a winter hike in pacifica

Pacifica is a pleasant little beachside town about 30 minutes south of San Francisco. It’s popular with surfers, Highway 1 road-trippers and bay-area hikers. Between Pacifica and the San Francisco Bay on the other side of the peninsula is a series of state and county parks with multiple hiking trails offering vast views of the Pacific, the bay and the city. Last week, Jen and I hit the Brooks Falls loop in San Pedro Valley County Park. The weather has been insanely nice the past week; while my fellow Missourians are dealing with bad driving conditions and gray skies, I’ve enjoyed impossibly clear days and 60+ temperatures. So sorry to gloat about the amazing weather, dear family, but these sunny days are well-deserved after relentless rain before and after Christmas. The upside? Rain makes things lush and beautiful. Flowers are blooming. Leaves are green. Sure, there are some normal trees with bare branches, as is expected in the winter, but the amount of flourishing fauna going on around here in the month of January astounds me. It makes for a beautiful hike.