Pescadero Marsh Natural Preserve: Sequoia Audubon Trail

Coastal bluffs north of Pescadero Creek

Bufflehead Duck

Being very pregnant yet needing a walk that wasn't too strenuous, I thought of Pescadero. I wanted a place that was flat, full of wildlife, and close to water. The other weekend my husband, daughter, and I explored Pescadero Marsh Natural Preserve, hiking trails we had never been on, but were so impressed by, we planned to return again soon.

To get here, we drove approximately forty miles south of San Francisco on Highway 1. When we crossed the bridge over Pescadero Creek, we took an immediate right into the first parking lot for the beach. There's a rudimentary bathroom there, and a heartening sign about bi-monthly marshland walks--we were in the right place.

Sequoia Audubon Trail Map,
courtesy http://www.parks.ca.gov

Our destination was the Sequoia Audubon Trail along the southern edge of North Marsh, one of several trails in the 600 acres of protected marshland. We had read that there was always wildlife present (230 bird species annually), and plenty of flora (200 species), including some wild and weirdly shaped eucalyptus trees that had been gnarled by old floods. Most essential for my physical state, the roundtrip mileage was about two miles.

We went by foot north across the bridge on the pedestrian walkway, then under the bridge.

The beach was so compelling that we could've spent a day just hanging out here. The sand was soft, and the confluence of Pescadero Creek and the Pacific Ocean seemed like a magical site for wildlife. The beach itself was full of twisted driftwood and human-made sculptures that were like windbreaks, and very few people. Sand pipers scampered along the shoreline in swift-moving flocks, and gulls sailed overhead. An informational kiosk, burnt yellow by the sun, informed us that rainbow trout, also known as steelhead when they reach the sea, spawned here.

We walked under the bridge, traveling along the creek's smooth, sandy shoreline for about a hundred feet. The sand was so soft, and the water so still, it was tempting to stay here all day too. But we saw a trailhead to our left with a small sign reading SEQUOIA AUDUBON TRAIL, and went down it.

The trail was sandy, soft on bare feet. On either side grew a kind of coyote brush I hadn't seen before, very low lying, close to the ground. I recognized lots of coastal buckwheat, and wondered what butterflies might be here come springtime.

Sequoia Audubon Trail start

One of the interesting aspects to this trail was the number of informational signs regarding flora and fauna. With the help of the ones we passed along our route, we could find live examples of salt grass, California bulrush, and common pickleweed. Among the plants I'd like to touch were stinging nettles and poison oak, two to be avoided. (Suffice to say regarding the "untouchables," we did not get any stings or rashes after this trip, and we do like to press along the edges of the trails.)

Other plants we saw included healthy bushes of lupine, still to bloom later in the season, feathery-leafed yarrow, and invasive (but pretty when flowering) ice plants.

Eventually the trail was hard packed earth, though because of the amount of sandy stretches, I would highly discourage anyone to attempt this with a stroller.

Dusky footed woodrat
Credit http://ucsantacruz.ucnrs.org

We rested on a weathered bridge leading to the North Marsh Trail, and ate oranges in the sunshine. Our daughter pretended she was a goat from the Billy Goats Gruff fairy tale.

We continued on, and some docents we met suggested we eat our lunch at Turtle Pond, half a mile up on the right hand side before a bunch of dusky-footed woodrat nests.

Great Egret, credit: wikipedia

Across the marsh we saw dozens of birds, including a snag of a tree that had become a rookery for great egrets, snowy egrets, and great blue herons. How lovely to see these birds flying, graceful, with long necks and wings.

The wild-looking eucalyptus

We passed an incredibly twisted eucalyptus tree along the trail that had been shaped by floods. The thick branches hung low to the ground, and were like magnets for our small child. Shadows and light filtered over branches and leaves, and we could've easily spent the rest of the day here, hugging the tree.

Only a mile or so along Sequoia Audobon was a short and somewhat overgrown path veering to the right, and we took it, hoping it would lead us to Turtle Pond as the docents instructed. Water glimmered through the trees.

Western pond turtle, credit: Wikipedia

Sure enough, there were two benches here, as told, and a downed tree hanging over the water. Though we didn't see any red-legged frogs or Western pond turtles, both natives to the area, we had a tranquil picnic beside the water. We wished we had a little rowboat to cruise and down the creek from this point.

