Nature Through an Urban Frame
            The San Francisco Bay Area includes cities and towns ranging south to Silicon Valley, north to Wine Country, points east in the East Bay, and west to Marin County, San Francisco, and San Mateo County bordering the Pacific Ocean. 
            It is also home to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, an amalgamation of close to 40 separate park sites. The Golden Gate National Recreation Area is the most visited unit of the National Park Service, with 19 million visitors per year. Extending over 80,000 acres dotted both north and south of the Golden Gate Bridge, it includes more than 130 miles of trails.
            And that is just one category of abundant nature resources in the Bay Area. County parks, state parks, open space preserves, one’s own back yard. There is nature at every turn.
            Many of us battle the high cost of living here because of access to stunning nature in close proximity to urban areas. Visitors can enjoy bayside trails with rare butterflies or rugged mountain trails with mountain lions and bobcats hiding in the shadows. It would be impossible to visit every beautiful nature site in the area, so nature enthusiasts can never claim boredom.
            This week’s Hike Notes lead us past an iconic view of Marin’s hallmark mountain, Mt. Tam, seen through the framework of the freeway overpass, to Bothin Marsh, a stellar example of the intertwining of city and nature in the Bay Area. A huge variety of migratory birds are in view with a quick stop off the freeway.
            Please feel free to share. If you’re not able to take one of these Northern California hikes, hopefully you can enjoy the photos! Check the Home page for the broader background story. Click Insights/Hike Update News for inspiring reflections. 
            The list of hikes is getting long! Please check the Quick View Hike List or scroll down the main Hikes page to see the current list of hike notes.
New this week:
Hike Notes 94: Bothin Marsh

Keep Climbing
            Looking for a new trail to try with my boys, I spot a “Why didn’t I think of that before?” location on a map. How could such an obvious choice have slipped under my radar?
            0.2 miles from a parking lot connecting to another 0.2 mile segment to the top of a hill. After that less than half mile of climbing, the hike would be downhill or flat.
            How bad could it be?
            It was steep. I can chug along up sharp rises without stopping much, and my autistic son is like a mountain goat once he gets started. But for other people on the trail, the brief but sharp uphill stretch was a heart gripper.
            We all hit bumps in life. A problem that seems unsolvable. A heartbreaking loss that feels too daunting to overcome. A personal goal that seems unattainable.
            Persistence and determination—mixed with kindness to ourselves—often get us up over the highest hills. Taking intermittent rests as we climb a hill or try to solve a problem. Allowing tears to flow when our hearts are broken. Stopping to regroup and strategize to meet a tough challenge. There are ways to keep going, even through the hard times.
            Whatever your challenge of the moment may be, don’t give up in the long term, and remember to be kind to yourself in the short term.
            This week’s Hike Notes leads along the Gray Whale Cove Trail, a trail that rises high above Montara Beach in McNee Ranch State Park, in view of Devil’s Slide.
            Please feel free to share. If you’re not able to take one of these Northern California hikes, hopefully you can enjoy the photos! Check the Home page for the broader background story. Click Insights/Hike Update News for inspiring reflections. 
            The list of hikes is getting long! Please check the Quick View Hike List or scroll down the main Hikes page to see the current list of hike notes.
New this week:
Hike Notes 93: Gray Whale Cove Trail

A Different Light
            As a kid in the cold northeast, beach weather often started from late June and ended by the first frost, which could hit by the third week of August, well before school started. In my old Adirondack foothill stomping grounds, we had occasional hailstorms on the beach in July.
            Time at the beach represented the iconic peak of short-lived summers.
            Here on the west coast, with more temperate weather, beach walks are a year round treat. Chilly, damp and gray, or blindingly sunny and hot, the broad, rough beaches of Northern California offer the solace of nature on endless loop.
            One common thread between northeast and west coast seasons is the sense of light. Though we don’t have an abundance of red, orange and yellow leaves, late autumn light shimmers with a specific glow.
            There is a very particular sense to winter’s weakened sunlight reflecting on puddles created by melting snow where I grew up in rural New York State. I sense that same peculiar quality of light in parallel seasons here on the west coast, even without melting snow to reflect from.
            My family has the good fortune of living near several beautiful beaches, despite being city dwellers. Waves along the shore stir the heart at any time of year, but there’s something special about a winter walk along the beach, when the light shines at a different slant and intensity.
            This week’s Hike Notes brings visitors to Ocean Beach – South End, a beach walk where nature meets the city at the western edge of San Francisco.
            Please feel free to share. If you’re not able to take one of these Northern California hikes, hopefully you can enjoy the photos! Check the Home page for the broader background story. Click Insights/Hike Update News for inspiring reflections. 
            The list of hikes is getting long! Please check the Quick View Hike List or scroll down the main Hikes page to see the current list of hike notes.
New this week:
Hike Notes 92: Ocean Beach – South End

