Stepping Out
            Heavy rain turns street corners into ankle-deep creeks. Days are short and temperatures are low. Getting out in nature is not the obvious choice on rainy season days here in San Francisco.
            I took my dog out for long walks in blinding snowstorms as a kid, and we take our autistic son for at least a short outing even on Northern California atmospheric river days, but that’s not for everyone.
            Our older son, born and raised a city boy in San Francisco, known for chilly foggy days, now lives and works in London, where days are darker, colder, and rainy days seem to outnumber sunny ones.
            I am grateful that he embraced our family example of stepping out for a fresh perspective every day. Cold wet weather frequently puts a damper on exploring the streets of London on foot. I applaud his outings to the large shopping complex near his flat in London on bad weather days. Even if he takes a bus instead of walking the two miles to get there, he still gets exercise and a scenery change walking around indoors.
            Whether to a field near your house, a city garden, an indoor museum or shopping area, or to your back window to look at the sky, moving our bodies and changing up our surroundings is important.
            Keep moving, open your eyes and heart, and keep putting one foot forward!
            This week the featured hike from the archives is Ferry Building/Pier 7-San Francisco Stroll, an urban area that offers a scenic outdoor walk but also a lively indoor space to explore, always an option in inclement weather.
 
            Check the Home page for the broader background story. Click Insights/Hike Update News for inspiring reflections. Browse hikes on the main Hikes page or on the Hike Search by Area page, and scroll to the bottom of each hike page to see full photo galleries.
            If you’d like to support HikingAutism, check out the Support/Shop page! Check out selected articles and interviews under Media. Click World Walks to see or share favorite family-friendly walks! Stay in touch with Lisa Louis and HikingAutism via Contact. The Links page lists a loose collection of helpful information links. Feel free to share and follow on Facebook at HikingAutism, follow on Twitter at @HikingAutism and Instagram at lisalouis777
This week’s Hike Notes from the Archives:
Hike Notes 202: Ferry Building/Pier 7-San Francisco Stroll

Trail with No Name
            Skimming over a map, I noticed a small trail I’d never walked, despite being in familiar hiking turf. The map showed a line with no name. It wasn’t long, but it hugged the edge of the bluffs in a stunningly scenic stretch of coast. We drove to check it out, knowing we might be chasing an empty promise.
            We stood looking where the trail should be, but at a quick glance didn’t spot a trailhead. I checked the map against our nearby landmarks. There was no trail sign, but I spotted a narrow footpath opening through low coyote brush and rising up a hill.
            “This is it,” I said, starting to chug up the steep start of the trail. My companions followed.
            “Wow,” we said when we got to the top of the bluff.
            The Golden Gate Bridge loomed behind us, and came into better view the further down the trail we went.
            The rolling green-gray hills of the Marin Headlands rose to our right as we walked.
            Point Bonita Lighthouse and the sparkling cove before it stayed in view as we walked. Sailboats floated midway across the water to a view of the beaches lining San Francisco.
            In our very short walk high above Black Sands Beach, we not only had glorious views all around, but we heard a scuffling noise in the brush that sounded way bigger than the small lizards or birds that sometimes skitter across a path. Was it a bobcat? A mountain lion? We heard it again and turned back to see a deer popping up through the coyote brush. She looked at us with a coquettish turn of the head, then leapt away into the brush.
            The end of the path actually faded to a steep cliff edge that could tumble us down to the rocks and water below, or make a steep, bumpy landing on the road, so we backtracked a bit to find a smoother path back down to Conzelman Road.
            Our trail was short and nameless, but it made for a great little adventure. Sometimes the unnamed trails are the most satisfying.
            Remember to give lesser known places a visit. Keep putting one foot forward!
            This week’s Hike Notes, Headlands Lookout Bluff View Walk, introduces a short stretch of unnamed trail that offers stunning views above the Marin Headlands.
            Check the Home page for the broader background story. Click Insights/Hike Update News for inspiring reflections. Browse hikes on the main Hikes page or on the Hike Search by Area page, and scroll to the bottom of each hike page to see full photo galleries.
            If you’d like to support HikingAutism, check out the Support/Shop page! Check out selected articles and interviews under Media. Click World Walks to see or share favorite family-friendly walks! Stay in touch with Lisa Louis and HikingAutism via Contact. The Links page lists a loose collection of helpful information links. Feel free to share and follow on Facebook at HikingAutism, follow on Twitter at @HikingAutism and Instagram at lisalouis777
New this week:
Hike Notes 212: Headlands Lookout Bluff View Walk

