The Scorpion Trail
PART ONE
I. Mt. Tam Hiking
When I first came to Marin County, I hiked with my family many times over Mt. Tamalpais, which towered over the County at 2,572 feet, or 784 meters. The Mountain had several hiking trails, which included water falls, ocean views, steep ravines and beaches, as well as diversity in flora and fauna (manzanita, madrone, redwood trees, Douglas fir) and fauna (mountain lions, foxes, bobcats, owls, hawks, bats, chickadees, juncos, chipmunks, squirrels, sandhill cranes, egrets, salamanders, rattlesnakes, moles and herons.
Spawning steelhead trout sometimes appeared in wintertime, along with coho salmon. Hidden surprises, or mountain secrets, were left behind by inventive well-wishers, like the "Music Stand." They were intentionally placed for the hikerr's surprise and delight. I used to leave guitar picks from Martin Guitar and "wind horse" prayer flags from Tibet. The legendary history of Mount Tam was documented by several generations who enjoyed its pastimes and pleasures.
As a family, we did not know what mountain hiking really was, even with maps (which were not always reliable) and friendly park rangers. We just took off in good spirits from a trailhead or ranger station outpost, hoping for the best of days. Some of our adventures were ecstatic experiences, one-of-a-kind. On other days, we barely made it out of the park before the gates were locked af twilight.
II. A New Beginning
We began a new journey on the southside of Mt. Tam on Labor Day, 2010. We paid our annual park fee, to where we did not know. We had not hiked for a few years due to the complcations of life, but we (myself, Big Hand, Miss Ylse Bering, Long John Siver and "Monster," who was there as our protector) decided not to just hike trails at random but to find a situation that called to us and showed us the way. The Scorpius Trail was thus born, reflected in the night constellation of the southern zodiac of Scorpio, my birth sign.
To walk the Scorpius Trail, the hiker started at Pi Scorpii, where all wayfarers checked in. It was a triple star system, unnamed in the constellation of Scorpius, except for its being known on earth otherwise as the Ranger Station, the entrance to the National Monument of Muir Woods. Stars in the heavens reflected locations on the ground.
On a constellation map, the three upper "crown" stars of the claw-armed Scorpius formed a map kite with Antares, situated at the beginning of the Scorpion's tail. Pi Scorpius was the star at the most southern position and was known as the right-claw. Above, the center and second star of the crown was seated in the forehead of the scorpion, "the third eye" of a mid-Delta star, Dschubba. It shared a straight line, like the kite pole, with Antares (Alpha star), the heart-center of the constellation as a whole. The left shoulder of Graffias, the Beta star of the system, was the second claw arm of Scorpius. The three crown stars with Antares, at the the heart formed the kite with the long tail by which Scorpius flew in the night skies.
After entrance at Pi Scorpio, the hiker crossed Bridge #2 to ascend the Hillside Trail from the Main Loop Trail (which is divided by Redwood Creek) on the canyon floor. The upward climb highlighted lichens, mosses, pink trilium, sorrel and clintonia amidst the groves of redwoods.The Hillside Trail frequently washed out during the winter rains. If the Hillside ws not opened, the hiker continued on the main trail to the Fern Creek Trail.
III. The First Test
Our first test was at the juncture of the Hillside Trail with the Ben Johnson Trail and Bootjeack Trail. We stopped here on a summer-like Labor Day waiting for a sign which eventually passed in front of us. A group of senior citizen hikers, led by Muir Woods volunteers, were being led down the Bootjack to the Main Trail. We knew we should follow the way back to the floor of the valley with the group as the omen appeared and consider a new direction instead of the higher climbs of Ben Johnson or Bootjack.
Our change of direction on the Hillside Trail that day suggested we turn back from Bridge 4 as if returning to the Muir Woods Ranger Station. Not to be, we suddenly jackknifed leftward to enter unexpectantly the Fern Creek Traii. We knew the Scorpius Trail had picked us up.
IV. The Fern Creek Trail
From the beginning, the point was to transit from home at Dschubba in Mill Valley, CA to get to Pi Scorpio at the Muir Woods Ranger Station. After leaving Muir Woods, we followed a trail system described below to reach Antares at Mountain Home, on the way to Graffias, the left shoulder claw of Scorpius. After trial-and-error experience and repeated map consultations, we concluded the star of Graffias could not be realized directly. Only through Antares, the constellation's center, would we achieve our goal.
It was a difficult hike from our starting position at Dschubba on the western side of Mill Valley to the Mountain Home, so a short car ride to Pi Scorpio was usually taken. The journey from Dschubba to Pi Scorpius to Graffias was at best a two day hike, perhaps only one day if the hiker started early in the morning in summer when the world was longer in the light. Graffias, to our surprise, was the boulder known to hikers as "Sitting Bull." A plaque of his ominous speech foretelling the future was maintained on the giant rock.
After our discussion at the Hillside, Ben Johnson and Bootjack Trails, our party chose to return down the Ben Johnson Trail into Muir Woods. We crossed at Bridge #4, walking past the Camp Eastwood Trail to enter the Fern Creek Trail a short distance ahead on the main trail.
Fern Creek is a beautiful trail with giant ferns next to a cascading stream. Hollowed, burned- out redwoods make it possible to walk inside the center of the tree in order to esperience how it would feel be to live in the center of a living organism. Fern Creek highlighted the early stages of the Scorpius Trail. Moderatly east to climb, it was an enchanted vista on Mt. Tam.
V. The Lost Trail
One might think one was "lost" after taking the exit from the Fern Creek Trail to the Lost Trail. One was not so much lost as exhausted, as the Lost Trail went up, up and up on the trail steps. Fortunately, a bench was provided at the trail intersection of the Lost, Ocean View and Panoramic, the latter which returned to Muir Woods. The Ocean View Trail ascended after the Lost Trail to the Mountain Home, the heart center of Antares, the red giant of The Scorpius Trail. From there, the ""East End" to the left claw began at the Mountain Home.
VI. East End
The "East End" trail system from Mountain Home led to the Sitting Bull boulder.
PART TWO
The Mount Tamalpais Trailheads of Big Hand
I. Muir Woods Ranger Station
Hillside Trail
Fern Creek Trail
Lost Trail
Ocean View Trail
Mountain Home
II. "East End"
Mountain Home
Hoo-Koo-E-Koo Trail
Old Plane Trail
Headwater of Cascade Creek
Sitting Bull Boulder (Plaque)
III. "West End"
Mountain Home
Hoo-Koo-E-Koo (Matt Davis) Trail
Bootjack Ranger Outpost
Pantoll Ranger Outpost
Old Mine Trail
Rock Spring
Serpentine Power Field
O'Rourke Bench (Plaque)
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