WTF^ F 868 .MS R6 Copy 1 3 AND FANCIES Cf^ THE TOUR TO Mount Tamalpais and Muir Wood MARIN COUNTY, CALIFORNIA BY THE MUIR WOOD GUIDE FRED S. ROBBINS SAN FRANOISCO, CALIFORNIA PRICE - 15 CENTS COPYRIGHT 1915 BY F. S. ROBBINS 5 >C1,A41305S MUIR WOOD NATIONAL MONUMENT. A gift to and accepted by the United States Government tTanuary 9, 1908, to be conserved for the benefit of mankind in perpetuity. A playground for the people, with proper restrictions. A forest primeval of giant redwoods in the lap of Sequoia Canyon, the hillside slopes of which are covered with a wonderful growth of foliage and flowers and ferns of many varieties, where naught save the call of the blue jay and the song of the brook disturbs the solemnity and majesty of the scene. A fruitful field for geological, botanical and entomological research. It is against the law to pull, break, destroy, remove, or bring into Muir Wood any flower, fern, tree or shrub. ON THE WAY. Leaving the ferry slip of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad, foot of Market Street, for Sausalito, the island on the right is Yerba Buena, a naval training station. The homes of the executive officers, the barracks, parade grounds, training ship, etc., are situated on the easterly side. Visitors are welcome. For permit call up Kearny 2940 Local 10. As the ferry boat leaves the dock, the larger of the two square buildings on the left on Nob Hill is the Hotel Fair- mont; that to the left Hopkins Apartments. San Francisco Bay has the greatest anchorage facilities of any inland body of water in the world. At high tide it has 414 square miles; at low tide 390 square miles. It has a shore line of 416 miles. It is navigable in a southerly direc- tion to the Dumbarton Cut-Off, 28 miles, for vessels drawing not over 15 feet of water. Northerly to Port Costa, 27 miles, and up Suisun Bay to aVllejo and Mare Island 3 miles beyond, it is navagable for the deepest draft vessels; also northwesterly to Sausalito and up into Richardson Bay for 9 miles. Telegraph Hill, to the right, with its face disfigured, was in the early days the home of the elite of San Francisco. At present it is the Latin residence section. A lookout station for incoming and outgoing ocean craft is at its top. Then come Fort Mason, the Panama-Pacific International Exposition Grounds, U, S. Presidio, with its wooded section of eucalyptus and spruce trees; officers' row, the buildings with the red tiled roofs; company quarters at Fort Winfield Scott to the right. The large brick building at the shore line, projecting out into the channel, is an old brick fort — Fort Point. Its construction began in 1853, and was finished in 1856. Now you are looking out the Golden Gate, 8% miles from the Ferry Building. Let us cross the channel to the furthermost point on the right, or north, to Point Bonita, the lighthouse and life- saving station. From the Cfiff House or Seal Rocks to Point Bonita it is 2^^ miles, the widest part of the channel. From Fort Point to Lime Point on the north side of the channel the white lighthouse at the shore line is 1^/4 miles, the nar- rowest part of the channel. The island with the lighthouse on the southerly point is Alcatraz Military Disciplinary Barracks — or prison. Re- A^olving light. Keeper's home at base. Recreation grounds on the point. The building above the wharf contains the executive offices, while the large cottages above are the homes of the Commandant and executive officers. The small green cottages are company quarters, and the larger build- ing below is the headquarters of the detail of the day. The bake shop, laundry, incinerator and power-house for heating and lighting are above the shore line. Visitors not allowed. The large island on the right is Angel Island. The deten- tion quarters and the quarantine station is situated on the easterly side. For permit to visit call up Douglas 2312, Beautiful Belvedere is the point covered with bales (moun- tain laurel), cypress and eucalyptus trees. Not an island. It has many palatial homes and gardens filled with exotics from all over the world. Corinthian Island and yacht club and Tiburon are to the east or right. Raccoon Straits is the channel between Angel Island and Tiburon; it was the original channel of the San Joaquin (wau-keen) and Sacramento rivers to the ocean. SH3HT