Hiking Brooks Falls/Montara Mountain Loop
"There's this one trail near our house I've hiked a number of times with a bench in the middle of nowhere," my friend David has often quipped, "And for years I didn't know why it's there."
Well, we went hiking at that park, San Pedro Valley County Park in Pacifica, this weekend. We hiked on that trail. And we saw that bench.
If you scrutinize the far left of the pic you'll see why the bench is there. David finally saw it on a trek a few years ago, and we all saw it Saturday morning. There's a waterfall on the opposite side of the canyon.
Here's a picture I captured with my telephoto lens. It's Brooks Falls. It's thin but it's actually pretty tall- over 150'. That makes it one of the tallest falls, if not the tallest falls in the SF Bay Area, by a large margin.
As tall as Brooks Falls is, it's highly seasonal. It only flows after a good rain. We've had three weeks of rain so we decided on Thursday- when the forecast for the weekend was clear- this would be a good trail to hike on Saturday.
We enjoyed glimpses of the falls as we climbed higher in the canyon, then we sat on that bench, that demystified bench, for a while. After that we continued higher on the trail over the flank of Montara Mountain.
From atop the ridge there are great views over Pacifica and the Pacific Ocean. There's a bench here, too, though its purpose is less of a mystery. There's more than a few days a year you can see this scene!
But even this isn't always a given. Hawk and I hiked this trail once before... about 25 years ago! Our guidebook advised us that Brooks Falls is a rare sight, so we went on a day when it had been drizzling recently. In fact it was drizzling (in this area) when we hiked. There was barely any water in the falls... and when we got to this ridge we were totally socked in by clouds. I'm so glad we caught it on a sunny day after plenty of rain.
In beauty I walk.
Well, we went hiking at that park, San Pedro Valley County Park in Pacifica, this weekend. We hiked on that trail. And we saw that bench.
If you scrutinize the far left of the pic you'll see why the bench is there. David finally saw it on a trek a few years ago, and we all saw it Saturday morning. There's a waterfall on the opposite side of the canyon.
Here's a picture I captured with my telephoto lens. It's Brooks Falls. It's thin but it's actually pretty tall- over 150'. That makes it one of the tallest falls, if not the tallest falls in the SF Bay Area, by a large margin.
As tall as Brooks Falls is, it's highly seasonal. It only flows after a good rain. We've had three weeks of rain so we decided on Thursday- when the forecast for the weekend was clear- this would be a good trail to hike on Saturday.
We enjoyed glimpses of the falls as we climbed higher in the canyon, then we sat on that bench, that demystified bench, for a while. After that we continued higher on the trail over the flank of Montara Mountain.
From atop the ridge there are great views over Pacifica and the Pacific Ocean. There's a bench here, too, though its purpose is less of a mystery. There's more than a few days a year you can see this scene!
But even this isn't always a given. Hawk and I hiked this trail once before... about 25 years ago! Our guidebook advised us that Brooks Falls is a rare sight, so we went on a day when it had been drizzling recently. In fact it was drizzling (in this area) when we hiked. There was barely any water in the falls... and when we got to this ridge we were totally socked in by clouds. I'm so glad we caught it on a sunny day after plenty of rain.
In beauty I walk.