Las Gallinas ponds

Start/End: Start car was at the Las Gallinas Valley trailhead. Finish car at the Novato Sports Basement.

Notes: Made it to Hwy 37 and basically as far north as we're going in Marin. Beyond this point the proposed Bay Trail is along the freeway (!?) so we'll need to improvise. Started off at the ponds again. Bird watchers were already swarming in. Yes, there were some interesting birds, including a falcon I think. But the cool thing was a couple of otters diving for food. We didn't loop all the ponds, we'll have to come back and complete those. From the ponds to Hamilton fields the trail felt kind of remote and a bit overgrown, but it was fine. There was shooting going on here though, so it wasn't all that pleasant. Beyond that is a fairly lengthy gravel path that runs around the whole area. The last contiguous section of Bay Trail we'll probably see in a while. Lots of people out enjoying it. Everyone was very friendly.

Took a side trip up the emergency trail, which is part of the Bay Trail. Lovely view from the top. Then went past some white swans at some ponds just before the road. After some road walking we picked up what seemed a fairly unused bike path which took us under Hwy 37, then across some abandoned land and back behind the Costco etc to Sports Basement.

Got a coffee from the refrigerator in Sports Basement, picked up some new running shoes, then hit In n Out before driving home.