We did walk further on the Sequoia Audubon--we'd been told there was a lookout and loop at the top of a low hill just up the way. But the day was cold, though sunny, and after we passed by a half dozen dusky woodrat nests, and under willow trees loaded with buds that were not yet in bloom, shivering in the shade, we turned around. We had had a great walk and picnic, and would return again another day.

Ronnie Duarte and our waitress, Bernadette

Back at our car, we decided to drive into the tiny town of Pescadero to visit Duarte's Tavern, a restaurant that had been around since the late 1800s. We ordered our favorite: artichoke soup for starters, whatever entree looked good for the day, and fresh pie. (We usually get ollalieberry, a local speciality, but today I was craving pear pie.) And we're we lucky--Ronnie Duarte, the proprietor and an old-timer with a good sense of humor, came over to chat with us and tell us about how to grow ollalieberries.

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PHOTO ALBUM

The Highway 1 bridge over Pescadero Creek

Land along Pescadero Beach

Sequoia Audubon Trail

Sequoia Audubon Trail thinking

North Marsh

Heading east on the trail

Turtle Pond 

The little trooper and her momma (above)
and with her daddy too (below)

Driftwood sculptures along the creek

Pie and ice cream at Duarte's Tavern
--a post prandial perambulation delight

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2 Upcoming Hikes: San Bruno Mountain and Pescadero Marsh

Despite a hiatus from the group walks through Hill Babies, I'm looking forward to the next two: Saddle Loop Trail on San Bruno Mountain, and Sequoia Audobon Trail at the Pescadero Marsh Natural Preserve. Both of these hikes are about 2-3 miles, flat, and in beautiful settings--the first on a mountain, and the second by the sea. Come with babies, kids, friends, family of any age, or just yourself. I go at a pace that a two-year-old or three-year-old could manage; you are welcome to go as fast or slow as you like. It's just nice to walk together. All hikes have the same timeframe:

• Meet between 9:30-9:45 am
• Walk starts at 10
• Picnic lunch at 11:30 or 12 (or whenever you want).
• Return to starting point afterwards 

Sunday February 17th, 2013--San Bruno Mountain's Saddle Loop Trail

One view from the Saddle Loop Trail

San Bruno Mountain, just south of San Francisco, is one of my favorite places to walk close to home. The Saddle Loop Trail is wide, flat, and has amazing views of the city, the bay, Oakland and points east, Mount Diablo, Mount Tam, and the Pacific Ocean. The trail is 2.7 miles, but there is a shortcut back to the parking area should you get tired.

Some special critters to keep an eye out for include butterflies (it might be a little early in the season) and raptors (kestrels, hawks, Great Horned Owls, and many more). We'd be so lucky to find a fox, coyote, or even a garter snake, all residents.

Parking at the lot costs $5 per car, which supports San Mateo County Parks. At the starting point are bathrooms, picnic tables, and water fountains.  Parking is secure.

Meet at the San Bruno Mountain Picnic Area off of Guadalupe Canyon Parkway (by the bathrooms), between 9:30-9:45. 

To access Guadalupe Canyon Parkway from 101 or 280, simply google it. The parking lot is on the north side of the road, with easy-to-see signs, and you will need to pay $5 at the self-pay station there since it is a county park. 

Bring your bag lunch and water bottles, and maybe a sheet or blanket to sit on as we will eat on the ground at a place where there is a view.

Strollers are welcome, but I don't recommend those with small wheels as the path is gravelly.

For more info on San Bruno Mountain and/or the Saddle Loop Trail, you can visit:
--the Hill Babies entry about it from 2010
--Bay Area Hiker article
--San Bruno Mountain Watch
--Bay Nature piece on Saddle Loop

I look forward to walking with you and yours! :-)

Cheers, Jessica

PS If you have questions please email me: jericahahn@hotmail.com

"San Bruno Mountain Picnic Area" Map--click on map to get directions from wherever you are coming from, or Google "San Bruno Mountain Picnic Area." You can see the parking lot in the map, below.

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Sunday March 3rd, 2013--Pescadero Marsh Natural Preserve's Sequoia Audubon Trail 

Pescadero Marsh Natural Preserve

This wonderful hike is a 40 mile drive south of San Francisco, so if you can carpool, please do. It is an incredible place that you won't want to miss, and there is a good chance that wildflowers will be blooming in March (though your chances will be even better in a month or two). No matter what month, there is so much wildlife here at the junction of preserved marshland and ocean--countless birds, turtles, fish, snakes, wood rats, deer, and more.

