Mount Tamalpais
Hike Review:
I hiked a similar, but shorter, trail last year.
I loved the diversity of the views on the trail. You start off in a rain forest, then a bushy opening, then a trail that climbs parallel to a creek, then a manzanita forest, then a mountain view of the bay area, then a redwood forest, and finally a mix of everything that came before.
The trail wasn’t too crowded for the most part. However, in and near Muir Woods, its packed.
The wonderful part of Muir Woods is that there’s a cafe with delicious food and drinks, which makes for a nice break in the hike.
The trail had shade about 80-90% of the time. It’s a wonderful hike year round.
What I Learned:
I wore a new trail running shoe by New Balance that has “Fresh Foam” material in the sole of the shoe. I found it to be super light and very comfy! However, this shoe has a smaller toe box than it’s other wide shoes, so by the end of the hike, my pinky toes were crushed.
Looking back at myself a year ago, I’m now comfortable with ~20 mile hikes, where last year, I was comfortable with hikes in the ~10 mile range. I also suffer less, as my hip pain from last year has disappeared, and my feet don’t hurt as much as it used to. However, I hiked this with a strained left ankle, and it definitely made that injury hurt more.
I just love hiking in the rain because I run so hot. There were so many people on the trail, and except for the runners, everyone was wearing at least a jacket. For me, I wore my light wind breaker for the first mile, then it was just running shorts and my hoodie shirt. I’m not 100% sure it made me hike faster, but I did enjoy the hike much more than if there had been no rain or fog.
Media Consumed:
The Huntress—finished!
The Third Pole—finished!
What Happened?
18.4 miles, 7 hrs 55 mins, 4965 ft of ascent
I had a variation of this trail mapped out for the better part of the year, but what made me finally go for it was an episode of Mediocre Amateur. In their video, they start from Muir Woods, run up to Mount Tam East Peak, run down to Stinson Beach, then back to Muir Woods. I decided to start a Stinson Beach (where parking is easier and free), and hike a slightly shorter variation to check out trails that I had not hiked before.
The weather was fantastic for summer, as the fog/mist/light-rain/overcast day kept me nice and cool for most of the day. It meant that I really enjoyed the hike, especially with the fog making my photos that much better.
One trail to call out was the Steep Ravine Trail, as it was probably the prettiest trail on this day. It snaked along Webb Creek, which meant a calming burble as my companion on this trail and offered an iconic ladder that I had wanted to climb up since last year (when I first saw it).
Overall, I just had a great hike and a great day. The weather was perfect, the trail was beautiful, the views from the top of Mount Tam East Peak was fantastic, and I really enjoyed lunch at Muir Woods Cafe (one of the most delicious hot dogs I’ve ever had).
