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Saturday Outdoors & Friends
Jan. 21st, 2023 06:41 pmWe did something today we haven't done in going on four weeks. We got out. Out, as in outdoors. Like really outdoors, not just walking quickly between the car and a building to avoid getting rained on. With clear weather in the forecast after several weeks of rain it felt like a moral imperative!
This morning we drove up to Pacifica, about an hour away, to hike a trail to a highly seasonal waterfall. It's so seasonal it's rarely ever there. But when it is... it's a 150' tall waterfall right near San Francisco. You didn't know there was one of those, did you? Most people don't... because usually it's not there!
We hooked up with a friend of ours, who happens to live in Pacifica, for the hike. At first he was like, "9 or 9:30am? Sounds too early for me." Then I reiterated that it's just 5 minutes from his house. "Okay, I can do that." We met at his place at 9:15 and drove to the park together.
We worked up a good appetite hiking the falls loop. It was 2.5 miles and over 600' of gain. The three of us went out for lunch at a diner nearby. Then our friend went home while Hawk and I went on for our afternoon jaunt. Yes, we had a two-fer planned for today!
After lunch we drove south down the Pacific Coast Highway to Half Moon Bay. We enjoyed the sunny weather and the coastal views with our convertible top down. The temperature isn't great— we were really bundled up when we started the morning hike, BTW— but in the car that's what heat is for. At Half Moon Bay we turned inland and drove up to Skyline Drive, then south along the spine of the Santa Cruz Mountains. We stopped for a short hike at one of our favorite parks, Russian Ridge.
After hiking Russian Ridge to Borel Hill and back, we drove down the mountain and toward home... with a slight side trip to a favorite donut shop in Cupertino. Now we're home, we've already gone for a soak in the hot tub, and we're ready to make some dinner.
This morning we drove up to Pacifica, about an hour away, to hike a trail to a highly seasonal waterfall. It's so seasonal it's rarely ever there. But when it is... it's a 150' tall waterfall right near San Francisco. You didn't know there was one of those, did you? Most people don't... because usually it's not there!
We hooked up with a friend of ours, who happens to live in Pacifica, for the hike. At first he was like, "9 or 9:30am? Sounds too early for me." Then I reiterated that it's just 5 minutes from his house. "Okay, I can do that." We met at his place at 9:15 and drove to the park together.
We worked up a good appetite hiking the falls loop. It was 2.5 miles and over 600' of gain. The three of us went out for lunch at a diner nearby. Then our friend went home while Hawk and I went on for our afternoon jaunt. Yes, we had a two-fer planned for today!
After lunch we drove south down the Pacific Coast Highway to Half Moon Bay. We enjoyed the sunny weather and the coastal views with our convertible top down. The temperature isn't great— we were really bundled up when we started the morning hike, BTW— but in the car that's what heat is for. At Half Moon Bay we turned inland and drove up to Skyline Drive, then south along the spine of the Santa Cruz Mountains. We stopped for a short hike at one of our favorite parks, Russian Ridge.
After hiking Russian Ridge to Borel Hill and back, we drove down the mountain and toward home... with a slight side trip to a favorite donut shop in Cupertino. Now we're home, we've already gone for a soak in the hot tub, and we're ready to make some dinner.
