San Francisco Bay Chapter, Sierra Club News
Correction (March 25, 2013): It was the Backpacking Section, not the Hiking Section, that donated $2,500.
In recent months two of the Chapter’s activity sections have made significant donations to the Chapter. These help us carry out our conservation work–including our work to protect the very places where our hikes, backpacks, and other activities take place.
Many thanks.
Mike Hayman, winner of the 2012 Michener Award. Photo by Alison Brick.
Now is the time to nominate outings leaders for this year’s Dave and Pat Michener Outings Leadership Award. The Bay Chapter established the award in 2001 to commemorate the many years of volunteer service performed by the Micheners as editors of the Chapter Schedule (the predecessor of the calendar in today’s Yodeler and Chapter web site) and to recognize superior leadership by Chapter outing leaders.
If you know of an outstanding leader, send in a nomination. Leadership criteria include concern for individual participants, activities skill and knowledge combined with a penchant for sharing them, the ability to forge links between the Club’s activities and its conservation values, and number/variety of outings. To qualify, nominees must be leaders who list outings in the Chapter Events and Activities calendar. Each nomination may include up to two letters of support.
Send nominations and supporting letters by Tue., April 23, to Steve Bakaley, chair of the Chapter Activities Committee, at:
slbakaley@lbl.gov (preferred)
12 Calvin Court
Walnut Creek, CA 94595.
The winner will be selected at the Mon., May 6, Activities Committee meeting and announced in the June-July Yodeler.
David Giese ski-climbing Red Banks on Mount Shasta. Photo by Ken Duncan.
Winter 2012-13 is off to a great start, and the Bay Chapter’s Backcountry Ski Section has scheduled both day and overnight trips to take full advantage, with more to be added as the season progresses!
Experiencing the Sierra in winter is a unique experience, but it requires skill, knowledge, confidence, and teamwork to travel safely across winter terrain. If you have moderate crosscountry-skiing skills on gentle terrain and are able to negotiate intermediate-level downhill ski slopes, the Backcountry Ski Section may be an entryway for exploring the backcountry. For those already into backcountry skiing, the Section offers a connection to a community of likeminded folks.
Section trips provide an organized way to become familiar with Sierra skiing routes and peaks. Go on a day trip or overnight to one of the backcountry huts. Then go back again and share it with some of your friends. Along with promoting conservation of the beautiful Sierra, having fun, and building our skills, we offer the opportunities to do it on the snow.
Sharing skills and knowledge seems to happen without effort among backcountry-skiing groups. Beyond workshops and training programs, participation in section-sponsored trips is bound to increase skills and confidence for any level of backcountry skier.
For trip information or to get involved, see our web site at http://sanfranciscobay.sierraclub.org/skitouring or call section chair Jim Gannon at (707)525-1052.
Jim Gannon
The day’s too bright for tarantulas to appear, but we see their burrows and some interesting plants. Photo by Vicky Hoover.
The San Francisco Bay Chapter’s Wilderness Committee and the Children and Nature Collaborative are working together to promote wild-nature experiences for children.
Our first children’s hike was a special tarantula hike in Mount Diablo State Park’s Mitchell Canyon, led by Mount Diablo Group hike leader Ken Lavin on Oct. 7. It was a beautiful day with 50 people–about equal numbers of children and adults–in attendance. Ken shared fascinating facts about tarantulas, and his associate Nancy Valente shared her display of bones and skins of owls, hawks, pronghorn antelope, and other interesting animals, some of which live in Mitchell Canyon. The children could touch all these objects as well as Ken’s live pet tarantula. They also climbed fallen logs and wandered in the streambed before the hike started.
The group then headed up the canyon with Ken, stopping often to talk about plants and animals on the way until we came to a tarantula’s burrow. The children were awed at the silky threads covering the hole and excited at the thought of the spider coming out. It was too bright a day for tarantulas to come out and let us view them, but there were plenty of silk-covered burrows to examine and loads of nature to touch as the entranced kids swarmed around Ken most of the trip. Everyone had a lovely time, and it felt good to watch the children’s joy at being out in nature and share with them the wonders of it all.
Thank you also to Liz Watson who assisted Ken and happily shared information about the nature surrounding us as we walked.
Children need direct experience with nature to grow up healthy in body, mind, and soul. Today’s children outdoors will be tomorrow’s stewards of the environment.
