Toasty Hills

Woke up today to a big lawnmower crashing away right by me. We drove the most beautiful little road around Mount Tamalpais and the Marin Highlands, near Sausalito.

The road winded and climbed and soon we found ourselves at Muir Beach. It was a beautiful quiet place but I found myself stressed and feeling bad that morning. We talked for a while and cooked breakfast and made coffee in the beach parking lot. It was actually an unusually sunny day but the air still had that San Francisco chill to it, a wetness in the fresh air that chills you to the bone. We walk to the beach with a coat on but strangely enough the sand was hot and the water was fairly warm compared to the air. We went back and changed into bathing suits and took a swim. It really cheered up.

We were freezing but had a lot of fun. After that we drove on highway 101 to Santa Rosa and met a friend of Maggie's named Lindsay who bought us a beer. It was a lot of fun, she was a very nice person. With some advice from her we drove a very scenic road through Sonoma and Mendocino County. Wine country. We watched as the glamorous city of San Francisco dissolved behind us. The country relaxed us again.

 In some little town we turned onto a beautiful road. It went up and down, winding around incredibly steep hills, that as we went west, became incredibly steep mountains. The forest became more and more majestic and lush and soon it became all red woods.

Ferns and mosses growing from the hillside. Plentiful ripe wild blackberries, wild Foxglove and rhododendron growing in groves along the cliffs. We found our spot after a few tries in a redwood grove. Its silent and incredibly beautiful.

There's no signs, we are at a trailhead parking lot and the trail showcases the very steep hills and the trees so huge they make you feel insignificant. I think we found a good spot tonight, it's been a beautiful day.