Up is down on Gravity Hill

August 17, 1:23 AMSonoma County ExaminerLaura McHale Holland

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Here's something off the beatin' path in Penngrove that just might give you the willies: Head way up Sonoma Mountain on Lichau Rd. When you reach an iron gate on the right with a wrought iron sign that says "Gracia Santiago" slow down because just ahead is a small descent that gradually slopes into a little bowl that then ascends once again. 

It looks like an ordinary rise and fall in a beautiful country road. But it's not. Instead of barrelling through the little bowl, stop the car at the bottom of the incline. Then (traffic permitting) take your foot off the brake. Your car will begin rolling backward up the hill you just came down.

No kidding. My husband, Jim, and I read about it in an article by Chuck Lucas in  "Penngrove Proud," a lovely, full-color, glossy quarterly devoted to all things Penngrove, and we drove up there at dusk to try it out. To read Lucas' article, as well as the current and back issues of "Penngrove Proud," visit www.penngroveproud.com.

I forgot to bring my Cool Pix along; the accompanying picture was taken on a walk earlier in the summer.