When introverts go exploring
Hiking The Bay Area Ridge Trail: Carquinez Strait Regional Shoreline to John Muir National Historical Site
This section of the Bay Area Ridge Trail travels through the Carquinez Straight Regional Shoreline, sharing the path with several other regional trails. If you hike this section, you’ll be passing through exposed cattle pastures on your way to the John Muir Historical Site.
I start around 11 am on one of the hottest days of the summer, which probably wasn’t the smartest idea. While I have wanted to check out this part of the ridge trail for a long time, mostly because I was curious about checking out the Muir site, I didn’t really have an inkling about how exposed the trail would be!
I climb to the ridge through manzanitas and shrubs the first half-mile, making for a lovely way to start this section of the Bay Area Ridge Trail.
As I continue hiking, I eventually get to the ridge, and won’t see shade again until traversing a tunnel under Highway 4.
On my way to the tunnel and the historical site, I wander through dry ranch lands, picking my way around cow plops taking in the view of the Benicia-Martinez Bridge and surrounding areas.
I have the place to myself, the only people I see near the trailhead. I am happy to be out here alone as I follow the Bay Area Ridge Trail signs along the way. I imagine the owners of the private land surrounding the trail have people trespassing on their land, so I make a point to keep to the correct route while plodding along in the heat.
The trail is dusty, its gentle ups and downs made not so gentle by the heat of the day. The air gets to be stifling just about the time I make it to the tunnel. I’m glad I packed an extra liter of water.
After navigating the tunnel, I reach the path to the John Muir National Historical Site. I stop to take photos of the signs warning of the steep grade ahead as you climb Mt Wanda, Muir’s daughters’ namesake.
I climb again, up a steep grade for the next mile or so. There’s still a significant lack of shade, and there’s still not a soul in sight.
Less than two miles later, the trail stops abruptly at the fence surrounding a ranch. It’s time to turn around and do it all again, going in the opposite direction, while sweating it out in the heat of the day.
As I turn around, I take out the plastic bag I’ve been carrying and use it to pick up garbage I see. I pick up discarded disposable masks and a fair amount of plastic bottles. There seems to be a lot of plastic here, not to mention cigarette butts and microplastics. How people can trash our public lands, I will never understand.
About halfway back down Mt. Wanda, I stop for a peanut butter sandwich and am startled when I see two separate hikers coming up the hill. They pass by quickly, though, and I am soon left alone with my thoughts.
I am not a fan of this hike, I decide. It’s too exposed, and while the views are great, I would rather not see human blight on the world when I hike. I realize a lot of the Bay Area Ridge Trail passes through country just like this, and I decided not to make it a point to section-hike the rest of the 300 miles or so trail. There are so many other trails to do that I’m content knowing I will probably never finish this thru-hike.
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