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photo by Donald Kinney

Just to the west of where I live is probably one of the most beautiful roads in the world--the Fairfax-to-Bolinas Road--with more than it's share of twists and turns and ups and downs.

Way up there in the clouds is Ridgecrest Bouleverd. A plethora of auto commercials have been filmed here--there's a great Ford Escape ad currently running now on the 'one-eyed-monster'.



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photo by Donald Kinney

'Tam - al - pie' - us'. If you use your imagination you can see 'the sleeping lady' in the contour of her slopes.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Well, there's three versions of how 'Mt. Tam' got her name:

The name Tamalpais was first recorded in 1845. The meaning of the name is not well-established and there are several versions of the etymology of the name. One version holds that the name comes from ostensibly Coast Miwok words for 'coast mountain' (tamal pais). Another holds that it comes from the Spanish Tamal pais, meaning 'Tamal country,' Tamal being the name that the Spanish missionaries gave to the Coast Miwok peoples. Yet another version holds that the name is the Coast Miwok word for 'sleeping maiden' and is taken from a 'Legend of the Sleeping Maiden.' (((source:  Wikipedia)))

I tend to favor that third explanation, however some say it has no basis in Coast Miwok myth and is instead a piece of Victorian-era apocrypha.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Tamalpais fog. It was quite a show. A command performance. The lifting of the veil.


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