San Francisco County Highpoint Trip Report

Mount Davidson

Date: December 18, 2005
Author: Peter Maurer

I had finally bagged San Mateo County and thought I'd finish the day in San Francisco and pick up its highpoint as well, since I'd never seemed to have been able to get down to the Bay Area with enough extra time to make it to this hilltop. My son and I caught a window between the rainfall as we wound our way up the residential streets described in Gary Suttle's book. There are numerous routes, and anyone moderately competent in reading a road map can find their way to the bus shelter at the base of the trail. I had thought about an all public transit ascent, beginning with Amtrak in Sacramento.

The wind was howling through the Eucalyptus grove covering most of the hilltop, which gave me cause for concern, but it was not strong enough to snap any limbs. The rain had just let up as we strolled up the road (keeping to the more open, but wind-sheltered side) but visibility was maybe only a 1/4 mile, so there wasn't much to see. The cloud cover lifted for a few moments to reveal a sea of houses but both ocean and bay were out of visible range. We had the hill to ourselves, which provided a nice respite from the hustle and bustle of the holiday shopping madness going on around us.