INCH Hike: Skipsea

1346. Skipsea (08/22/26)

Hikers (0):
Distance: 17 miles
Rating: 3 difficulty, 8 beauty
Park info: Mt. Tamalpais State Park near Mill Valley

Write-up by Steve -- Pictures by Qi, Hong and Milon

To my surprise and initial dismay, the Double Dispea run was happening the same day as this hike. I didn't realize this until walking to the start of the hike. The fact that I could easily find parking, however, led to the understanding that the Double Dipsea starts in Stinson Beach rather than Mill Valley, where the more popular standard Dipsea race starts. So that was win #1. Ever better, I had planned the hike to be a loop taking trails away from Dispea at the start. So there was zero impact from this big run.

We were missing a few people at the start because of various carpooling arrangements, but we started on time because the mountains wait for no one.

We set off on our non-Dispea leg of the route, hitting stairs and trails I'd never been on, but many of the North Bay contingent had. While I hadn't checked ahead of time, Mill Valley has a list of all the Steps, Lanes, and Paths (SLPs) along with their general "traversability" to give some idea of their condition.

The first interesting trail was was Earnscliff Canyon (SLP-37). After that we headed up a rough creek-side route (SLP-38) to reach the next road. There was signage here suggesting that continuing up our creek-oriented route (SLP-126) was on private property, but nothing suggested this to be true (map-wise). So we kept going and the trail soon dissolved after crossing a bridge. Most of us headed up a slippery slope on the left of the creek to reach Cypress Trail. At least one went right. Apparently some homeowner was yelling at others behind us, resulting in a sub-set of hikers taking a different route. It all worked out and I learned later from the "North Bay Contingent" that the route I picked used to be open/traversable. Based on the current trail, it did not appear to be well used, so the trespassing sign is working. But it's on the official list, so the Mill Valley police won't be coming after us.

Not the most visited trail

Cypress Trail was mostly flat and well-used. We later reached Zig-Zag Trail which definitely got the heart pumping. At then end of that trail we found that the Mountain Home Inn was not yet opened. I'd planned to have a beer there, but we were just too fast and got there 30 minutes before opening. Oh well, we had already done 151 shots to celebrate Qi's milestone, so it was probably for the better.

Before/During Qi's 151 shot

After

From Mountain Home Inn, it was Alice Eastwood to Troop 80 Trail. Based on discussions after the hike, it's possible that I'm the only person for whom this was new trail. Well, that just proves what an advantage it is to post your own hikes. I'm sort of curious why anyone would take these two trails because, as I'd mentioned in the notice, "normal" hikers head for the summits and this is a trail that bypasses the summit. It is not unique in that regard, as Mt. Tam has no shortage of trails, but still...it's a weird trail.

Eventually we were up and over the highest point on the route near Rock Springs. From there we eventually headed down Cataract Trail. The majority of people, I hope, took the short bridge to continue up and over Bolinas Ridge to reach the Coastal Trail. I witnessed two chatty people blowing right by it as I stopped to check my route at that junction. They recovered just fine.

Stinson Beach from the Coastal Trail

This piece of the Coastal Trail was my primary goal. It is another section of trail I'd never taken because, unless you are explicitly doing the Coastal Trail, it does not make a lot of sense. But it is an access point for the oldest geocache in the Bay Area, placed more than 25 years ago, which makes it quite famous in some circles. The location is an old car that itself is a local legend.

The old car along the trail

From there we eventually reached the relatively crowded Muir Woods. Somehow, the more I visit this National Monument, the less impressive it seems. As history is a gauge, that means it will soon be deemed a National Park. {See Pinnacles National ~~Monument~~ Park as my derisive example}

Different type of wooden bridge

After that, we were on the Dipsea Trail all the way back to Old Mill Park. The race was long over, and all I can say is that someone named Kevin has a family with a lot of chalk. In the span of five minutes both Nohemi and Crystal came running down, passing me for the third time that day.

Back at my car, I was happy to see no one had sheered off my driver's-side mirror like last time. Even better, much food and dark beer appeared for such a relatively small hike.