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| Muir Woods |
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| Muir Woods |
On Monday I headed
up the windy roads to Muir Woods. It protects about 554 acres, almost half of
which is coast redwoods. I got there early and had the trails to myself for the
first half of my hike. Its hard to walk on the trails though when you are constantly
looking up at the massive trees above you. I hiked around for about an hour and
a half just taking in the stillness. It was nice to be away from all the wind. As
I was leaving the park the parking lot was filling with tour buses and school
groups and the peace was shattered by too many people so I’m glad I got there
early.
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| Muir Woods |
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| Muir Beach |
On my way
back to San Francisco I stopped at Muir Beach which is a quiet cove. I drove
down Tennesee Valley road to the Tennessee Valley Trail but it was an old paved
road trail and I didn’t see any wildflowers so I decide to depart to where its more
scenic.
The Marin
Headlands fit the bill with various scenery as well as history from Indians to forts
to lighthouses.
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| Marin Headlands |
I drove out to Fort Cronkhite and Rodeo Beach.
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| Rodeo Beach |
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| Rodeo Beach |
The surf was
pretty heavy and the clouds were low but I saw a guy out paddling a surfboard!
I kept waiting for him to get up for a ride but he just paddled around. I then
drove out to the Point Bonita Lighthouse. Its only open in the early afternoon a
few days a week so I’m glad I budgeted to be there when it was. To access it,
you have to hike down a steep half mile trail and then walk through a tunnel
and over a bridge. The bridge was between two rocks with crashing surf below
and tended to bounce so it was quite exhilarating. It’s still an active
lighthouse and was very cool to visit.
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| Tunnel to Point Bonita |
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| Point Bonita |
I drove along
the coast on Conzelman road and I stopped by a couple overlooks. My favorite was
Hawk Hill. It was still cloudy but it offered an amazing 360 view. Its interesting
to view across the bridge and see an urban mess but then look on the other side
and see preserved land. After spending the day on the top looking down I decide
to hike down to Kirby Cove. It’s a beautiful campground amidst cypress,
eucalyptus and pine that offers a beautiful view of the Golden Gate Bridge and
San Francisco Bay. You have to park at an overlook and it was filled with cars
but there was no one on the hike down or back so it was great to find a quiet
spot and get a unique view.
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| Kirby Cove |
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| Full House |
At the end
of the day the sun came out so I decided to see a couple sites downtown. I of
course wanted to see the house from Full House as that was my favorite show as
a kid. However it’s in a dense neighborhood so parking is hard. I ended up
parking a block away and using a dime in the parking meter so I had 3 minutes
to take a picture. The owners have painted it a dark blue and let a tree grow
up in front of it so it seems like they are tired of people taking pictures of
their house. I then headed over to Alamo Square (the park where the Full House
family has a picnic in the opening credits) and took a picture of the “Painted
Ladies” a row of colorful Victorian homes.
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| Painted Ladies |
After a quick dinner of stuffed sopapillas I headed
up Twin Peaks which
is at 922 feet in elevation and offers a heck of a view. It was a perfect way to end the day in San Fran.
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| Twin Peaks |
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