Cascade Falls

Outside the little town of Fairfax in Marin County there are a bunch of hiking trails catering to soccer moms, dogs kids and the brown rice set.  Being card-carrying members of the latter, the missus and I drove to the end of the street and hiked the gentle slopes (mostly gentle) of the watershed, enjoying the hanging moss (looks like Spanish moss to me, but what do I know?),

the stranger fungi,

the delightful streams (click each below for the Autostitched panorama),

and the near-glorious (hey, it’s only about 75 feet high) Cascade Falls.

The moss growing on the sides of these trees you see is about three inches thick. And hey, does anybody know the name of this plant?

P.S.:  Stay on the trail; otherwise you might pick up hitchhikers like this tick who rode with me for a day: