Camp Tamarancho
Searching for that elusive quality of Scouts Honor
There was simply no way both of us could organize ourselves well enough
to request and then return the day pass they have online.
I mean, if we're not caught midway on the
trail when the sun sets and night falls, then we are having a pretty good day.
So the whole business of this day pass
well exceeded our planning capacity, and if we were ever going to see Camp Tamarancho
we would just had to go for it, facing our fears of an ugly confrontation with the Boy Scouts.
Had we known that Sunshine Bikes,
right in downtown Fairfax, at the start of the ride, sold passes right
there, then we would have done it.
At exactly the same price as a southward trip across the Golden Gate,
the price of day pass is certainly not something once could really complain too much about.
The trails here were built, I recall, over six year by the Bicycle Trail Council of Marin (BTC)
during the 1990s. So this is all a relatively new addition to our sport.
Photos
Click to expand
Some ominous signs heading up Iron Spring Road.
Here's where you get the forms for the annual or day pass, right at the trailhead.
Now, we are assuming they really don't expect
that, having ridden up Iron Springs, we are going to turn around, go back home to get online, or go find Sunshine Bikes
(especially with no address or map), and then come back to do the ride.
Breakin' the law... be on the lookout for Boy Scouts! This is heading counterclockwise on the loop,
along the Goldman Trail, toward the central area.
No Boy Scouts here. We're riding awfully close to the main activities area.
This I think is nearing the end of the Goldman Trail.
Here's were it starts to get wild and interesting. This is the Serpentine trail. But it's all really just one long loop,
so I'm not sure why they gave it six different names.
This is the start of Wagon Wheel, heading out into the backwoods of Marin, between Pine Mountain, San Geronimo Ridge,
and White Mountain.
Below us rolls a charming little hidden Valley, as we approach White Mountain.
Here's the base of White Mountain at the junction, I think, of the Blue Ridge Fireroad heading rather steeply to the peak.
Here Wagon Wheel ends, B-17 begins, the the Blue Ridge trail cuts right on through.
I think we'll skip this turn.
This is about the midpoint and high elevation mark of the ride, although there is still plenty of
up and down climbing to go.
First one descends down the forested B-17 route to the bridge at the base of the valley. The first shot shows the kind of
switchbacks you'll be dealing with for just about the entire ride. There are definately three trails winding down
the hillside, and I think I see a fourth at the bottom there.
Almost home free. Climbing up the Broken Dam Trail.
Riding back up to the first ridgeline in the late afternoon light.
Whew, no running into the Boy Scouts, and plenty of practice with tight swicthback turning.
It appears that most other mountain bikers in the area share our guilt about not paying the $5,
for despite this being a beautiful, sunny, Memorial day weekend, we encountered only a handful of others
on the trail. It might be just technical and strenuous enough to discourage the masses from coming,
but still, it seems clearly less-frequented than other singletrack rides in the area.
I wouldn't doubt this is all because of the $5 hassle, and with Sunshine Bikes so close to the start it's not really
much of a hassle.
I have to say, it is almost worth it though to have a trail nearly to yourself.
(b. May 29, 2004)
Back to Pine Mountain.
Back home.
Some ominous signs heading up Iron Spring Road.
Here's where you get the forms for the annual or day pass, right at the trailhead.
Now, we are assuming they really don't expect
that, having ridden up Iron Springs, we are going to turn around, go back home to get online, or go find Sunshine Bikes
(especially with no address or map), and then come back to do the ride.
Breakin' the law... be on the lookout for Boy Scouts! This is heading counterclockwise on the loop,
along the Goldman Trail, toward the central area.
No Boy Scouts here. We're riding awfully close to the main activities area.
This I think is nearing the end of the Goldman Trail.
Here's were it starts to get wild and interesting. This is the Serpentine trail. But it's all really just one long loop,
so I'm not sure why they gave it six different names.
This is the start of Wagon Wheel, heading out into the backwoods of Marin, between Pine Mountain, San Geronimo Ridge,
and White Mountain.
Below us rolls a charming little hidden Valley, as we approach White Mountain.
Here's the base of White Mountain at the junction, I think, of the Blue Ridge Fireroad heading rather steeply to the peak.
Here Wagon Wheel ends, B-17 begins, the the Blue Ridge trail cuts right on through.
I think we'll skip this turn.
This is about the midpoint and high elevation mark of the ride, although there is still plenty of
up and down climbing to go.
First one descends down the forested B-17 route to the bridge at the base of the valley. The first shot shows the kind of
switchbacks you'll be dealing with for just about the entire ride. There are definately three trails winding down
the hillside, and I think I see a fourth at the bottom there.
Almost home free. Climbing up the Broken Dam Trail.
Riding back up to the first ridgeline in the late afternoon light.