West Point Inn Mount Tamalpais August 19-20, 2022
Plan-
Park at Pantoll Ranger Station
Hike 8 miles total on Day 1
Hike up to East Peak, have lunch, hike to West Point Inn and drop bags off.
Hike 2 miles out to dinner and two miles back to West Point Inn
Overnight at the West Point Inn
Hike 8 miles on the Matt Davis Steep Ravine Trail
Reality-
Park at Pantoll Ranger Station
Hiked 10 miles on Day 1
Hiked 2 miles on Day 2
Context- Anita, Rowena, Lynn, and Kristi are going to hike the Tour de Mont Blanc (TMB) in July. 2023. I decided not to join them because of the plantar fasciitis that I've been dealing with for over a year now and my bum ankle that I rolled in July.
We've parked the car, got our packs on, ready to start the adventure! I was feeling a bit unprepared as I hadn't hiked a long distance in a while, but I knew that I could do it. I did take a lot of Advil throughout the day. That helped A LOT.
Here we go to Mount Tamalpais East Peak via Matt Davis to Rock Spring Loop
Really appreciated the water bladder as it provided easy access to sip as I hiked. Water is life.
Loved the shade that was on the trail and at times I wished there was more shade.
One of the steepest uphill climbs on the trail. One step in front of the other is how we did it!
Wow, peanut butter and jelly never tasted so good. Took a break at the East Peak picnic tables. I also closed my eyes for a bit here. Shade, shade, shade is always good. We refilled our water bladders at the fountain. When Kristi went to refill her bladder, the water was brown. Well, she pulled out her filter, and hooray, and the water was clear. Good practice for the TMB!
Hiked half a mile more up to the highest point on East Peak. No pictures of us walking up cause I was huffing and puffing, but the views were spectacular for sure. Tried to make sense of what I was looking at from up there. SF? Alcatraz? Angel Island?
We were so happy to arrive at the inn! We dropped off our bags and got situated and started on our journey to walk Lynn back to her car. We were supposed to take the Old Stage Coach Trail down, instead, we walked on another trail in the opposite direction. Yikes. We had to make some decisions for the good of all. Lynn walked 1.5 miles back to the parking lot while the rest of us walked back to the inn. We didn't want to have to hike back from dinner in the dark. We forego dinner in town. We were so sad that Lynn had to hike by herself to the lot, but she texted that she arrived at the parking lot.
The heavenly view from the Inn. I just wanted to jump into these clouds!
Hungry people...we pulled out ALL our snacks. Cheese, crackers, corn nuts, peanuts, summer sausage, Tony Chocoloni. And the inn at "free" leftover food from other guests in the fridge: crackers, peanut butter. Kine and generous strangers at the inn gave us apples and a bow of tomato salad. Nothing ever tasted so good! We were full and tired! Off to bed, we went.
Anita and Kristi got up to watch the sunrise. Gorgeous. Rowena and I slept until 7:30 and that felt so good. We did our chores of taking out the garbage and sweeping the porch. We packed up and left. I'm really happy that we decided not to leave at 6AM and take our time instead. I appreciated the group for being flexible. I enjoyed hanging out at the inn, talking to the innkeeper, Jim Barry, and checking out the ADA room in case mom and dad want to come and visit.
We ended the adventure with brunch at Kitchen Sunnyside in Mill Valley where Millionaire's Bacon is their trademark. But we did not order any bacon. Instead, we had hash browns, eggs, pancakes, and stone pot (bibimbap)! All so delicious. Our beverages were delicious too: chai latte, iced coffee, cappuccino, and matcha latte.
The stories shared with friends and the beautiful scenery made the walk super fun. It was a challenging 10 miles for me on the first day. I spent a lot of my time looking down on the path and making sure my footing was steady. I thought about Victor and his broken ankle a lot. I thought about how he broke his ankle on our hike in Joshua Tree. Hoping to strengthen my body throughout the year so that I can protect my joints, and other parts so not be in pain.
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