The walk is flat, 2 miles long, and completely enjoyable. However, do not bring a stroller as stretches are sandy and impassable even with the most rugged stroller (sorry!). Dogs are also not allowed.

Meet between 9:30-9:45 am. Travel south on Highway 1 for approximately 40 miles from San Francisco. Once you cross the bridge over Pescadero Creek, take an immediate right into the first parking lot for Pescadero State Beach. Meet at the sign in the lot that says, "Marsh Hikes Meet Here."

 As a group we will walk to the north side of the bridge on the pedestrian walkway, and take the sandy trail under the bridge, continuing a short way up the bank of the creek to where there is a sign reading "Sequoia Audubon Trail."


Bring lunch and water bottles. There is a bathroom at the parking lot, but no running water. We'll either have lunch at Turtle Pond, or along sandier banks of Pescadero Creek. Maybe bring a sheet or picnic blanket if you don't want to get sandy.

Pescadero State Beach parking lot is just over the bridge in the map below. Park in the first lot to the right once you cross the bridge over Pescadero Creek. 

Meet by this sign
in the first parking lot

View Larger Map

For more info on Pescadero Marsh Natural Preserve, please see:
--Hill Babies article about it (coming by February 8th)
--Coastside State Parks Association 
--Bay Area Hiker article
--Weekend Sherpa article

I look forward to being in the sun and sand on this early spring day with you and yours. Please email me (jericahahn@hotmail.com) if you need help with carpooling, or more information.

Cheers,
Jessica

P.S. If you have never visited the town of Pescadero, consider going before or after our hike to Duarte's Tavern. Kid's pancakes are $2.50, and if you go for lunch, try their artichoke soup and ollalieberry pie, neither to be missed. Also, on the way back to San Francisco, check out the general store in San Gregorio, a little north of here. 

Welcome, 2013!

Spiral walk at Starr King Open Space at the end of 2012

It's a beautiful day in January, almost the last day of the month but the sun is shining and the first fuzzy head of purple ceanothus in my yard is blooming and attracting bees. Hummingbirds drink sugar water from my plastic gourds, and raccoons keep digging up my bulbs, chewing their innards and spewing the leftovers around the yard. Everything is full of life, but I've been neglecting Hill Babies, which is a blog dedicated to exploring the San Francisco Bay Area.

Last year was great: large group walks, many postings, and some great opportunities, like getting the chance to write for Bay Nature magazine. So why have I been remiss in keeping this blog for the past couple months?

 I'm pregnant, with twins to boot! 

I have been ecstatic, and love the idea of twins. The doctors believe they are identical girls. But by growing so much more quickly than with my first pregnancy, and being nauseous throughout the first trimester, my desire to walk was greatly curbed.

Also, external events impinged upon me--housing issues that are now resolved, and the adrenaline of the holiday season leaving me, like after ingesting any stimulant, feeling tired in its aftermath.

Those things paled in comparison to what happened last week.

At my 18th week check-up at UCSF's Prenatal Diagnostic Center, just this past Thursday, the doctors scared me with a terrible prognosis. They said my twin identical girls might be developing a serious disease called twin-to-twin-transfusion syndrome. It looked grave, that one baby seemed unable to urinate properly. I might need surgery for the best odds of their survival.

The doctors said I'd have to return to the hospital, but to new and different departments, for serious tests after the weekend.

Scouring the internet in the interim was a lesson in sadness and frustration.  In the four days between the bad news and a second battery of tests that would determine if I'd go into laser fetal surgery (or abort, because the babies would die otherwise in utero), I tried anything that might help, especially protein shakes and bed rest.

I even got down on my knees and prayed: please let these babies live and be healthy, please protect them, blessed be. 

I asked help from God, the Goddess, and the spirit of my father who died when I was a baby. I asked the babies themselves to be healthy, to overcome this and to survive.

By Sunday, I was mentally prepared for fetal laser surgery. That was my choice, and my husband's. We had hope that everything would be okay. The invasive treatment was risky, but it also had great statistical odds of at least one baby surviving, and I was holding out for two.

On Monday, my husband and I drove across the city to UCSF's Fetal Treatment Center, one of four of these kind of places in all of the United States. We were on-time for our 7:45 appointment and already dreading the day. I'd be tested---or the babies would--through ultrasounds and echo-cardiograms for nine hours.

