Moss Beach

26 September 2009

This afternoon, Ingrid and I drove out to Moss Beach and hiked about 6.5 miles, mostly along a ridge with steep bluffs overlooking the Pacific. Moss Beach is about 20 miles south of San Francisco. The drive out and especially back was slow because of heavy traffic getting onto the Bay Bridge. The hiking was pleasant and scenic.



One of the fun features of this hike was learning about the Moss Beach Distillery, shown at right in the photo above. This establishment, built in 1927, was originally called "Frank's Place," and it was an infamous speakeasy during prohibition. It is designated as a California Historical Landmark. According to a sign on its wall, "Frank's became a popular night spot for silent film stars and politicians from the City. Mystery writer Dashiell Hammett frequented the place and used it as a setting for one of his detective stories. ... Under cover of darkness and fog, illegal whiskey was landed on the beach, dragged up a steep cliff and loaded into waiting vehicles for transport to San Francisco."



We also got a close look at the Pillar Point Air Force Station, shown at the end of the peninsula in the photo above. The station is equipped with sophisticated radar equipment that "can be used for tracking objects off the coast of central California."



On the east side of the Pillar Point peninsula is a well protected harbor. A fog horn was operating continuously inside the harbor even though the sky was completely cloudless. Ingrid said that the fog horn sound would drive her nuts if she had to listen to it all the time. The decrepit pier shown above extended southward from the north shore of the harbor.

My favorite scene during this walk was a magnificent allée of cypress trees that extends several hundred meters near the north end of the ridge, not far south of the town of Moss Beach. According to our guide book, these trees "were planted as windbreaks by coastal farmers and ranchers during World War I." This allée is depicted in the opening and closing photos of the post.

Two other features of this site are noteworthy. The more famous is the Mavericks surf: "After a strong winter storm in the northern Pacific Ocean, waves can routinely crest at over 25 feet (8m) and top out at over 50 feet (15m)." There are also reported to be nice tide pools in the area. The tide was high and our time limited, so we'll have to check these out on another day.