r^'iA aw Sausalito, a city of 3500 inhabitants, called the '^Sorento of America, " is on the left or west. It is here you take the electric train for Mill Valley on the left. ON THE WAY TO MOXJNT TAMALPAIS. The correct pronunciation is '' Ta-mall-pah-ees, " accent on second syllable, meaning "Land of the Tamals. " Its altitude is 2592 feet. Entering Blythedale Canyon, you pass various stations, such as King's, Blithedale, Marsh's, (Japanese garden on the left), and Lee street. The greatest curve is at the head of Blithedale, 90 degrees, with a radius of 70 feet. The beau- tiful home of Mr. Ralston White is next, and as the train rounds it a grand view of all the bay is before you. Keep a sharp outlook on the right for views of the peak. The average grade is 5 per cent, or a raise of 45 feet every minute. The steepest grade is 7 per cent. It has 281 curves, which if completed would make 42 complete circles. The Double Bow Knot, or Mesa, is half way to the peak, or Muir Wood. Here the railroad parallels itself five times in a distance of 300 feet, during which it has attained an added elevation of 90 feet. At West Point, in rounding the tavern, the outside rail is 436 feet, while the inside rail is 414 feet. Look down at the left as you approach West Point, into Muir Wood, and after rounding the building observe the grand panorama on the right. You are now on the slope of West Point, going toward Tamalpais. Keep a sharp lookout for the curve where the train breaks away, turning to the right for the "Tavern," and observe the panorama below on the left. Seven little cities, and Mt. 8t, Helena, 55 miles northerly, and Shasta in the saddle just to the left, 255 miles northerly, 14,380 feet high. As 3^ou go under the overhead veranda look to the right, below; there is the Mesa most beautifully outlined. Go to the top of the peak, then come down and take the walk around the Race Track Trail; total time, one hour; get your dinner (a la carte), and then get ready for one grand slide in the gravity coaster to Muir Wood, eight miles — the experience of your life! WE ARE THERE. Pass over to the Miiir Inn; clieek your coats, grips, etc., and pass under the bridge, turning to the left, keeping to the carriage road or to the right-hand trail to the basin. The walk is one and one-third miles. Muir Wood was named after John Muir, a great friend of William Kent, who gave this 295 acres to the United States Government. It has an estimate of 34,000,000 feet of red- wood timber, 5,-500,000 feet of Douglas fir, 3,200,000 feet of rose or tan bark oak, as the principal commercial timber. The redwoods in Muir Wood National Monument are the coast redwood, or Sequoia Semperviren, which seek the lower altitudes of the Coast Range, along the fog belt, from Mon- terey Bay to the Oregon line, ranging in height from 100 to 340 feet, and in diameter from 6 to 20 feet 6 feet above the ground. Coast redwood reaches the extreme age of 1373 years. The Big Tree, or Washingtonia, is found in scat- tered areas throughout the Sierra Nevada Mountains at altitudes varying from 4700 to 7500 feet. In height it varies from 150 to 325 feet, and in diameter from 5 to 30 feet at 6 feet above the ground. Stumps of big trees in the Converse Basin, Tulare county, indicate an age of 2200, 2300, and one found by Mr. Fry of 4000 years, each ring on the inside of the cambium, indicating one year 's growth. The Semperviren produces great quantities of seed. Unfortunately, however, the greater percentage is not viable and will not germinate. Quite a percentage of the remainder does not reach a favor- able spot for germination on account of a large amount of duff which prevents the seed from reaching the soil. Hence few seedlings are found, and the tree propagates principally from the stumps. The suckers form a complete circle around the parent tree; also family circles are formed, with the parent tree in the center of the circle. The Big Tree, or Wasliingtonia, reproduces from the seed. Redwood bears flowers, known as catkins, in clusters on the end of the branches. Female flowers develop into cones . which are oval; in clusters, reddish brown from % to ly^ inches long, near the top of the tree. The respiratory organs of the tree are in its leaves,, the little green tip of which is called the blossom. The outer