A few photos of attractive and interesting points to visit, preferably without a car.
Snow at Lick Observatory. The road was closed – you had to be on a bike to see this.
 |
Berry Creek Falls, in Big Basin Redwoods state park |
The Golden Gate is an effective genetic barrier in the evolution of land creatures. Banana slugs, for example, are bright, solid yellow on the peninsula. North of the Gate, they are duller colored and mottled.
Sir Isaac lives in Big Basin park, one of my favourite places. His underbelly is yellow. North of the Gate, his cousins have bright red underbellies.
Stage Road, north of Pescadero.
Good bicycle country
94020 is La Honda
Tiptoe Falls is in Portola state park, another exceptionally beautiful place |
Portola state park? Portola Valley? Who was this guy Portola anyway?
Go back to the days of the first Queen Elizabeth. As the famous pirate Francis Drake circumnavigated the globe in the Golden Hind, he briefly touched upon the northern California coast (1579). He missed the Golden Gate, most likely by sailing to seaward of the Farallon islands, although he did land somewhere nearby, probably at what we now call Drake’s bay. For more on the story of Sir Francis Drake [the Sir came after he got back to England], go here.
It is more generally accepted, however, that Gaspar de Portola was the first European explorer to see San Francisco Bay – 200 years later! He didn’t discover the Golden Gate, however: he followed the time-honored tradition of climbing a hill, just to see what was on the other side. If he returned to the site today, he would see Pacifica to his west. To the east, his view of the bay would be dominated by San Francisco international airport! |
Pulgas water temple, the terminus of the Hetch-Hetchy aqueduct
 |
The cliffs over the sea in Marin county |
Golden Gate bridge from the Sausalito side
