The hike starts at the back of Skyline college, this ridge is extremely windy and socked in with fog.  We had some great blasting winds that were giving the abundant crows some grief while they soared overhead.  Within a mile or so you reach the first building from the old Nike Missile Base in this area.  As your round the first buil... Moreding you make a steep descent and a steeper ascent up a staircase to get the missile base proper.  A group of delapidated buildings are on top of this ridge and worth sneaking away from the group for a couple of photies.Less

At this point you've gained a fair bit of elevation and now it's a nice walk along the ridge top with a stop at the Bay Area Discovery Site where Portola's Group discovered San Francisco Bay.  There's a neat Sighting Sculpture with most local peaks labeled and the Farrallone Islands. 

Around Mile 3 you enter the SFPUC land through a locked gate.  A SFPUC truck was waiting there when we arrived and seemed to shadow us for the entire hike.  Not sure if this was purely surveillance, boredom or compassion for people who may have trouble on this fairly long hike.

We stopped for a lunch at Mile 5 or so at a nice spot with a new picnic table, a restroom(very nice and placed every two miles along this section) and a great row of trees to provide a windbreak.  Lunch was eaten quickly and we were back on the march.

After some number of miles the trail drops down into the Pilarcitos Reservoir area (you never really get a great view of it) and a fantastic old growth stand of Douglas Firs.  This section was amazing with ubiquitous Banana Slugs,  some great mushrooms and fungus to photograph and the truly amazing candelabra style firs.  I've read t... Morehat some of these are 200-300 years old.  This was by far my favorite section of the hike.Less

The hike ends with a descent through an eerie stand of Monterey Cypress that were planted here in the 1930s for reasons unknown. As you round the final corner you find yourself back in Skyline Quarry where you started.