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Since November 2014, every other month the Echo has published local hikes recommended by Michael Holland in his “Take a Hike” series. Below is a list of all the hikes of Take a Hike with a link to a PDF of the article.
Rush Creek • January 2015 Echo
Red Hill
Sometimes I wonder how all those who do not write, compose or paint can manage to escape the madness, the melancholia, the panic fear which is inherent to the human condition. — Graham Greene
The link of depression, angst, and darkness to art is a common theme and readily accepted by many in the creative community. Sean Penn and Eddie Vedder state, flat out, that you cannot produce great art without personal turmoil. Maybe you agree, maybe not. James Baldwin said it even more graphically: All art is a kind of confession, more or less oblique. All artists, if they are to survive, are forced, at last, to tell the whole story, to vomit the anguish up.
The lovely imagery of anguish expulsion likens to the ferocious power of volcanoes. Aren’t volcanoes simply vomiting up the core of the earth? And this has been a chart-busting year for volcanoes. Hawaii, Guatemala, Bali.
What about Marin? Have we ever experienced volcanic eruptions? Yes, but not where you might expect. Certainly not on Tam or Burdell. Marin County’s one and only acknowledged volcano is Red Hill, located next to the Red Hill Shopping Center in San Anselmo.
150 million years ago a warm Jurassic ocean covered Marin. The Red Hill Volcano, technically known as a submarine volcano, slowly formed and ejected magma through underwater vents. When the magma cooled, it was transformed into rock called, ironically, greenstone. When the sea subsided, the rock weathered to a rust-red color, hence the current name of the hill.
Red Hill is not unique and is only a curiosity because it is no longer underwater. Over one million submarine volcanoes are estimated
to exist.
A bit more recently than 150 million years ago, i.e. in 2014, community volunteers started to construct a trail up Red Hill to its summit. They finished this year, and it’s great! It is less than a mile to the top, and the 400-foot elevation gain is gently switchbacked. There’s not much you can say to describe such a short hike, but the views from the top are fantastic. Start behind the Safeway
in the Red Hill Shopping Center.
And later? Get on into downtown San Anselmo for a beer or a bite
or an ice cream.
Make your own art and be happy. ■