The GGB, looking north toward Marin
In a handful of my posts thus far I’ve alluded to the Marin Headlands, the amazingly beautiful stretch of hills and mountains jutting out at the southern tip of Marin County separating San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean. If you’ve seen any of the gazillions of photos of the Golden Gate Bridge, the jagged landscape you see on the northern side of the bridge is the southernmost point of the Marin Headlands (on the other side of the bridge is San Francisco).
I love living in Marin County, even if it means extra commute time into San Francisco every morning. There’s no doubt that San Francisco is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, but to live in Marin is, for an outdoorsman, to live in Heaven on Earth. There are mountains, hills, Redwood forests, the ocean, the bay, sandy beaches and beaches with rocky cliffs. When I was younger, I always said I wanted to live somewhere where there were both mountains and the ocean. Well, this place fits that bill.
I went for a walk today from halfway up Mount Tamalpais, the highest point in Marin County at 2,460 feet. It was a 5.6-mile loop that I first ran (when I could run on hills) with the Endurables last year, in a morning fog. At that time I could see a few yards out on each side of the trail, and imagined the scenery might be nice, but the condensing water vapor declined to offer the opportunity to view it.
Today wasn’t a perfectly sunny day, but it was clear enough to see miles in every direction. I could see the Farallon Islands, 27 miles off the coast, and Point Reyes, 20 miles north, as you’ll see in some of the photos below. Below the photos is a video I took of the panorama. I miss being able to run these trails on a regular basis, but it motivates me even more to focus on recovering so I can get back out on them soon!
(For those familiar with the area, the walk went from the Rock Spring parking lot on Mount Tam, down the Cataract Trail, up Laurel Dell fire road, down Coastal Trail, down Matt Davis trail, and up Old Mine Trail back to Rock Spring.)
To see all 37 photos taken on the path today in an online photo album, click here.
View of Stinson Beach and the Pacific from 1,900 feet
Trail with Bolinas in the background
Trail with ocean in the background
View up the coast toward Bolinas with some rain falling in the distance
View from 2,000 feet south across the Headlands to San Francisco
View south toward Tiburon with San Francisco to the far right
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Awesome views! Wish I were there!
Love,
Mom :0)
Ha, thanks Mom
Thanks for the comment!