Tom Mangan, hiking columnist for the San Jose Mercury News, and popular blogger, took me out to one of his favourite hikes.
The forecast was for rain. Tom considered a dozen options for me, finally settling on Mt Tam. Beautiful in any weather. Year round.
First, look at Tom’s trip report and photos from that glorious day:
… So here’s where we went: Straight up the hill via the Ben Johnson Trail. We caught the Dipsea Trail in an open area looking out over the Pacific, above, then we dived down into another canyon till we got to Steep Ravine Trail, which we took to the Pantoll trail head. From there it was a short jaunt on the Alpine Trail and a steep dive back downhill along the Bootjack Trail, which was glorious, and back to Muir Woods. Nine or 10 miles of the finest hiking the Bay Area has to offer. Might even make Rick’s “Best†list.
I’ve added Mt Tamalpais to our list of the best hikes in North America.
(There are so many good hikes in California, it’s really quite difficult to name those that are “best”.)
A few more of my own pics:
original – flickr
I always enjoy Tom’s photos. This trip I got a chance to see the kinds of shots he looks for. And how he sets up, sometimes using his new “GorillaPod“:
original – flickr
Adding challenge to the beautiful, appropriately named, Steep Ravine Trail, is a 10ft ladder.
original – flickr
(Note how much superior is Tom’s photo of this ladder. I still have a lot to learn.)
more of my Mt Tam photos on flickr
besthike.com 
At the same time, Rick, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you focus or point your camera once in all the years I’ve known you. You must be the uncrowned king of the “off the hip” shot
Ah, but my new camera actually has bizarre features like “focus” and “zoom”. I don’t really understand that technical gobbledygook, however.