On Top of Mt. Tam 1: View from Heaven

The top of Mount Tamalpais in Marin County has views that are just about unparalleled in the San Francisco Bay Area...



...rivaled only by those in the East Bay from the sinister Mount Diablo above.



Since 1913, an outdoor play has been performed annually in the summer at a natural amphitheatre.



Seating created out of local boulders was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s...



...and the place holds close to 4,000 people.



In 1977, after complaints about traffic, a dynamo named Marilyn Smith was appointed as Executive Director (not pictured, that's one of the army of volunteers above). She changed the format to Broadway musicals, increased the performances to six weekends, and started the huge fleet of shuttle buses from local school districts to ferry large crowds up the mountain. (Click here for a good article on the history of the place by Kim Taylor.)



And it's being on top of the mountain that is really the main point of going to The Mountain Play.