This is hike part of #28, Deer Park - Yolanda Trail, in the Mt Tam Hiking, Running and Nature Guide. We were actually trying to follow the book. I let Steve navigate. We left the parking lot at 10:00 and went up Deer Creek Road, lined with Bay. I saw my first Iris of the season -- some purple some white. At 10:30 we turned left onto Six Points trail instead of staying right and continuing on to Bald Hill Trail. This change added a bit of redwood forest content to the hike and lost a couple of views of Bolinas Ridge.

At 10:45 were were at Six Points. We sat on a log, had our fruit and snacks, played with a Sagebrush Lizard, and soaked up some rays and some views of a red-tailed hawk sprialing on the thermals with Mt. Tam in the background. Does it get any better that this? After our break we boogied down Yolanda Trail. We saw lots of little sun-filled meadows filled with wildflowers. A personal favorite is a blend of Baby Blue Eyes and Buttercups. There's even a hollow tree with a couple of toy rabbits. People have left pennies and even a Valentine. A Marin shrine of sorts! An plus was seeing my first Coral Root in the dark woods.

At 11:55 we hit Worn Springs Road. To avoid the mountain bikers, we took a short cut across the hillside. It's a little scary. One slip and you're rolling down the hill. But the benefit of plying the deer trail was a ton of flowers and some cool views. Eventually we hooked up with Deer Park Trail and went past the streams on the way back to the parking lot by 12:30. Three miles, three hours. Nice morning. Here's what we saw:

Birds
Turkey Vulture, Red-tailed Hawk, Common Crow, Chestnut-backed Chickadee,

Reptiles & Amphibians
Sagebrush lizard.

Trees
Coast Redwood, Coast Live Oak, Tan Oak, California (Bay) Laurel, California Buckeye, Madrone.

Wildflowers
Slim Solomon's Seal, Blue Dicks, Blue-eyed Grass, Mountain Iris, Striped Coral Root, Miner's Lettuce, California Buttercup, California Poppy, Milk Maids, Woodland Star ?, Wood Strawberry, ?Lupine, Dove Lupine, Tomcat Clover?, American Vetch, Coast Sanicle, Purple Sanicle, Henderson's Shooting Star, Scarlet Pimpernel, Baby Blue Eyes, California Phacelia, Hound's Tongue, Common Fiddleneck, Forget-Me-Not, Valley Popcorn Flower, Purple Nightshade, Sticky Monkey Flower, Springtime Tarweed, Red-stemmed Filaree, Bedstraw.

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Last updated 30 Oct, 1995.