 4,307
 Triplogs 788

51 male
 Joined Feb 16 2007
 Walnut Creek, CA
Limantour SpitBay Area, CA
Limantour Spit
Bay Area, CA
Hiking avatar Jul 28 2013
JimmyLyding • Triplogs 788
Hiking5.73 Miles 249 AEG
Hiking5.73 Miles   2 Hrs   27 Mns   2.80 mph
249 ft AEG      24 Mns Break
 
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
Did this with my cousin Kevin who lives in SF. This was his first hike since we did Redwood Regional Park in May of last year when I took him on a 10-mile hike after telling him it would be 4-5. Limantour Spit is not a grueling death march, but walking almost 6 miles on sand (even the firmer stuff down by the water) takes its toll.
There were a bunch of harbor seals at the end of the spit. The tide was low, and the spot where I saw numerous harbor seals doing their thing in the surf a month ago was now an exposed seal haulout. There were about 20 seals on the beach along with 20 more on a nearby sandbar that's only a few hundred yards from the mouth of the estuary. People are legally required to stay at least 300 feet away from all marine mammals here, and realistically we couldn't get within 500 feet without disturbing them. We saw this guy who was carrying this stout, club-like thing with a large metal hook at its end. Like a giant shark hook attached to a small baseball bat. He didn't seem to bother the seals, fortunately, but it reminded me of something used during those baby seal harvests up in Canada.
Very cloudy with temperatures in the upper 50s, but the wind wasn't too bad.
_____________________
 
Jun 29 2013
avatar

 Guides 111
 Routes 433
 Photos 4,307
 Triplogs 788

51 male
 Joined Feb 16 2007
 Walnut Creek, CA
Limantour SpitBay Area, CA
Limantour Spit
Bay Area, CA
Hiking avatar Jun 29 2013
JimmyLyding • Triplogs 788
Hiking6.50 Miles 165 AEG
Hiking6.50 Miles   3 Hrs   6 Mns   2.71 mph
165 ft AEG      42 Mns Break
 
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
I needed an easy hike by the beach for my birthday, and this fit that requirement to a 'T'. The Bay Area has been suffering from a heat wave since June 28th, and I expected the beach to be jammed. I found easy parking a little after noon, though the beach still seemed fairly crowded. Even the traffic to and from Limantour Beach was lighter than it is on a typical Saturday. A lot of the traffic problems I encounter heading out to the Marin Coast stem from the Wine Country crowd (on the way home to Walnut Creek), people heading to San Francisco for Saturday night (both directions), and obviously people headed to the coast. All in all, that made for a decent birthday present by itself.

The hike was cool, but I got way too much sun courtesy of forgetting to bring a hat. Brisk wind about 20 knots, but not enough to whip up a lot of sand. The most memorable part was seeing the dozen or so harbor seals at the end of the spit. They were wary of me, and seemed quite wild. Two gentlemen proposed to each other about 30 yards away from me as I was video recording the seals. I imagine there were lots of similar scenes around the Bay Area last weekend considering last week's Supreme Court decision and the fact that this weekend was Pride Weekend in SF.

It was cool to see a relatively unspoiled estuarine ecosystem. There are cattle in about half of Limantour Estuary's watershed, but their numbers are kept down. I saw mud flats that had tens of thousands of "blowholes" belonging to mollusks every acre so pollution must not be too bad. I imagine Mission Beach in San Diego looked like this area before it was dredged and developed. Pics on the way, but I screwed up the video by zooming in.
 Named place
 Named place [ checklist ]
[ checklist ]  Limantour Beach  Point Reyes Beach
wildflower observationwildflower observationwildflower observationwildflower observationwildflower observation
Wildflowers Observation Light
_____________________
 
average hiking speed 2.75 mph

WARNING! Hiking and outdoor related sports can be dangerous. Be responsible and prepare for the trip. Study the area you are entering and plan accordingly. Dress for the current and unexpected weather changes. Take plenty of water. Never go alone. Make an itinerary with your plan(s), route(s), destination(s) and expected return time. Give your itinerary to trusted family and/or friends.

FAQ
helpcommentissue

end of page marker