129. Mt. Tamalpais - East Peak Hike, Marin County California

https://youtu.be/YEe5zDQKvLk

It is awesome atop this 2,500-foot high mountain in Marin with its 360-degree view from San Francisco Bay to the Pacific. But anywhere on "Tam" you can find nature at its most glorious. Miles and miles of trails ribbon the mountain, crossing redwood valleys, creeks, waterfalls, and wide-open grasslands. It has been treasured turf for hikers, cyclists, and equestrians since the 1880s. The One Tam partnership mobilizes the resources of the National Park Service, California State Parks, The Marin Municipal Water District, Marin County Parks and the Parks Conservancy to ensure a vibrant future for Mt. Tamalpais.

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#Mount_Tamalpais, known locally as Mount Tam, is a peak in #Marin_County, California, United States, often considered symbolic of Marin County. Much of Mount Tamalpais is protected within public lands such as Mount Tamalpais State Park, the Marin Municipal Water District watershed, and National Park Service land, such as Muir Woods. The name Tamalpais was first recorded in 1845. It comes from the Coast Miwok name for this mountain, támal pájiṣ, meaning "west hill".

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Various different folk etymologies also exist, but they are unsubstantiated. One holds that it comes from the Spanish Tamal país, meaning "Tamal country," Tamal being the name that the Spanish missionaries gave to the Coast Miwok people. Another holds that the name is the Coast Miwok word for "sleeping maiden" and is taken from a "Legend of the Sleeping Maiden" Supposedly, the legend is that the mountain's contour reflects the reclining profile of a young Miwok girl who was saved from a rival tribe by the shuddering of the mountain. However, this legend actually has no basis in Coast Miwok myth and is instead a piece of Victorian-era apocrypha. The "Sleeping Lady" story was the creation of playwright Dan Totheroh, who wrote the first play performed at Mt. Tamalpais' Mountain Theater about Tamelpa, the Mountain Queen. Another suggests a tie to the Asian origins of the Miwoks, where "pais" means place and "tamal" is a tribe in Siberia.

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Just north of San Francisco’s #GoldenGateBridge, Mount Tamalpais State Park rises majestically from the heart of Marin County. Its deep canyons and sweeping hillsides are cloaked with cool redwood forests, oak woodlands, open grasslands, and sturdy chaparral. The breathtaking vistas from Mount Tamalpais’s upper mountain include the Farallon Islands 25 miles out to sea, the Marin County hills, San Francisco Bay and City, the East Bay, and Mount Diablo. On rare occasions, the snow-covered Sierra Nevada Mountain Range can be seen 150 miles away. The park offers superlative hiking, picnicking, wildlife watching. Up top, on most weekends volunteers at the East Peak Visitor Center provide information, sell merchandise and snacks. Volunteers at the nearby Gravity Car Barn relate the stories of the old Mount Tamalpais Scenic Railway. A couple of miles below, a beautiful outdoor theatre, the Mountain Theater, hosts outdoor plays and astronomy programs.

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