Future hikes and your chance to help
Our hope is to sponsor a regular series of family walks geared toward children–for children ranging from babies carried by a parent on up to young teens.
Ken is willing to lead a couple of these outings per year–but we need additional leaders. How about you? To get started on leading family hikes for the Sierra Club, contact Hiking Section chair John Hermansky at (415)435-4758 or jhermansky@yahoo.com.
Are you already a Chapter outing leader? Then take the opportunity to schedule a family hike in whichever activity section you lead in.
To find out more about the Bay Area Children in Nature Collaborative, go to www.cincbayarea.org; for its associated National Network, go to www.childrenandnature.org.
Cassie Barr, chair, Chapter Wilderness Committee
A walk in Pt. Reyes. Photo: Geoff Gillette
Why hike with the Sierra Club? Is it because of our leaders, or the places they take you? Or is it because of both?
When you go on a Club outing, you get a lot more than just a “hike in the park”—even if the outing is literally a hike in a park.
Leaders lead outings because they love nature and enjoy sharing their favorite places. They will often teach you something during your outing—about the history of the place, its conservation issues, its geological formations, or how to minimize your impact while you enjoy it. Further, our leaders are trained to keep you safe and to deal with emergencies. All leaders must know first aid at an appropriate level for the activity.
Which outing will I go on?
The Sierra Club Bay Chapter and other Club entities offer so many outings—and kinds of outings—to so many different places, and have so many different activity sections and groups and committees sponsoring them. Further, every leader has their own personality and their own way of leading. How can you decide which outing to go on? Find out about different activity sections at: http://sanfranciscobay.sierrac
Go to “Get Outdoors” in the banner at the top, and in the dropdown menu click on “Activity Sections”. Or phone us at (510)848-0800.
Try outings in different sections and with different leaders and in different areas. That way you can discover your favorites.
How can I tell if the outing will be too hard?
The number-one factor you should take into account is your level of ability. Most of our outings go to locations which intrinsically require a certain level of physical ability.
That’s why most of our hike listings include a rating of difficulty, such as 2B. The numeral tells distance—“2” means “6 – 10 miles”, and “B” means “1,000 – 2,000 feet of elevation gain”, (the sum of all gains in elevation during the day). The full set of symbols is:
1. up to 6 miles A. under 1,000 feet
2. 6 – 10 miles B. 1,000 – 2,000 feet
3. 10 – 15 miles C. 2,000 – 3,000 feet
4. 15 – 20 miles D. over 3,000 feet
5. over 20 miles E. over 3,500 feet
Backpack ratings include a third symbol for travel: T. trail
1. limited/easy crosscountry
2. moderate crosscountry
3. strenuous/difficult crosscountry.
If you read “6 – 10 miles” and panic—don’t worry; this just means that this is not the hike for you. We have many shorter outings, and also outings with less climbing. If you don’t know how far you can hike, then start with an easy outing, say a 1A. If that turns out to be easy for you, then on another day you can try something harder, a 1B, a 2A, or even a 2B. If you’re still not sure, contact the leader.
If you have mobility limitations, note that a few listings in the Yodeler include the wheelchair symbol, indicating that we believe they will be wheelchair-accessible. If you need further information about accessibility or skills, feel free to contact the leader of the outing.
Some of our outings, such as those offered by our Backpacking, Snowcamping, and Backcountry Skiing Sections, require special skills and/or equipment. If you’re not sure whether you qualify, please contact the leader. You many want to improve your skills by taking our annual Beginning Backpacking Series or Snowcamping Training.
Outings for everybody
With very few exceptions, our outings are open to all. You do not have to be a Club member to participate.
Advance sign-up is not necessary for one-day events unless the announcement states otherwise.
Most of our outings, however, are not suitable for children, unless otherwise stated in the announcement. If you have a child who you believe is capable of participation in a given outing, you should contact the leader. (The Chapter Wilderness Committee is trying to get more child and family hikes organized; see page E for more information.)
Dogs (other than on-duty service animals) are allowed on outings only if specifically indicated in the listing.
We have two sections, Sierra Singles and Solo Sierrans, specifically oriented towards single people. Similarly, Bay Area Young Sierrans was created to provide a comfortable environment for younger adults. Sierra Couples focuses on activities for couples and families. Gay and Lesbian Sierrans was created to provide a welcoming environment for gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgendered people. Although these activity sections target specific audiences, they all operate under the philosophy, ‘If you’re comfortable with us, we’re comfortable with you,’ and they welcome anyone to participate in their outings.
