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Hiking Mount Montara (near San Francisco)
Me ^ | 9/28/17 | POF

Posted on 09/28/2017 2:13:59 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom

Took an 8 mile roundtrip hike up Mount Montara a couple days ago, 16 miles south of San Francisco. This is a fairly strenuous hike going from sea level up to 1,894 feet elevation in four miles. Mount Montara is straight west from SFO and you see it when you take off north from the airport.

I was fortunate to hit a beautiful early fall day with clear blue skies (that'll be changing real soon now). Hiking on a weekday, I passed no more than 20 people over several hours. Mount Montara is frequently socked in with really stiff winds, fog and rain, so this was a perfect day.

The cool thing about this hike is that, at the top of North Peak, you have unobstructed views of San Francisco Bay to the south, east, and north; views of the wild San Francisco watershed on the peninsula; views of San Francisco and Oakland; views of the Golden Gate Bridge; views of Marin County and Point Reyes; and views along the coast from SF to Daly City, Montara, Half Moon Bay and further south. It is probably one of the most incredible viewpoints on the west coast.

(Excerpt) Read more at freerepublic.com ...


TOPICS: Arts/Photography; Hobbies; Outdoors; Travel
KEYWORDS: cameras; hdr; hiking; photography
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To: Fiji Hill; ProtectOurFreedom
If you look at the San Francisco Peninsula to the South Bay, the rural part is bigger than the higher populated parts.

Between, State, County, Local parks, and open spaces, there must be over 1000 miles of trails in the Bay Area. Certainly if you include Monterrey County/Big Sur.

MROSD has about 225 miles of trails, and if you ask me, they don't have as many trails as they should on their property.

41 posted on 09/28/2017 3:38:57 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

The McNee Ranch pull-out is very small, so I parked at the north lot for Montara State Beach and walked along Hwy 1 the quarter mile to the trailhead. I did not like walking on Hwy 1 at all. Way too close to way too fast cars for comfort.

I went up the North Peak Trail and turned around at the very top.

NGS Benchmark: 37 33 41.17021N 122 28 39.61437W

There are several big microwave & cellular base station radio antennas up there. At the top, you take the south split, go past the antenna, then wrap around east and head north up a short incline. You can find the USGS benchmark there.

I first thought about doing Devil’s Slide, but that’s too short, too crowded, and too easy for people to access.


42 posted on 09/28/2017 3:49:55 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: ProtectOurFreedom
How was the visibility?

For some reason, I never see your pictures on the thread.

43 posted on 09/28/2017 3:53:28 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

I met a really nice mountain biker at the top of the peak (this guy is SERIOUS). Lives in Pacifica and bikes down to Montara, then does the top of the mountain, and heads out into the hills for more. He was telling me the San Francisco Watershed east and south of Montara Mountain is all off limits to hikers and mountain bikers. He’s heard the city is concerned about fire danger, but he was rightly pointing out to me that there is no problem with public access to watershed land anywhere else (e.g., EBMUD, Marin). It is amazing how much land they have kept off limits to access on the peninsula. You can now get access to Crystal Springs Reservoir land, but only with a docent led hike.


44 posted on 09/28/2017 3:56:21 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

I thought they now allowed people on that land. I know a lot of people want it. I don’t see the issue.


45 posted on 09/28/2017 3:58:04 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

Wow, that’s weird! Everybody else seems to see them. They are regular old jpegs. Do you see all other pictures posted on other threads?

Visibility was really good. A very slight bit of haze, but I could see from the South Bay to Diablo, Oakland, SF, up to Marin, Pt. Reyes, and down the coast probably to Año Nuevo.


46 posted on 09/28/2017 3:58:34 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: nickcarraway

The mountain biker said he risked it a couple years ago and got caught by a ranger. He got off with a warning “Don’t you ever let me catch you here again” and was too the fine is like $3,000! Yikes! He said he doesn’t risk it any more.


47 posted on 09/28/2017 3:59:41 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: Menehune56

Thanks for the kind words!


48 posted on 09/28/2017 4:05:42 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: RegulatorCountry

Thanks. Exactly right - it was flexo. Flexible, reddish brown substrates as I recall.

The big presses were amazing. One of my project was enhancing the machinery that did full speed flying splices.


49 posted on 09/28/2017 4:09:09 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: nickcarraway

I just went to the beginning of my thread and there were no pictures there!

I’m seeing a “click here to read article” link near the top of the article lately. Try clicking either that or click the “First” link to take you to the first post (where the pics are located).


50 posted on 09/28/2017 4:11:47 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: beergarden
Wow. Just make sure not to bend over because it’s in the Gay Bay area.

That's right - don't drop the lens cap!

51 posted on 09/28/2017 4:15:06 PM PDT by SFConservative
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To: ProtectOurFreedom
For comparison, here is what the camera saw (totally untouched straight out of camera). I'll leave it to you to decide which you like better.

I wasn't mocking your photography, it's just that manipulated images for me, pop right out.

I shoot extreme low light images of deep space object using optical telescopes. For those I use raw format meaning I do not allow the camera to process anything. With JPEG, you lose lots of image data with compression etc.

Btw, I prefer the less manipulated image.

52 posted on 09/28/2017 4:57:04 PM PDT by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: dragnet2

I know you weren’t mocking it...these things are highly subjective and I like to learn from everybody.

Those images were all shot RAW and processed as I described, then at the end converted to JPEG for posting here. I just started shooting RAW as I began learning HDR techniques. There is a real fine line in HDR between insane neon garish photos, lifelike, and just a bit enhanced. The tools do an amazing job expanding the dynamic range by merging the under-, over- and correctly-exposed images, but you have to be real careful to not overdo it.

Is astro-photography your hobby or profession? I worked for a couple years with a couple of brilliant guys who built the adaptive optics system at the Keck Observatory at Mauna Kea. We were adapting their AO system for terrestrial high-speed data communications.


53 posted on 09/28/2017 5:15:01 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

Yep, raw is best...Oh, and it’s just a hobby.


54 posted on 09/28/2017 5:40:19 PM PDT by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

I still have my Olympus OM-1. Used to develop B&W

And there is an elk bugling outside my window


55 posted on 09/28/2017 6:57:40 PM PDT by Cold Heart
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

Wow! I wish I was there.


56 posted on 09/28/2017 7:37:51 PM PDT by refreshed (But we preach Christ crucified... 1 Corinthians 1:23)
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To: MeganC

I would like to see the details so I can set my camera up like them if I want the same results. EXIF details in photos can sometimes show the details.
http://carlcheo.com/best-exif-viewers

Try this site and use their photos.
https://www.pic2map.com
Not all photos have the EXIF information.


57 posted on 09/29/2017 11:28:25 AM PDT by minnesota_bound
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