Completing the Circle

     The last leg of our journey would take us back to San Francisco for our library visits at UCSF, but not before a day of hiking in Mount Tamalpais State Park.  Just north of San Fran in Marin County, this 6,300 acre state park surrounds Muir Woods National Monument.  The park has over 50 miles of trails which connect with those in Muir Woods and trails within the Marin County Water District.  Of course, Muir Woods was not open because of the government shutdown, and we were advised to avoid using trails that passed through the national monument.
     The first hike we took cobbled together a 3 mile loop which took us close to the top of West Peak on Mount Tamalpais. We reached a point where the trail joined the toll road that goes to the summit of the mountain.  Since that would have required hiking along the road for several miles, we turned around.  There were some excellent views however from the site of a demolished lodge complex.

     The photo above looks back at the skyline of SF.  To the north is the view below toward Point Reyes.

    The trail also took us past the 3,750 seat Mountain Theater built by the CCC in the 1930s.  There is a Mountain Play Association that perform in the amphitheater.

     Our next hike took us on a 6 mile jaunt from the park ranger station down 1400 feet on the Dipsea Trail to Stinson Beach, then up 1400 feet on the Steep Ravine Trail through beautiful redwoods back to the ranger station. The first part of the Dipsea features wonderful views of San Fran Bay and the Pacific coastline.

     After dropping down an extremely steep section, the trail winds its way to Stinson Beach.

   What you come down, you must also go up.  The Steep Ravine Trail lives up to its name.  It  follows a stream through the coastal redwoods.  We were there in late afternoon and the shadows and sun slanting through the trees created a variety of  different lighting effects, none of which are truly captured by the photo below.

  
     We finished the day crossing the Golden Gate at rush hour(of course going into the city made the trip easier), and slept well,  ready to hit the libraries the next day.