Quiet Cow Moment
            I grew up across from a dairy farm. The cows ambled into the pasture in the morning, and shuffled back to the barn in the afternoon. Their mooing and collective movements were a background movie to my childhood.
            One day, a lone cow stood facing me across the fence. I stopped and looked back quietly. The cow was unruffled by my presence. She continued chewing, eyes seeming to look straight through me.
            Was the cow thinking? Maybe the cow was in the Zen state humans aspire to when they need to calm down. There was the smell of grass, the blue of the sky, and a light breeze. That’s all she needed to process, and she seemed quite at peace.
            If only we humans could achieve that state of bovine nirvana so easily. When feeling agitated or anxious, take a moment to channel the cow in the field. If possible, get outdoors in a peaceful nature spot and focus on basic sensory inputs, tuning out extraneous thoughts.
            The featured hike from the archives this week is Olema Bolinas Ridge Walk, an idyllic pastoral walk in the fields near the ocean at Point Reyes National Seashore.
            Find your quiet cow moment, if only within your own mind. Keep putting one foot forward!
 
            Check the Home page for the broader background story. Click Insights/Hike Update News for inspiring reflections. Browse hikes on the main Hikes page or on the Hike Search by Area page, and scroll to the bottom of each hike page to see full photo galleries.
            If you’d like to support HikingAutism, check out the Support/Shop page! Check out selected articles and interviews under Media. Click World Walks to see or share favorite family-friendly walks! Stay in touch with Lisa Louis and HikingAutism via Contact. The Links page lists a loose collection of helpful information links. Feel free to share and follow on Facebook at HikingAutism, follow on Twitter at @HikingAutism and Instagram at lisalouis777
This week’s Hike Notes from the Archives:
Hike Notes 50: Olema Bolinas Ridge Walk

Navigating Light and Shadow
            Leafy shadows flicker on a sunlit pale dirt trail. At a glance, the shadows look like a static pattern. Staring at the same spot for a moment, though, I see shady marks ripple as the breeze moves the leaves. 
            Some of my favorite outdoor moments are walking on dappled shadow trails. I’m interacting with ground that is alive under my feet, ever changing. A bird on a branch flits in a chiaroscuro silhouette. Shapes become longer as the afternoon light gets lower in the sky.
            Dark shadows are traditionally associated with something bad or scary. We see bright sunny spots as positive and happy.
            Life is a mixture of darkness and light. Learning how to walk through both, often mixed together in changing patterns, is an evolving skill we hone through experience.
            May your path be filled with interesting shadow and light to learn from. Keep putting one foot forward!
            This week the featured hike from the archives is Pulgas Ridge, an open space preserve near San Carlos featuring shady tree covered trails and ridge top views.
 
            Check the Home page for the broader background story. Click Insights/Hike Update News for inspiring reflections. Browse hikes on the main Hikes page or on the Hike Search by Area page, and scroll to the bottom of each hike page to see full photo galleries.
            If you’d like to support HikingAutism, check out the Support/Shop page! Check out selected articles and interviews under Media. Click World Walks to see or share favorite family-friendly walks! Stay in touch with Lisa Louis and HikingAutism via Contact. The Links page lists a loose collection of helpful information links. Feel free to share and follow on Facebook at HikingAutism, follow on Twitter at @HikingAutism and Instagram at lisalouis777
This week’s Hike Notes from the Archives:
Hike Notes 71: Pulgas Ridge