Marshall watched the babies move around the ultrasound screen for the first time. They lay in yin and yang positions, curled against each other when they weren't moving around. Tiny hands and feet, a butt, then two. A strong white femur. A nose on each.

"Oh my god," Marshall said, "Did I see one of them pee?" He said it looked like swirls of smoke in the amniotic fluid, and the radiologist laughed, saying yes, that was urination.

Up until now, Marshall has been busy working when I've had my appointments, and it was poignant that on this grave day, the day before the expected laser surgery, that he felt closer to these babies than ever before.

Why was the radiologist, Dr. Rebecca Smith-Bindman, still smiling as she swept the ultrasound probe across my stomach? Finally, she could barely contain the good news: she didn't think the babies had TTTS anymore. She told us to go downstairs to the Fetal Treatment Center. There, a perinatologist and director of the center, Dr. Larry Rand, also kept smiling.

"Your babies don't have TTTS," he confirmed. "You are not a candidate for laser surgery."

I felt an incredible lightening of spirit, and Marshall was thinking hard, a smile on his face.

Dr. Rand moved animatedly before his whiteboard, using different colored pens to illustrate his words, and all the while it seemed to me he was dancing. He explained that the new ultrasounds showed the babies share a lucky blood vessel, an artery to artery connection, through their placenta.

The artery-to-artery connection in my placenta was discovered that day, and it appeared to have worked like a check-valve over the agonizing weekend. It stabilized blood pressure between the twins, and in my case, the discrepancy between the two (214 grams of weight in the littler one, and 269 grams in the bigger one), was just not enough difference to send me packing.

In simpler language, one baby weighs 8 ounces and the other is 9--on a popular baby website, the average weight of a fetus at 19 weeks is 8.5 ounces.

We talked and talked, and I took notes. Yes, he could and should bring students in to see the next ultrasounds to learn how to detect this artery-to-artery connection (more doctors need to know about how to find this life-saving check-valve). Yes, I would return to the Fetal Treatment Center every two weeks to monitor the babies.

I told him that on the internet there is all sort of anecdotal evidence from mothers saying protein drinks and bed rest helps TTTS (this translates to meaning this past weekend I have been guzzling bottles of gritty vanilla-flavored Boost and Ensure, and being very physically inactive). The doctor said eat real sources of protein, like meat, not shakes. As for circulation, you want mild exercise, not bed-rest (at least in my case).

So I'd been wondering if I would stop doing monthly walks for Hill Babies, though the last one on Sign Hill in November brought 75 people. I would go on hiatus. In fact, I was starting to dislike the prospect of keeping up a blog--why write about walks if I'd be on my back during bed-rest?

I'm ready to write, and I'm ready to walk!

The truth is, whether babies have TTTS or not, going outside and into the sun, on a gentle walk, is some of the best medicine. That's an intuitive declaration on my part, but I wouldn't be surprised if doctors agreed. And for parents who already have children, like me with my three-year-old, it just isn't fair to keep her from the open-ended play found in natural areas, open spaces, preserves, beaches, and parks. Though we live in a city, we are surrounded by nature, and as mammals we really need to be outside more often.

I think there is power in visualizing everything will be okay. Though I might be walking on eggshells for the next four months, what with my need for ongoing tests, I will walk outside and imagine these babies are absorbing sunshine and getting good circulation that will help them develop and be healthy.

So welcome 2013, welcome all you little babies, children, and adults! May we meet on a walk some time soon.

--Jessica

SPECIAL TRAVEL POST: PETROGLYPHS and MORE ON THE BIG ISLAND OF HAWAI'I

TWENTY THOUSAND PETROGLYPHS

Pu'u Loa Petroglyph field is a 1.4 mile round-trip walk on the Big Island of Hawaii, and it seems perfectly fine for a little kid, especially on an overcast day, such as it was this past September when the nuclear family visited the Volcanoes National Park. 

Little G Beans was eager to get out of the rental car we'd driven down the Chain of Craters Road, and my husband and I could understand how frustrating it must've been as we oohed and aahed at the amazing lava fields outside the windows while Little G, restrained by a five-point harness of a baby seat, could only swivel her head and kick her legs. Once we got out at the trailhead to Pu'u Loa, the Beans took off down the gravel and lava rock trail and didn't look back. 

