Marin Coastal Trail – August 2024

Some stats, notes and observations: 

• Duration: 6.5 hours (including a few stops for water, snacks, lunch, etc.)
• Distance: 13 miles
• Elevation Gain: 3,800 feet
• Weather: Cool and foggy at the beginning of the hike (8:15am), partly sunny by the end of the hike (2:45pm)
• Starting Location: Muir Beach Parking Lot 
• Route (URL):  https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/muir-beach-to-rodeo-beach
• Route Details: Coastal Trail from Muir Beach to Rodeo Beach, and back.  
• Notes and Observations:  Go early.  The parking lot and Coastal Trail were mostly empty at 8am. Fog was pea soup dense, but, with the cool, steady breeze, contributed to perfect hiking conditions. The trail climbs almost immediately before settling into a seemingly unending combination of ups and downs, before passing Pirate’s Cove, descending and intersecting the Tennessee Valley Trail, and then, transitioning from a fire road, single tracks up for about 1.5 miles.  Keep working the hill.  This is the best part of the Coastal Trail, a fabulous, sustained climb if there was one. At the top, feel free to continue another 950 feet to Hill 88, an abandoned battery.  Turn around, and continue down to Rodeo Beach, but be sure to stop at Battery Townsley (1938).  Stop for lunch at Rodeo Beach. With the fog lifting and the sun peeking out during the hike back, the vistas were almost entirely different, timeless, primordial, empowering.  Of course, it was one hike, but it felt like two.  After countless ups and downs, Muir Beach was finally within sight, one final descent before returning to the Muir Beach Parking Lot, grabbing a towel, and chilling very tired legs in perfectly frigid Pacific.  A better end to a very long hike could not be imagined, complemented only by the excellent company of our intrepid hiking crew. 
• If you enjoyed the above description, well, this was the one from our August 2021 hike. Needless to say, the hike, 3 years later, was almost identical, with some, let’s say, minor variations. For starters, the crew was entirely different. 3 years can do that, as can PTSD from.the original hike. Our crew this time was fast and generally experienced, including 2 ultra-runners, including one who is training for a 100 mile race and had completed a 20-mile hike at Ohlone Wilderness the day before, a cross-country runner, and a hiker training for a backpacking trip halfway around the world. The first part of the hike, to Rodeo Beach, was uneventful. The second part was more interesting. Rather than returning via the Coastal Trail, we decided to hike along a coastal trail. Suffice it to say, it was not particularly well-marked, and in full disclosure there were multiple coastal trails – pick your poison, as the expression goes. In spots, actually quite a few, the trail was loose gravel, and in spots, again quite a few, seemingly at a 45 degree angle, where you had to hike sideways, with your feet facing uphill, and use a hiking stick (or, if like me, you had forgotten yours at home, your hands) for balance. Slow and steady, we were making our way down the mountain, toward Tennessee Beach, which was now in sight, through the patchy fog. The trail flattened out, then dropped again. I was in front, checking back as often as I could. We stopped periodically. Should we head back? No. We were close enough to Tennessee Beach, although it was not entirely clear if and how the trail would take us there. As I continued, the path forward, finally, became clear. After leading a few hikers down to the beach, I returned to guide the rest. After a short break, we continued, east on Tennessee Valley Trail, before rejoining the Coastal Trail, heading north, to Pirate Cove Trail, and back to Muir Beach.
• We enjoyed ice cold post-hike beverages before heading back home. Needless to say, the next hike, Pulgas Ridge, in Redwood City, California, on September 15, will be more pedestrian. It is a well-trodden family and dog friendly 5-mile loop. I guarantee an enjoyable time, wellness, good conversation, but perhaps not adventure. Comments welcomed.