There was a lot of debate on which trail to actually embark on for our outing. Just a few weeks before, there had been a recon hike to Alamere Falls. We determined that that particular trail was a bit too much for the group. We narrowed it down to two other trails and let the group as a whole decide which trail to take. We unanimously decided on the Estero Trail to Sunset Beach, a nice 7.8 mile roundtrip hike out to a beach along Drake's Estero which gave us great views.
My task was to rent a van that could hold 9 people. I ended up renting a big white 15 passenger van - Whoo Hooo! Kim was taking care of lunch - Yummy! Everyone else was to bring thier own snacks (I of course brought Cheez-Its, Red Vines, and Cappuccino Power Bars - oh yeah and I selected three bottles of wine from my collection to bring along as well).Thursday started out great. We had the best weather we could have ever hoped for - clear and sunny but not too hot. I drove the van and picked Neelima and Tiffany up before meeting in SF with Kim's crew of Yoli, Jennifer, and Julia. Alex also met us at the meeting spot in SF. We loaded up the van with people and provisions and were off. David met us all at the trailhead.
We got to the trailhead at 9:30 right on schedule (thanks to the driver ;-P ) We divided the food in to several people's packs (mainly David's and Alex's - they are strong guys after all!) and took off down the trail. What a nice hike. The trail was pleasant most of the way. There were several boggy muddy patches that we had to navigate around/through. Some of us ended up very muddy! Things were great until we made it down to Sunset Beach. The trail sort of disappeared so we ended up doing a lot of bushwhacking and bog trudging. The problem with the bushwhacking was that there was tons of poison oak. We finally ended up making it to a nice little area where we decided to set up our lunch. David and I went a bit further down the beach to see if there was a better place to have lunch but ended up turning around so as to not disturb a sleeping baby sealion. Its momma had jumped in to the water when she heard us coming and had a watchful eye on us and her baby to see if we were going to become a threat. We didn't have the heart to disturb them, besides, lunch was calling!
Lunch was quite a feast. There was herb roasted chicken, vegetable slaw salad, couscous salad, french bread, cheddar, brie, apples, orange slices, grapes, wine, brownies and various snacks that people shared. It really hit the spot. After lunch a few of us played frisbee. It isn't that easy to play when you are throwing it in to a headwind though! I was quite a wild thrower. I even had to retrieve one of my bad launches because it landed up the hill a bit. The group also almost lost me to quicksand as I was going for a frisbee catch. It landed in the water and was on its way out to sea, I couldn't let that happen so I went in after it and after two steps in to the sand promptly sank in over my ankles. It was quite shocking actually. I had to keep going too to rescue the frisbee. I made it out okay but my carefully kept dry feet were now soaked. I am thinking I may have to start hiking in hip waders - I just cant seem to keep my feet dry!
The trip back was uneventful except for the fact that I (of course always me the troublemaker) decided to follow a different trail that happened to get me stranded on the opposite side of a very large thicket of poison oak from the rest of the group. Well I didn't back track, I just put on my sweatshirt over my arms & camelback and hoped for the best. Once out, I used one of Kim's grease cutting wipes and resigned myself to the fact that I was probably going to get a really bad case of poison oak (As the picture shows, poison oak has rounded leaves). Well I am here writing this story on Sunday night and so far, I have only a very small dot of poison oak on my wrist. Amazing really... I am however suffering from an amazingly bad sunburn - my neck is in really bad shape, blisters and all. I keep learning very valuable lessons the more hiking I do... One of the lessons this time is that I need to find a sunscreen I like and then I need to re-apply it regularly.
We all made it back to the van in once piece with the promise of the remaining brownies and started the drive back to SF. During the drive I spied a few people napping in the back of the van. We were all much quieter than on the way out anyway. It was one heck of a way to spend a workday!
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