Hiking

I had no particular plans for the 4th of July this year, so when a friend called me up the night before and asked if my bf and I wanted to go hiking, we were all for it.

The particular hike we did was the Matt Davis/Steep Ravine/Dipsea Loop in the Mount Tamalpais State Park. It started at Stinson Beach, climbed up through the trees and the hill (mountain?) side, up and up...before looping around and descending again. The total loop was 7.3 miles of moderate hiking - enough to test my lungs and burning thighs on the ascent, and to stress my knees on the descent, but not challenging to anything except my fitness level.

The hike was quite nice. The initial part of the day was foggy and damp, with the trees periodically crying on us, and the views almost nonexistent in the shifting layers of fog and cloud. That actually worked quite well, though, since it coincided with the climbing part of the hike, so we didn't get too hot or worn out. Also, that part of the hike went up and up through trees and forest that at times felt like the Costa Rican cloudforest (lots of moss and ferns and twisted trees..not enough ephiphytes) so the clouds through the trees looked quite neat, while there wasn't much of a view (I don't think) because the trees blocked the way. We eventually broke the tree line (or something) and ended up hiking across what seemed like golden (yellow) fields (or ridges) of wheat (not actually wheat), periodically broken by stands of trees. We chose to lunch around 2pm in a flat spot on one of these sections, breaking out the various sandwich making goods, salami, trail mix, fruit, and other stuff we'd carried along, and taking a nice long rest. After lunch, the day started clearing up, and on our descent we found ourselves going through sun and bright blue skies. For a while, we were still in the woods, which were charming with the babbling brooks, fallen trees lying picturesquely across the brooks (or the paths, where they had been sawed off to allow people to pass), and tall trees. At one point, we had to descend a ladder along the side of a brook to get to the next part of the trail. Eventually we came out of the woods to descend down a gentle hill that sloped back towards Stinson Beach, with beautiful views of the beach and the bay behind it.

Overall, the hike was a beautiful one, though tough on my weak knees, and it was a nice way to spend the day. Of course, we were pretty well wiped out by the end of it, and ended up staying in and not seeing any fireworks. But that was totally fine with me.