Our regional groups are based in different geographic subareas of the Chapter, but you are welcome on their outings regardless of where you live.
So read through our calendar, in each Yodeler starting on page A, or on-line at: www.sanfranciscobay.sierraclub
or read the calendar of any of our activities sections. Sections currently publishing their own calendars include the Backcountry Skiing Section, Solo Sierrans, and the Delta Group. For subscription information see our web site or call the Chapter Office at (510)848-0800.
Find an outing that sounds interesting and give it a try.
Don Forman
Photo by Sue Lattanzio.
The Sierra Club Marin Group just participated in one of the largest Coastal Clean-up Days in Marin County, collecting over eight tons of trash in two days, along the marshes, Bay shore, and creeks on the Novato side of San Pablo Bay.
Friends of Novato Creek, the Sierra Club Marin Group, and the State Coastal Conservancy, under the leadership of Marin Group ExComm member Sue Lattanzio, organized the weekend clean-up, which brought in over 96 enthusiastic volunteers of all ages. Support for disposal of the trash was provided by the state Coastal Conservancy, Novato Disposal, and Marin County; recyclables were disposed by the Northbay Conservation Corps.
Focusing on the Hamilton and Bel Marin Keys shoreline, volunteers were shuttled by van to the Bayfront levee, covering six miles of coastline in their clean-up efforts. Saturday’s volunteers included 19 students from Hamilton Middle School collecting 90 pounds of trash from Pacheco Creek. Sunday volunteers cleaned up Novato Creek by boat, Pacheco Pond, and an additional five miles of Bel Marin Keys bayfront and creek levees.
Photo by Sue Lattanzio.
We hope to make this an annual event to preserve our beautiful coastal shoreline.
Thank you to everyone who volunteered!
We filled two 30-cubic-yard debris boxes, in addition to pulling out 62 tires, 70 bags of recyclables, a boat, and a couch. The most common type of trash was 600 highly floatable tennis and other types of balls.
Start planning now to get yourself up to the mountains this summer. Clair Tappaan Lodge is proud to announce a series of summer activities including its Eighth Annual Summer Fundraiser “Into the Woods.” The Lodge web page includes coming special programs and directions. The Lodge is easily accessible from I-80.
The summer activities range from Grandparents/Grandkids program, Fly Fishing, Hiking and Kayaking in the Sierra, Land Navigation, Painting along the Sierra Trails, and various other activities that get you out onto the mountains and into the Lake Tahoe forest. Even if you come alone, be prepared to meet a group of friendly people who love the mountains as much as you do.
Our annual fundraiser will be Fri. – Sun., Aug. 17 – 19, at the Lodge on Donner Summit. For details see http://motherlode.sierraclub.org/sierranevada/8.htm. This weekend event supports the Lodge as well as its scholarship fund for youth groups to participate in the Lodge’s environmental-education program. All are invited. The fee is $155 for all of the activities from Friday afternoon until the Sunday hikes after breakfast (and your bag lunch); for just Saturday, including dinner, the cost is $50 per person.
After dinner on Friday night the Donner Historical Society will present a speaker, followed by the traditional campfire with s’mores and brandy. On Saturday there will be a large menu of hikes with interesting themes. These have proven to be popular at our previous summer fundraisers. Following the hikes there will be a wine-and-cheese reception with music by well-known Nevada City cellist David Eby at Hutchinson Lodge from 3 – 4:30 pm. At 4:30 there will be a walk to the newly designated “Brody Trees” and dedication of a trail sign for it. Saturday night’s speaker will be Harry Weldon, the engineer on one of the 1960s wing additions to the Lodge. Throughout the weekend there will be an art silent auction and a raffle for an overnight stay at Clair Tappaan Lodge and a 50/50 raffle.
I hope to see you there.
Olivia Diaz, Clair Tappaan Lodge Committee
Hiking Section hike led by Carol Larson and Ron Ucovich in Redwood Regional Park, August 1999. Photo by Kim Cranney.
With its combination of rugged hills, redwood and oak forests, and proximity to ocean beaches, the Bay Area is unparalleled in its hiking opportunities among U.S. urban areas, and the Hiking Section of the Bay Chapter will guide you to all portions of this domain.
