Hidden Vistas

There are few places for Tucker to enjoy the redwoods in San Mateo County. Looking through the Mid Peninsula Open Space website this to recheck the areas my faithful companion could experience, a new one popped up that he could explore.

LaHonda Creek Open Space with the caveat “designated trails only” was suddenly on the webpage for Dogs! Lower LaHonda had not interested me as it was described as farmland and meadow, inhabited by cows so the fact that Tucker wasn’t allowed didn’t bother me. Stretching from ocean to foothills, near Pescadero it is rolling hills and flatland. But Upper LaHonda, where the "designated trails only" are, is in my heart’s neighborhood—right off Skyline Blvd in the redwood forest. I applied for a permit (first time I’ve had to do that for hike anywhere; it feels quite official), received my parking pass and Tucker and I were set for our weekend hike.

The trailhead wasn’t directly off Skyline Blvd. My trusty steed had to negotiate some bumpy and steep terrain on narrow dirt roads to find the entrance. Along the way, there were mansions, these massive abodes looking like they had been carried by a tornado from their Beverly Hills location and set down neatly in a small clearing in the forest. There was no traffic. There didn’t even seem to be any people in the houses.
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The final road in the directions ended abruptly with a gate.  I needed to unlock the gate, get in, then lock ourselves in and continue to the parking area. However, had we just hiked here, we could have just walked through the pedestrian gate unhindered... or just walked around both gates.

​The parking area was only a few cars wide and not a single soul looked to have been there recently. I was surprised to find that we had actually driven back out of the forest and was in a meadowland of sorts.

​There were no cows, but this was most definitely grasslands... Steep grasslands and rolling hills, but still grasslands.

We were headed to Vista Point, yet from just about anywhere on the trail, there was a vista to behold.

​Although the space was bovine-free, it still felt a little like we were on someone’s farm.

We travelled on, and after walking through a little redwood grove, we came to another open meadow with the sign:

We had reached the designated Vista Point.

I watched in awe a bald eagle soar overhead and dipped down to the valley below. It was hard to discern where ocean met sky. The clouds that had lingered from the morning mist and previous night’s rainfall created a canopy above the gently rolling hills and forests.

​Tucker and I stood in reverence, and I wished I had packed a blanket for us to sit in the damp meadow and look out over the hills for hours.

Instead we stood and took it all in, letting the air revive us and the view heal us before turning our tracks to head back to my trusty steed who stood alone in the parking area.

​The trail back went through another forest where we paid respect to the ancients.

When we returned to the truck, I didn’t want to leave this hidden little space, so beautiful not just for its views but for the space itself. Our tour in San Francisco was ending, and this would be our last weekend adventure in the wild. But it seemed a fitting place to bid farewell until next time, just around the corner from my heart’s home, now a part of it forever.