It's been awhile since my last hike. March was a busy month; with work and my dance troupe, I've had little time to enjoy nature. Now that things have settled, I'm back on the trails. Just before I left for Portland, I read about San Mateo County's new trail. The Devil's Slide.
Cabrillo Highway (also known as State Route 1) runs along the coast between Pacifica and Santa Cruz. I often take this route to Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz. It's just a nicer drive rather than taking 280. Along Cabrillo there was this stretch of highway at Devil's Slide, a very rocky land formation (promontory) between Pacifica and Montara. In the late 1930s, a highway was constructed to connect the beach communities with San Francisco. The path was a very curvy 2 lane highway nearly impossible to speed through. There was always traffic; at least there was when I drove through. But the views were amazing. Due to erosion and landslides, the highway was often shutdown for lengthy periods of time. Tunnels were built to cut through the promontory where Cabrillo was rerouted for a safer passage. I last drove along Devil's Slide just one week prior to its closure in 2013 when I took a weekend trip to Santa Cruz.
Fast forward one year to today, and the passage was reopened as a coastal trail. As I walked along the newly paved path, I flashed back to when I used to drive through admiring the coastline as I slowly meandered its tight lane. Only this time, I took more notice of the rock formation, the flora, the ocean and the birds hovering above. Along the trail were several placards detailing the area's development, history, ecology and biodiversity. There were also remnants of an old military station that is, unfortunately, still closed off to the public.
The weather wasn't very kind today. There were brief showers followed by light drizzle. I would like to return to the trail on a day that is bright and sunny.
 |
| The new passage - Tom Lantos Tunnel |
No comments:
Post a Comment