Our hikes range from wild areas, such as the Mount Tamalpais watershed, Mount Diablo, or the San Mateo County open spaces to urban settings in San Francisco or Oakland. The hikes range from a few miles with minimal terrain to strenuous treks with a few thousand feet of elevation gain—with most hikes in between, in the 2B to 3C range (for an explanation of these hike ratings, see Chapter Calendar or the box on page A of every Yodeler). Hiking is a fine way to meet people, discuss current events, find common interests—and develop friendships. Our hikes also offer a great introduction for more extended car-camping and backpacking trips.
In Marin our hikes crisscross the great mass of wildlands included in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Mount Tamalpais State Park, Muir Woods National Monument, the Marin Municipal Water District watershed lands, Samuel Taylor State Park, and Point Reyes National Seashore. In the East Bay, the East Bay Regional Park District, the East Bay Municipal Utility District watershed lands, and Mount Diablo State Park form the nucleus of another vast trail network. Hike leaders often combine forested slopes with seashore or open hills to create varied day-long journeys. Some leaders will simply guide you on the trails, while others may provide detailed commentaries on the history and/or the natural history the area.
Several hike leaders specialize in city excursions combining a variety of neighborhood settings with accounts of local history and architecture. An example would be a hike beginning at the San Francisco Ferry Building, roaming the downtown to find hundred-year-old buildings, climbing a few hills to explore secret neighborhoods, and concluding at the Golden Gate Bridge to look upon the city enclosed by a windswept Bay. Whether these hikes take place in San Francisco, Hayward, Alameda, or Corte Madera, the goal is to find the unique identity of a community.
Our section also includes an intrepid group of canine-hike leaders. Currently these hikes usually occur in the East Bay. Naturally, we must obey all local regulations, but the rewards are manifold. (Dogs are not allowed on our regular hikes, however, unless specifically mentioned in the write-up.)
The Hiking Section offers participants the chance to grow from being listeners and followers on a hike to being speakers and leaders. As we become familiar with our nearby open spaces, we gain knowledge to advocate for them and for the quality of our local environment. Thus, the Sierra Club encourages the advance of one’s leadership abilities into a role of promoting environmental causes.
See listings for our hikes in the Chapter calendar in every Yodeler or at http://sanfranciscobay.sierraclub.org/chapter/events/calendar.aspx.
John Hermansky, chair, Hiking Section
Photo by Backpack Section leader Andy Westbom.
If wilderness is the heart of nature, then backpacking is the artery that leads us there, along a path less traveled but always ready. The skills of backpacking are developed one step at a time. The Backpacking Section provides information, experience, and leadership to support our individual quests to experience with confidence nature on her terms.
The Backpacking Section promotes education. Each spring Thomas Meissner coordinates a Beginner Backpack Course: a one-day seminar, where experienced leaders share skills and demonstrate equipment, followed by an overnight field trip to practice new skills in small groups. Look for the announcement of next year’s course in the February-March Yodeler.
Beyond this basic training, the Backpacking Section offers a wide variety of outings to expand and strengthen our experience in the outdoors.
Trips change as the seasons progress. John and Linda Ghysels lead a delightful spring flower outing to Hite Cove, a historic gold-mining region in the Sierra foothills near Yosemite. Other spring outings include destinations like Rancheria Falls in Yosemite, Preston Falls on the Tuolumne River, and Chilnaulna Falls on the South Fork of the Merced River. These outings provide close-ups of cascading melting winter snows unleashed and rushing toward the sea, powerfully displaying the cycles and moods of nature.
Relaxed main-season outings include Stan Pawlak and Teri Shore’s Murphy Creek adventure from scenic Tenaya Lake to a special glacier-carved, polished granite mantle that channels swirling spring melt past meadows bordering a playful creek set in a granite canyon featuring ridges and domes joined by delightful paths allowing opportunity for unhurried exploration of a mountain environment close to both camp and trailhead. Interested in more distance, more variety, and more named landmarks? One can follow J. P. Torres over many of the most popular Yosemite backcountry routes, or share with Robert Howell, Ted Pekny, and Dean Schwartz the wonder and isolation of the Lost Coast classic beach walk along the rugged, isolated Humboldt County Coast in the strikingly beautiful Kings Range Conservation Area. More aggressive hikers in superb physical shape can ‘run’ with Kevin Sawchuk (this author’s son) and Brian Gunney on “fast and light” outings designed to cover more ground and elevation gain, compressing normal multiple-day hiking distances into weekends of intense travel over routes most people are content only to read about.
