San Bruno Mountain and Brisbane

I decided to go a little farther away from home today, and drove up to San Bruno Mountain for a hike. That mountain has interesting geology, and since it’s not part of the Santa Cruz Mountains, it stands pretty much on its own, with 360 degree views from the top.

Near the top are radio towers, which is my usual destination when I’m on the bike. Today, I took a looping trail to the towers, then continued along the ridge towards the southeast. I then descended what turned out to be a treacherously steep trail down towards the city of Brisbane. The gradient was often over 40%, and I had to pick my way slowly down until I reached the city streets.

I walked around the streets, and then towards a trailhead that would hopefully take me back to the ridge, and not be as steep as the one I descended. As it turns out, I crossed paths with a nice lady I had seen on the ridge, and she told me that the trail that I was heading towards was very much less steep, with switchbacks and a milder gradient. She had just descended on that trail, and it was nice of her to make sure I was on the right track.

I continued back along the ridge, the way I came, then down a more direct route to my car, which took me through a grove of Eucalyptus trees. It was a good route with good weather, so all-in-all, a very pleasant trek.