Slacker Hill Wildflower Hike

The morning after Sam got his stitches taken out, while I tried to find the owner of the backpack we'd found, Sam took a nice, long bath. He hadn't been supposed to get the stitches wet so he was due.

The night before, I'd been sulking a bit. Thinking his injury looked pretty grim after they had taken the stitches out.

But there he was, my trooper, not 50 yards up the path, already holding a stick.

Still beautiful and sporting a smile.










Kids are so resilient, aren't they?

Cam picked this hike because our handy dandy Marin Hiking book said it was a good one for wildflowers.

This book knows its stuff.

Thanks for researching our hikes so well, Cam.



There is our lovely state flower, the California poppy.







We saw many different varieties of wild flowers on the hike.






We weren't able to identify many.















Some seemed prettier than others but we tried to capture them all.





I love recording the new life growing.

(Speaking of new life growing...)





Surrounded by all this beauty and wonder, it is hard to stay grim.

I was feeling much better.











Then, this brave, capable man came jogging around the bend with one arm missing.

I was reminded how lucky we are that Sam's injury was "merely a flesh wound."








We passed more wildflowers.

These were unusual.













Different little yellow ones.















And this one I should know. What is it, mom? A hollyhock?

I remember when you told me not to pull the vine of one, that was growing in our backyard in Chicago, when I was planting blubs.






We saw several birds of prey at eye level.

We watched this one for awhile.



Dainty, little purple ones.















The sign said that these wildflowers are an essential part of the Mission Blue Butterfly's food chain.












We saw butterflies but didn't get pictures of them.







Here is a nice one someone else took. (photo credit)







These interesting flowers remind me a bit of bleeding hearts.














Sam asked to take a break.

Pretty nice place for a rest.






We snacked on the fresh berries Cam packed.

They were delicious.




A bit later, this turkey vulture seemed to pose for us.














It was shaping up to be a really enjoyable hike.

Then, we passed a parking lot and arrived at the base of the trail to Slacker Hill...










I hadn't minded walking to it before.

Cam had told us there was nowhere to park close to the trail head.

But as I struggled to deal with the drastic increase in incline, I started to get just a bit grouchy.

These pink flowers gave me an excuse to stop for a photo and a breather.














Suddenly, we turned a corner and there was the bridge and the city laid out before us, below us.




And there was Angel Island too.

We were above it all.

Look at the sailboats.



We made it.

Cam explained that he hadn't misled me about the parking situation. He just hadn't realized the parking was there.

I was so happy to have arrived at the height of our journey and happy to have had the exercise and experience. My grouchiness was gone.






This patch of tiny daffodils at my feet was a cheerful welcoming committee.

We relaxed, rested, enjoyed the 360 degree view and yummy lunch Cam had packed and carried.












He is so thoughtful and wonderful.









It was a nice place to take pictures.









And play.

You can see Mt. Diablo off in the distance, behind Sam.




Then the fog arrived.

We watched it float in.






After the picnic, we started to hike, back the way we came, to our car.

The walking would be mostly downhill.

Sam had fun crouching down in these enormous cracks in the earth.





Since we were parked close to Rodeo Beach, we decided to swing by and tell the ocean hi.



I was happy to commune with the beach blanket.







Sam had fun throwing rocks into this stretch of water.














And building dams and making other changes to this area.

He found that piece of wood and planted it there.









Another fun filled day in Marin.