Captain's Log

Day 2.

Emboldened by the Umunhum Cube we bravely ventured up Mount Tam. Road visibility was limited driving to the trailhead in the morning due to a thick fog bank, which made for a harrowing drive down the winding mountain road. We arrived to the trailhead around 8AM, and there were only a few parking spaces remaining. The first hour and a half of the hike was still obscured by fog, but it began to burn off before 10AM. The steep ravine trail at the beginning of the hike was definitely one of the highlights. The joy of hiking through massive trees, babbling brooks, and forest ladders was only outweighed by the pain of climbing up so many stairs on the ascent. After crossing the campground the trail opens up to a flat dirt path where you will have to dodge cyclists, but the thought of mountain pancakes carried us through. Only we were deceived, as pancakes are only sold monthly! The treachery of frugal capitalism still in our mouths, we completed the short walk to the summit of Tam, where we were greeted by a stoic fire lookout cube. While not as much of a spiritual experience as other summit cubes we have have encountered, its symmetrical faces were still reassuring.

The hike down took almost as long as the hike up. If you are doing the descent after 11 make sure to bring plenty of water and sunscreen, as there is not a lot of shade and it gets pretty hot. Matt Davis trail, while offering a different path back through scenic rolling hills and amazing views of the ocean (if it isn't hidden by fog like it was for us) is a hell march of a decent in the last 2 miles. Our knees learned a whole new world of pain as we descending seemingly endless switchbacks.

Overall a great hike that offers a lot of different scenic views and a good variety of terrains to explore.