This is "Dad O'Rourke's Bench" located near the western summit of Mt. Tamalpias in Marin County, California. One of my all time favorite places on earth to visit, the view from this bench provides a greater than 180° view of the entire Bay Area!
Seated at an elevation of 2,044ft (623m), on a clear day, one can see all the way past Mt. Diablo (or Mount "Tuyshtak" as the Native Miwok used to call it) to the Sierra/Nevada range in the east, all the way through San Francisco to the Santa Cruz mountains in the south, and as far as the eye can see out over the mighty Pacific Ocean to the west.
I have always felt a very special connection with this place, and always return to it many times throughout each year. The bench was created to celebrate the 76th birthday of a man who was born in 1851, and with whom I share the same birth date. Someday, my ashes will be scattered and returned to the earth all around this area.
The dedication plaque mounted within the stones reads:
"Give Me These Hills And The Friends I Love,
I Ask No Other Heaven."
To Our Dad O'Rourke
In Joyous Celebration Of His 76th Birthday
February 25, 1927
From His Friends To Whom He Showed This Heaven.
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