A Fed Bear Is A Dead Bear: February 2011

This past weekend we headed up towards the Bay area and had ourselves a heck of an adventure!!! Matt had his annual work meeting up in Oakland on Thursday, so I drive up to meet up with him Friday morning. I got an early start and arrived in Berkeley around 11:30 am after a long six hour drive. My first stop was Shattuck St, which often an array of food options, all of which are vegetarian friendly. There were plenty of places that looked appealing but Chick O Peas won me over with their "fast food to enjoy slowly" sign and their reasonable prices. I settled on getting the veggie burger which was quite delicious and like nothing I had before. The burger consisted of fresh herbs, free range eggs, spices, dried barberries and was served with tarragon aioli on the side. I also got the garlic skinny fries, which were good but nothing to write home about.

Afterward driving around Berkeley and Oakland, I meet up with Matt and we headed up towards our campsite about an hour away. The moment your north of San Francisco you feel as if you were in a different state. Lush greenery everywhere and the windy road gets you psyched for the adventure to come. We had expected bad weather, but luck was on our side! It was quite cold but we experienced nothing but blue skies. It was dark when we arrive at Steep Ravine and we couldn't see much of our surrounding but knew something good was in store. The campsite was only a short hike away from the parking lot and provided water and a compost toilet. It was dark but we could tell the campsite was right along a cliff with the mighty Pacific roaring below. We had some soup for dinner and headed to bed shorty afterward, eager to wake up and take in the scenery.
And boy, it couldn't have been more breathtaking!

Steep Ravine has, by far, been my favorite campsite. Though the weather was cold, our experience couldn't have been better. We got a slow start and enjoyed every bit of the morning. There's nothing like drinking hot cocoa and eating oatmeal on a beautiful cliff along the Pacific. If your staying at Steep Ravine, make note to not leave food in the storage box supplied. We had left some bread overnight and in the morning found that the bag was ripped, the bread munched on, and rat droppings left behind. After walking around a bit, we packed up and headed to Stinson Beach, just a mile away.