A week in Stinson Beach

Yours Truly, Yvonne, Steve, Colin, Mel

Last week I got to spend a week by the ocean. My college friends Steve and Colin with their wives Yvonne and Mel were over from the UK and we rented a house down on Stinson Beach for the week. Stinson Beach is a little beach community on Highway 1 just north of San Francisco. Our house was right on the beach at the end of the sand spit that runs out between the Pacific Ocean and the Bolinas Lagoon – a perfect location for a relaxing week. The weather cooperated too - it can often be foggy on the coast but we had great weather all week.

View of Stinson Beach from the back of the house

While Stinson is just a few short miles as the crow flies from San Francisco – you can see it quite clearly and it lights up the sky at night time – it is a long and winding route to anywhere by road. So we didn’t stray too far from that part of the world. We did the usual things – Bolinas, Muir Woods, Mt Tamalpais, Point Reyes, Tomales Bay, Mill Valley but we didn’t get over to the busier areas of Marin or to San Francisco save for a run to Costco in Novato for supplies.

This is a beautiful part of the world and it is hard to imagine that you are just a stone's throw away from a major city like San Francisco. One of the highlights for me was driving Bolinas Ridge Road - it has to be one of the most stunning pieces of road in California – not to be missed, though I had missed it for 35 years.

View of Stinson Beach and Bolinas from the Bolinas Ridge Road

Steve, Col and I all studied Geology together at University in London (yes I did actually study it once upon a time) and we are all 60 this year. That was the main reason for the get together. And what better place for a group of geologists to meet but on the exact intersection of the San Andreas Fault with the spit of land sticking out into the Bolinas Lagoon. If the earthquake didn't get us the Tsunami surely would have.

Here are all the photos from the trip.