Upon reaching the Bear Valley Trail, Glen Trail, and Baldy Trail junction, I weighed my options and decided to take a detour to Sky Trail to head back. Little did I know that the trail became much more difficult than the leisurely walk of Bear Valley.

The trail began up steep Baldy Trail and was largely unmaintained (not well-traveled) for the second half (not pictured because I was so focused on stepping over overgrown plants and avoiding prickly plants!). Baldy Trail is a stark comparison to Bear Valley in terms of crowd level. Whereas Bear Valley had a moderate amount of hikers, walkers, and families, Baldy Trail was eerily quiet except for an older group of naturalists I passed after about 30 minutes of hiking.










I popped out onto Sky Trail and heard voices and smelled the ocean. I didn't go far enough southwestward on Sky Trail to determine who the voices belonged to nor did I see the ocean. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the fog and the trees shrouded in mist, almost as if they were from another era, and I was merely a time traveler. Parts of the trail were surprisingly muddy and the cool, crisp air felt refreshing. There were several more people on this trail and I always wonder where people started, where they're going, and why they decided to go on this particular trail at this particular park.

At this point, I was starting to feel exhausted and wanted to get back to the car to rest. I decided on Meadow Trail because the Mount Wittenberg trail seemed to climb more, even though the mileage back to the Visitor Center was shorter. I saw a couple people on this trail, even a daring lady climbing up the steep slopes as I was trying not to slip as I made my way down.

This was the most customized trail that I have been on in awhile, and that is one of the main appeals of hiking in Bear Valley. I had originally planned on visiting the famous Point Reyes Lighthouse after this hike. Since I extended the hike (I decided to take the Sky Trail back to the visitor center instead of retracing my steps on the Bear Valley trail), I ran out of time to visit the lighthouse. Plus, I discovered that weekday rush hour traffic back to the Bay Area was heavy (specifically around the San Rafael area and on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge). *There is phone service at the Visitor Center, which is a nice bonus :)

Oh well, I will have to plan another visit to this beautiful area.