Goddess Pele. Painting by Herb Kane

Pu’u Loa, or “long hill,” is the name of the petroglyph field located between the blue sea and the steep cliff face of Holei Pali. The Hawaiians revered the Pu’u Loa site as a place to bury a baby’s umbilical cord, which was a common ritual to bestow a long life for the newborn.
Talk about a unique hiking experience! We went up and down and all around lava rock, amazing looking stuff: big thick cords, softly sloping pancakes, rippled as a washboard, crunchy looking like granola. The biggest surprise is that our three-year-old loved walking it by herself, and she only fell down once. (An overcast sky and the approach of sunset helped.)

The elevated bridge above 20,000 petroglyphs

This is no small potatoes petroglyph field, but 20,000 strong images. And of that sum, 16,000 petroglyphs are concentric circles or holes, an image associated with the umbilical cord. 
An elevated wooden walkway rings around the main fields (and reminds me of a science fiction story—Asimov?—about visitors going back to Neolithic times and being cautioned to stay on the walkway and touch nothing, but some fool grabs at a butterfly…). Bringing a child on a hike here  has a feeling like connecting the past to the present.

Along the way, ferns and even noni trees, with fruit smelling of Limburger cheese, eked out a living in the cracks of the lava. The ancient Hawaiians planted micro crops of food like yams in these fissures so that people might traverse this rough terrain and eat along the way. I'm guessing they planted the noni fruit, which is edible and medicinal. Genevieve was interested in the fruit, especially its incredible stinky cheese smell. 

"Petroglyph Maker" by Herb Kane

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AT THE END OF THE ROAD

The end of the road. Credit: livingwilderness.com

After Pu’u Loa, we drove to the end of the Chain of Craters Road where it reached the sea. We ogled at a beautiful sea arch, and then continued by foot down the final stretch of road, though the sun was setting and we were all hungry. 

      A quarter mile down this road (cars are made to park by a ranger's office), a relatively recent lava flow covered the way. Night was falling, so our trek across the lava was short, though a ranger passed us with a group of people carrying flashlights, for down here, a bit further on, one could actually walk to a vista point to see a red ribbon of lava gushing into the sea. 

The end of the road

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CAMPING NEAR VOLCANO NATIONAL PARK

Highly recommended: cabins at Namakani Paio

Inside the N.P. cabin

 There are so many things to explore at Volcanoes National Park, including 150 miles of trails, that to do even a modest exploration with a child means spending the night close by. Staying at Hilo or Kona, the two main cities on the island, is just too far. One interesting experience is to visit these sights early in the morning before the sun heats up the black lava rocks of the calderas.

Five miles from the entrance to the park is Namakani Paio Campground with both camping and cabins. The A-frame bungalows ($55/night) are awesome, private and cozy, and clean. Each has two bunks and a queen sized bed, linens and comforters (it gets chilly at night), barbecue grills, your own table and benches, and close by is a bathroom with hot showers. Keys and details are arranged directly through Volcano House, right in the park.

            Other options for places to stay are Volcano House, built in the Victorian era on the edge of Kilauea Caldera, impressive to say the least. Expect prices to be expensive. There is also the Kilauea Military Camp, actually a hotel and a dining hall, available to any guest with even a thin military connection.

Pepeiao Cabin. Credit: nps.org

            Experienced hikers—probably without children unless they are fit teenagers—have the option of various cabins in remote areas that are accessed only after a long hike, like Pu’u’ula’ula Cabin on the Mauna Loa Trail up the second largest mountain on the island, or Pepeiao Cabin near the sea in the Ka’u Desert Wilderness, options that are not for beginners or little ones (yet interesting to imagine).

   

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RELEVANT INFORMATION

Kids Activities in Volcanoes Nat'l Park http://www.nps.gov/havo/forkids/index.htm
Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park  www.nps.gov/havo

Hawai’i Pacific Parks Association  www.hawaiipacificparks.org

Friends of Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park   www.fhvnp.org

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PHOTO ALBUM

Pu'u Loa Petroglyph hike

How the Hawaiians survived en route to Pu'u Loa, which seem so far from food and water.

Relaxing on ribbons of pa'hoe'hoe lava

Snacks outside the cabin at Namakani Paio Campground

Sea arch at the end of the road

Lava flowed this deep across the end of the road.