Not Alone On the Trail
            Isolation is one of the worst things about tough life situations. Many of us don’t reveal troubles when we need help the most.
            A problem can feel so severe that we think no one could help even if we asked. Or we’ve sunk so deeply in our sea of troubles we can’t pull ourselves above the surface to reach for support.
            There are as many examples of why we might feel this way as there are individuals in the world.
            A key element for our family is the struggle to help our severely autistic family member. Having a special needs child is an evolving set of issues that starts early on and never really ends. Some stretches are tougher than others.
            At our worst point, we sank toward hopelessness when our son’s overwhelming sensory and neurological challenges kept us virtually trapped at home.
            Sometimes an opportunity appears just as despair is taking hold. A gifted young teacher helped pull our son—and our entire family—back out into the world right when our future looked bleakest.
            Though he is no longer here on earth, that young man’s help allowed us to keep reaching out for support. Cultivating relationships with people willing to help special needs families has brightened our lives.
            Whatever your life challenge, someone in the world will lend a helping hand. If you don’t find help the first time, ask again. Don’t give up.
            There is a person out there who will be glad to walk on part of your path together.
            This week’s Hike Notes brings visitors to the Pioneer Tree Trail, a woodsy walk through old growth redwoods in Samuel P. Taylor State Park.
            Please feel free to share. If you’re not able to take one of these Northern California hikes, hopefully you can enjoy the photos! Check the Home page for the broader background story. Click Insights/Hike Update News for inspiring reflections. 
            The list of hikes is getting long! Please check the Quick View Hike List or scroll down the main Hikes page to see the current list of hike notes.
New this week:
Hike Notes 91: Pioneer Tree Trail

Gratitude and Sharing
            It is Thanksgiving night as I write the draft of this week’s Insights post. I sit alone at my computer each week, looking through my photographic archive of hikes, sorting through sometimes hundreds of photos to find one image for the Insights post and ten images to represent that week’s Hike Notes.
            The official posting date for Insights is always on Sunday, even if the page was updated earlier. Our “autism whisperer” (In Memory and Thanks) always showed up like clockwork at 1 PM on Sundays to help get our son Sean out into the world. Sundays are a reminder of his miraculous help.
            If not another soul read my posts, I would still write them. Parents of special needs children deal with challenges on multiple fronts, too overwhelmed to process the emotional aspects. 
            Having feet on a trail—surrounded by trees, sky, and maybe an ocean view—makes life’s troubles seem simpler. Sharing Insights that may uplift others provides another level of solace.
            Rather than offering a new post under Hikes this week, I have updated the long-neglected Links page. Several readers sent in helpful links relating to autism and disabilities over the last year. (Due to a technical glitch, I was not receiving Contact form messages for almost a year. That problem has now been fixed, fortunately!) Thanks again to everyone. Though I may not be able to include every suggestion that comes in, I appreciate the heartfelt input.
            Thanks also to visitors to HikingAutism.com. It’s a thrill every time a reader says they’ve gone on one of the listed Hikes. My heart is warmed every time a reader says an Insights post was meaningful to them.
            Please feel free to share. If you’re not able to take one of these Northern California hikes, hopefully you can enjoy the photos! Check the Home page for the broader background story. Click Insights/Hike Update News for inspiring reflections. 
            The list of hikes is getting long! Please check the Quick View Hike List or scroll down the main Hikes page to see the current list of hike notes.
New this week:
Updated Links page