You know what is an amazing fact about living in San Francisco? Despite so many hundreds of thousands of people swarming about everywhere, you can still drive fifteen minutes and be in total solace in a natural environment that is soothing to the soul. The place is the Marin Headlands, and the hikes, views and wildlife spotting is incredible considering how close it is to a major urban area. Just drive over the Golden Gate Bridge and take the second exit -- not the tourist exit -- but the one heading towards Sausalito. This is where you duck the tourists and have two choices: either go left back under the freeway and then a right just before getting back on the bridge heading southbound, or take the first left as you go towards Sausalito and go into the one-way tunnel. A five-minute green or red light awaits you if you take this choice, and it all depends on karma. How well have you treated others lately? You will know the answer when you reach the tunnel entrance. If you decide to take the alternate route you are rewarded with breathtaking views of the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco. A long, steep windy section of road takes you all the way up to the top of the ridge that faces directly into the Pacific Ocean.



At the top are abandoned bunkers from another time. These were created long after the mid-1840's "days of the Dons", when the present day Marin county was parceled into lands for Spanish dons who must have lived very lavish lifestyles in amazing solitude. It brings to mind Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Autumn of the Patriarch. A slovenly old has-been politician who sits on royal sums of money in a small town environment that seeks to depose him from his uncanny method of rule. Well, that style of uncanny rule did not desist in our more modern history. From the World War Two era until the 1960's our rulers turned the beautiful precipices that rise all the way up to Hawk Hill at 900 into military bunkers, batteries and underground buildings. This was evidently in an effort to thwart an invasion by the Japanese. Uh, I think when you dropped an atomic weapon on a major city that should have dispelled any notion of attacking the US. Furthering this wonderfully idiotic and simplistic knee-jerk type of governing, the rulers then built one of many Nike missile sites, the illustrious SF-88. Now it is one of the great attractions for those of you who would like to just check out some military history instead of enjoying the natural environment. There are tours available as the site SF-88 is one of the last restored sites left over from the massive incongruity between selfish capitalists and deluded socialists.




Now the post-war era, if somehow we can call ourselves in a "post-war" era while civilian Iraqis and American soldiers die daily in the Middle East, became the time for the capitalists and the environmentalists to do battle. Military contractors saw visions of grandeur beyond such excitement as exploding missiles and decided to use the Marin Headlands as a location for a small community of 20,000 people, much like Sausalito. However, a "business-deal-gone-sour" combined with intervention from community activists forced the feds to save the preserve the land and create a bastion of activities available for the people of southern Marin.

ER Harris