Monday, August 01, 2011

Marin



Even though it's right across the Golden Gate Bridge from a
major city, much of Marin County has a almost rural feeling to
it. If I lived in San Francisco, I would want to come here
frequently just to decompress from all the busy-ness of the city.


I really enjoy coming to Muir Beach when we're here. It reminds
me a bit of Taylor's Mistake, near Christchurch New Zealand. It's
compact, peaceful and there aren't huge crowds. Lynn enjoys
watching the waves and I think it reminds her a bit of the beaches
in New England, where she grew up. While we were walking on
the beach, we were lucky enough to see a small pod of porpoises!


The National Park Service and the Golden Gate National
the beach, returning the area to a more natural state.


Once you drive north from the beach, the drive is pretty
steep and you'll come to the Muir Beach Overlook. Walking
down a small trail will allow you to see for miles up and
down the coast.


During World War II, this entire area was lined with small
bunker-type facilities called Base-End Stations. From these
stations, soldiers would view ships and triangulate the speed,
distance and direction to coordinate with nearby Artillery Units.
All of the hardware has now been removed, but it would have
been a cold and blustery assignment to work at one of these
stations.


While we were driving north to Stinson Beach, we saw these
interesting looking sail boats headed south along the shore.
In all, there were seven of them and they reminded me a bit of
Chinese Junks or Polynesian Catamarans. I would find out
later, they were indeed Catamarans, and of New Zealand
Māori origin! They had left New Zealand in April on a
trans-Pacific voyage to tell of the plight of the world's oceans
and of Pacific peoples. It's really amazing that one part of
"our" world is connecting with another part, so far from each
other, and totally by chance!


You can read more about the voyage and the voyagers by
clicking THIS link...


Stinson Beach is a more traditional bathing beach located
just up the coast from Muir Beach. It was a weekday, so
it wasn't very crowded. However, not a lot of people were
getting into the water since it was a chilly 56 degrees
Fahrenheit. The water never gets that warm in these parts.
It takes a pretty brave soul to swim in these waters on a
regular basis.


Just up from Stinson Beach is a really pretty drive up
Mount Tamalpais, or Mount Tam for short. It's the
highest point in Marin County at 2,574 feet and most
of it is protected parkland. There are lots of pretty
views and beautiful woods on the drive to the top.


Once you get to the top, the view is pretty remarkable. It was
a fairly hazy day, but you could still see San Francisco and the
East Bay pretty clearly, as well as most of the Marin Headlands.
Well worth the drive up the twisting road.

In other visits we've seen Muir Woods National Monument where
there are huge Redwoods and Point Reyes National Seashore.
Both of which are also located in Marin County. However, we
just didn't have time to go there on this visit. Maybe next time.

3 comments:

Lori Murray said...

That is a great view. What a pretty area. Glad you had such a good trip.

EUDAIMONIA said...

wow these are some really nice places you've been. Interesting: "Change your socks, change your attitude." I like it. If only that were the reality.

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