Recap of Newcomer Hike to Cataract Falls
February 20, 2010, we had a wonderful hike at Cataract Falls, on the slopes of Mt. Tam. Hikers were new member Sondra M., Shirley A., Rose T., Angelika S., Sharon K., and guest Joan D. (soon to be new member)
The creek has benefited from all the recent rains and the multiple cascades were better than I ever witnessed. They plunged down the fern and moss covered slopes. We hiked 1.6 miles up to Laurel Dell starting along Alpine Lake and then continuing through a dense forest of redwoods,, tan-oaks, maple and ferns. There were both stone and wooden steeps that helped with the 800 ft climb.
Our picnic was in a meadow clearing, alongside the creek. Our hike took a total of 5 hours (including 1/2 hour for lunch). We stopped NUMEROUS times for photos of the falls, all sorts of mushroom and fungi, wildflowers including sorrel, western trillium, hounds tongue, milkmaids, and fetid adders-tongue (scoliopus bigelovii). [How could I forget that name, Joan?]
Happy Trails,
Sharon Kovar