As the season progresses, accompany Andy Westbom to the “high country”, traversing rocky, weather-worn passes between granite ramparts to high meadows bordering cascading streams and rockbound glacier-carved lakes pocked with perfect circles marking the spot of rising trout breaking the still reflections of distant vistas, with some mountains still snow-capped. Later still, accompany Roger Williams and his band of autumnal color seekers to the east side of the Sierra to enjoy fall colors splashed, like paint from a palate, on ridges glowing golden as far as the eye can see, while restless winds await winter, rustling mule ears shriveled by early frosts and rattling skeletons of cow parsnips and skunk cabbage crouched low to the ground.
And some proclaim winter to be nature’s secret time, the link between history and hope, a transition between what was and what will again be, a time of quiet reflection—pure, still, and complete—dazzling reflections of pure light captured in snowflakes, ice crystals, and frost. Some of us enter winter through the relative simplicity of hostel and wilderness-hut weekends. Leaders Al Murdach and Cathy Dezendorf, for example, enjoy the camaraderie of group-prepared meals in comfortable surroundings following the day’s hiking. They frequently lead outings to Point Reyes, Monterey, and Carmel in addition to a winter snowshoe excursion to Bradley Hut, the Sierra Club’s newest alpine hut located near Lake Tahoe. Other leaders offer more-rugged winter camping, including very popular “Yosemite in Winter” snowshoe outings to Dewey and Crocker Points on the south rim overlooking the majestic Yosemite Valley. For other winter possibilities see the articles about the Snowcamping and Ski Touring Sections in each December-January Yodeler.
Do you love the outdoors and the changing seasons with unlimited trails, but not the carrying of your abode on your back? Brad and Katy Christie offer a popular alternative: car camps or motel-based outings to carefully chosen sites depending on the season, with long challenging hikes each day. Outings have included Monterey/Carmel, Napa, the Pinnacles, the Redwoods, Bishop Park in Inyo National Forest, Yosemite, and Kings Canyon, spiced with occasional out-of-state offerings, some with prepared breakfasts and dinners (central commissary) and others depending on individual arrangements where commercial meal service is available.
Some folks are specially intrigued by long trails with special names, such as the John Muir and Pacific Crest Trails. These people can follow the mileposts, arranged like notes in the grand symphony of wilderness experience, with leaders like Thomas Meissner, Katy Christie, and Craig Vassel, who plan trips dividing these trails into segments manageable for day hikes, using car shuttles to link trailheads with motel/campground bases.
Backpacking is life in all seasons waiting to create personal memories for you. The Backpacking Section is dedicated to assist you by providing safe, fulfilling, co-operative group settings for experiencing wilderness, the ultimate unbridled expression of nature. For fullest trip listings see the Chapter Calendar.
Lloyd Sawchuk, Treasurer, Backpack Section
A racer in the River Touring Section's Cache Creek Race, some time early 2000s. Photo courtesy Sharon Schumacher.
The Bay Chapter River Touring Section is going dormant. Long-time chair and Paddlers’ News Bulletin editor Sharon Schumacher has resigned. The section has found a new editor but unfortunately not yet new officers.
Since the new editor, Barbara Bitner, is a member of the Mother Lode Chapter, as is the subscription manager, Charlie Beazell, the Bay Chapter has agreed to transfer the oversight of the newsletter to the Mother Lode Chapter.
The monthly Paddler’s News Bulletin will continue to include upcoming trips and races from paddling clubs around the state as well as articles on conservation and safety, and want/sell ads.
To submit articles or place an ad, contact Barbara Bitner at BKBitner@hotmail.com.
To subscribe to a free full-color digital version of the newsletter, sign up at www.tinyurl.com/paddlersnewsbulletin.
Group that did the downriver race at Cache Creek Race. Early 2000s. Photo courtesy Sharon Schumacher.
The River Touring Section has a long and rich history (see March-April 2008, page 11; and July-August 2004, page 9) dating back to the early 1950s, when boaters used canvas and home-made fiberglass kayaks from Club-owned molds to explore California rivers. Paddlers interested in getting together with other volunteers to revive the section should contact Chapter Activities Committee chair Steve Bakaley at SLBakaley@LBL.gov.
