After a couple of days of solid rain in the south bay, the clouds finally parted Wednesday. Which was good, because I had made plans with my pal Wendy to go hiking on Mount Tamalpais. We talked by phone Tuesday evening and I tried hard to back out of it (“It’s gonna be too muddy!” “We’re gonna get wet!”), but Wendy was all gung ho about it. I even woke up briefly at around 4:00 am, heard hard rain and thought “No way we’re gonna be hiking today. She’s gonna call me at 7:30 to cancel.”
But, by the time I woke up for real, the rain had stopped and the clouds weren’t even terribly thick. As I drove up the peninsula, the clouds got thinner and thinner and real bursts of blue could be seen in the sky. I picked up Wendy around 9:15, and we got to the Pan Toll ranger station on Mt Tam by 10. And wow, was it gorgeous! The trails were damp, and there were some scattered mud puddles, but nothing like I feared. And we didn’t get a single drop of rain on us, aside from the time I shook the tree we were standing under.
The hike was just lovely. It was about 6 miles and we took it leisurely, with lots of time for photos, resting on the hillsides and soaking in the view. I think I even got a little sun on my face! We saw banana slugs, hawks, incredibly lush moss, fierce attack lichen, laurel trees (From which Wendy taught me about fresh bay leaves. What, it doesn’t grow in those little spar jars?). And some really nice views of Stinson Beach and San Francisco in the distance.
San Francisco, in the distance
The weather report says we’re gonna get more rain tomorrow and into the weekend, so I’m especially glad I enjoyed this hike while I could.