Waking early for cereal breakfast I am on my way out by 10am to conquer the nearby mountain walk to north peak… (well its called a mountain on the map but it is only 1898ft high). The tramp sets out under grey skies with a walk through the town of Montara before suddenly coming to rolling fields protected by a privately owned park authority - this stopped the area from being developed for other uses including luxury housing… thank goodness.
However the entry to the park is a little shabby with a notice board covered in tatty messages some unreadable 0_0
Passing the sign I walk along grass fields with a well marked trail used by many locals to exercise their dogs until you get to the North Peak Trail. This is where things really improve with well signed routes and to start with patchy tarmac roads (closed to traffic due to their poor condition). As I am walking up the track I am passed by a jogger, a cyclist and a farm worker with horses… clearly the track is used on a daily basis but I am informed that I have the best of days to come up as the weather is clear and bright (not at the base as there is thick cloud!!)…
Barely 30mins later I am climbing out of the cloud and into bright sunshine while the trail turns to an earth track or bare rock. The views from here are stunning with a massive cloud bank stretching out as far as the eye can see from the coastal mountains out into the Pacific Ocean… Amazing. Climbing for another hour finds me approaching North Peak and its crown of TV/Phone/Aviation masts (while being passed by the jogger for the second time - this time coming down)!! The trail here is very steep and lined either side with flowering bushes buzzing with insects (one particular kind is like a large lazy fly and while walking through them they bounce off your face and arms 0_0)… but on a brighter note, I also get to see hawks, lizards and two humming Birds :D A real highlight
Reaching the peak I am rewarded with stunning views of the surrounding landscape out to the coast where the clouds have cleared slightly and are now forming banks/ridges of cloud rolling over the coastal hills and being cleared completely from the bays. Beautiful. (It is time for a scarf as my neck is very cold in the heat of midday - a clear sign of sunburn!!)
Too soon it is time to start heading back down, but instead of heading straight back I decide to make my way to Pacifica bus terminal (5 miles away) along a steep mountain trail. This is the Montara to Pacifica trail leading to a nature reserve and ‘hazelnut trail’. Once again fabulous views all the way down through scrub, bush, grass and finally woodland over mainly rocky ground (definitely recommend walking boots for this). Again wildlife is in abundance with hawks, rabbits, lizards and deer ;) Yep DEER, one was on the trail less than 20ft away from me and gave me his full attention… *_* As with all wildlife I respected it and waited to see what it would do… the deer was doing the same giving me his full attention… an enpass! So after a few minutes I decide to set the video and approach slowly giving the animal time to move away, eventually it does walking away down the trail, it is only on the second meeting with the same deer that it left the trail but I felt honoured to have seen one so close :)
Finally the trail comes to an end at the park on the outskirts of Pacifica - which is still 2 miles away from the bus terminal… my eyes are drawn to a sign… warning that the area has ‘Mountain Lions’ and although rare can attack without warning 0_0’’ WHAT?!! There is no sign like this at the other end of the trail so I am very pleased that I did not come across one or I would not have known what to do… Advise on the board seems to indicate stand tall, make noise and try and avoid looking like a meal!! Suffice to say that I walked to the bus stop, ate a subway sandwich and waited the 45mins for the next bus to return me to the hostel by 5.30pm… Just in time to see a flock of pelicans drift directly overhead :)
A long day but well worth the effort.
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