Jumped in Inkwells

On July 31 2021, I wrote that when our companion had returned I had opened my beer. She had had a lot of anxiety from not knowing how to legitimately occupy the hike or biker site. We played cards for an hour and went to sleep. I slept hard but it was OK.

I woke up at 7:45 when my alarm went off. I took too much time packing and my companions woke up with me and then made oatmeal. We also made coffee which was good. I had cream in my coffee.

We saw a Ranger but I wasn’t able to ask about the bike site. We took visited the veterans bench and packed up to climb to Pantoll.

The ride was lightly trafficky but most of the motorists were nice. We went the Mountain Amphitheater and then climbed Ridgecrest Boulevard. There were two spots where I thought we were at the top. Most of the ride was me chasing my companions. I was trying to make certain that they could stop and take pictures.

After we got to Fairfax Bolinas Road we got on the Bolinas Ridge Trail. It was muddy for all of the Audubon Canyon section. There was a big rise then and it was tough until McCurdy Gulch.

It was muddy and rolling and we had to dismount once. Then it started going down. There was a runner and some foraging Cyclists. We saw a water tower near Nine Gulch Rd..

After that it was pretty easy. We saw a lot of people and then we found ourselves at a gate which was likely McCurdy Gulch trail. We ate chili and had a bit of coffee. I have been enjoying the wonderful air and took time to myself.

We then rode to Randall Trail where I got a picture. We noted that the path was really well developed. We speculated that cars go through a lot and it’s been there a long time.

At Shafter Grade I got a photo and then we descended. We had to engage our brakes the whole way. I had estimated it was a 12% grade but when we followed up later back home it turned out in some places it was 25%! It was good trail but we had to stop at least three times.

I got photos of the trail and some really large redwoods. There was a spot that was wasted - nearly 20% and two of us had to dismount and help each other.

At the bottom we celebrated and took photos, cheered and did circles. We went to Kent Lake to enjoy the dam. The upper road connects to the Patrick dam road but we took the other way in. We also passed a spot where we heard fairies playing music.

At Shafter Bridge we got in our trunks and jumped in inkwells. We saw high school kids jumping in. They were really nice and great jumpers.

We rode Sir Francis Drake Boulevard to Lagunitas and had Indian food. Then we bought sandwiches and beer at the store. The ride on the Boulevard was fast.

I noticed that Cross Marin was easy and fast but my companions lost some stuff out of their bikes.

At the campsite in Samuel P Taylor Park we set up and got a permit. I noted that there were four people there with us. We got ready to play cards.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be a contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.