bark absorbs moisture for the tree. It has no tap roots. The cambium, or inner protecting belt, divides its formative cells into two equal portions, one vitalizes the exterior, the other the interior. Lightning does not injure the redwood, the electrical cur- rent being carried from top to bottom, between the outer bark and cambium. Insects do not attack the redwood with any ajipreciable amount of damage except the tender shoots at the top. Fungi never attack the exterior of the redwood, but its spores, transmitted through the air, will enter an opening wherever the heart wood of the tree has been ex- posed through injury and so completely consume the interior, without any exterior indication of the process that nothing is left but the shell. The outer bark varies in thickness from Vi of an inch to 16 inches. It is long and fibrous, has no life, is devoid of resin or pitch and does not burn readily. The redwood has a tendenc}^ to harden rather than decay, especially when coming in contact with the earth. It is much used for shingles, telegraph and telephone poles, piling and building purposes. The fire which injured many of the trees occurred during the year 1875, but Nature has been lavish in supplying us with others, which now compose our beautiful forest. The trees which gather green moss are: The California Mountain Laurel or Bale; Mapai Gigantea or Brook Maple; Rose or Tan-bark Oak (Quercus Primus); the Alder, and after the rainy season begins a beautiful fern (Polystichum Muni- tim), covers the trunks and limbs. The prevailing bush on both banks of the creek is the Wild Azalia, one of the Rhodo- dendrun family. These have a white, salmon pink and purple flower. Two varieties of Willow also grow along the creek. The fern life is divided into the following forms: The common Polypody or Sword Fern; Polystichum Munitum (Maiden Hair Spleenwort); the Christmas Fern or Aspidium Acrostichoides; Woodwardia; the Pteris Aquilina (common Brake or Bracken); Five-finger; Gold-back. The principal flowers are: Wood Anemone or Wind Flower; an Oxalis; Clintonia Andrewsiana; Clintonia Bicolor; Anemone Grayi; Snaphalium Decurrens (Blue Larkspur); Whipples Modesta; Petasites Palmata (a Crowfoot); Dentaria California (Toothwort, Spring Blossom); Cynoglossum Grande (Hounds-Tongue, Elephant's Ear); Equisitum Telmateia (As- paragus Fern, Joint Grass, Pine Fern, Horse Tail Fern) ; Ber- boris NerA'osa (Oregon Grape, American Holly); Smilacina Stellata (False Solomon's Seal); Scoliopus Bigelovii (Fetid Adder 's Tongue) ; Zygadenus Fremonti; Vicia Gigantea (Large Vetch, Wild Sweet Pea); Ceanothus Cuneatvis Var; Memosus and Ceanothus Foliosus; Sphacele Calycina (Wood Balm, Pitcher Plant); Wild Horehound; Mimulus Glutinus; Disporum (Fairy Bells); Fritillaria; Lupinus Arborius (Yel- low Tree Lupine); Blue Lupine; Viola Peduncplata (Wild Violet, Wild Pansy, Johnny Jumpup) ; Iris Versicolor (Blue Iris); Trillium (Wake Robin); Malvatia Humile (Wild Holly- hock); Rosa Californica (Red Wild Rose); Brodecia Capitata (Wild Hyacinth); Myosotis Sylvatica (Forget-me-not); Poly- monium Carneum; Sinsirinchium Bellum (Blue-eyed Grass); (astilleja (Indian Paint Brush); Solanum Umbelliferum (Night Shade); Dendromicum Rigidum (Tree or Bush Poppy); Godetia Amoena (Evening Primrose, Farewell to Spring). There are no animals of any consequence in Muir Wood, except a few deer, fox coon and coyotes, and these are few. POINTS OF INTEREST IN MUIR WOODS. Open-air Theater, Barbecue Grounds, Ben Johnson's Cabin, built in 1902 on camping ground of the Tanial Indians. See the face on the tree. Cross first bridge down carriage road; turn to the left 100 yards to the third large tree on the right; return to road. Notice old stump and sucker trees, and the large family circle which evidently encircled the parent tree. New growth of redwoods encircling parent tree at left of road. Observe the large-leaf maples at the second bridge, and the scene in general. The bank of sword ferns (poly- pods) across the creek; Cathedral Grove, a representative growth of Sequoia Sempervirens. A monarch of the woods, .54 feet in circumference, about 210 feet high and possibly 1300 years old. Fifty people have been in its interior at one time. Cross the next bridge to Bohemian Grove, where the Bohemian Club of San Francisco held their *