Marin Headlands 8 miles (about 1,000 feet climbing)

Distance 8 miles (each hiker = ~2 miles)

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Elevation gain about 1,000 feet (each mountain = ~500 feet)

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(one 1/2 mile section is quite steep)

Terrain:

About 60-70% roads, 30-40% single track hiking trails.

Thanks to Patty for pointing out that this is Fleet Week, and apparently, the America's Cup (see events here (http://www.fleetweek.us/page_events.html)). We should be starting earlier enough to avoid traffic, but you may want to give yourself extra driving time (or take the bus). East Bay folks may want to take the Richmond/San Rafael Bridge and avoid driving through SF.

We last did this hike in March, but it has been a popular one, and it's hawk season now (http://www.ggro.org/public/docents.aspx) and the lighthouse bridge construction is complete and the lighthouse is open again. We'll take an eight mile hike around the Marin headlands (Trip 2 in Geologic Trips SF and Bay Area). Stops include Rodeo Beach (sandstones, at Fort Cronkhite parking lot), Point Bonita Lighthouse (sitting on pillow basalts), and Battery 129 (red chert and pillow basalts). Notes from last time: The hiking took about 4.5-5 hours, including a half-hour lunch at Hawk Hill. The lighthouse is only open from 12:30-3:30, so we'll hike to Hawk Hill/Battery 129 first, then back to the lighthouse. You can see a Google map of the hike here: http://tinyurl.com/ma... (http://tinyurl.com/marinheadlandsgeologyhike).

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Itinerary (approximate):

Meet at furthest parking lot at Fort Cronkhite (MUNI bus 76 also stops here) We'll explore sandstones at the beach, as well as examine the sand grains at the beach. 3 miles (trails and road, lots of uphill) to Battery 129. Lunch here. Lots of great chert beds. 3 mile hike (mostly road, mostly downhill) to Point Bonita Lighthouse (lighthouse is open until 3:30). Great pillow basalts. 1.5 miles to get back to start (mostly trail, one portion along a route that looks like a trail on Google, but if it turns out not to be we'll have to do a short backtrack). Where to meet: We'll meet at the Fort Cronkhite parking lot at the far end of the road. Meet at the bathrooms at the far west end of the parking lot, near the bus stop.

To get there: Driving: Click the map link above, then click on the Start/finish icon and click Directions. Public Transit: MUNI line 76 leaves CalTrain station (4th and Townsend) at 9:30, then stops at Sutter and Samsone (just above Montgomery St. BART) seven minutes later. As usual with public transit, make sure you get there a bit early: this bus only runs once an hour so if you miss it you'll miss the hike. Return buses run on the half-hour until 6:30 pm. (See bottom for more detailed BART/MUNI directions.) I'll have a few hand lenses and weak acid to help us explore the rocks we see. Bring your own hand lens if you have one. Be sure to bring protection from the wind, it often blows strongly even on warm days.

Size limit I've haven't set a limit, but generally we get 20-35 hikers (although the high level of no-shows continue to bother me, I've come to accept it as a part of the Meetup community).

Carpools Hikers are encouraged to carpool. If you can offer a ride, or would like a ride, please mention so (and your location) in your RSVP.

Dogs Due to some bad experiences with dogs, my policy is that dogs are not permitted. (And some of our hikes go to places where dogs are not permitted.

Public Transit from San Francisco:

NW corner of Sutter St & Sansome St - (4 min walk from Montgomery BART) 9:39am Muni - 76 - towards Fort Cronkhite Parking Lot. - Fare $ 2.00 10:22am - Off Board, NW Corner of Mitchell Rd & Bunker Rd (43 min ride) (parking lot where hike starts).