Sometimes after work, when the day is getting short, I
need to take the dog out on a trail. I often choose this easy walk,
offering beautiful views of the Valley in the evening hours.
The trail starts near a school. When it is in session, park near
the bridge on Lagunitas School Road rather than the parking lot.
The switchbacks offer a gentle climb before you enter into
woodland. The trail is generally well-maintained, but watch out for
poison oak on either side. You will soon come to the grassland at
the top of the ridge. Behind you, the lookout tower on Mt. Barnabe
is a landmark. The hills and ridges rise above the Valley on all
sides.
The trail splits off near where the cache is located. To the
left, you can follow it down towards the golf course, crossing the
bridge into Roys Redwoods. If you go straight ahead, the trail
rises to a crest where the local church first placed a rugged cross
many years before the land became an open space preserve. Barry
Spitz (Open Spaces) describes a rock extrusion at the
summmit that some call a "Miwok Prayer Bench" but I could not find
it. If you see it, post the coordinates.
The Preserve was acquired as part of a development agreeement a
number of years ago. It is named after Maurice Thorner, who was
best known for his legal work against the internment of Japanese
Americans during the second world war. Just south of the preserve
is the site of a low yielding, money-losing gold mine that the
Mailliard family operated over a hundred years ago.
The cache is an ammmo box. It was placed with children in mind
and should be easy to find.