Two Steps Forward
My younger son Sean, who is challenged by severe autism, was so overwhelmed by sensory overload in his early years that he could barely get out of the house, much less go for long hikes. With a lot of work, we got him out in nature to walk. He often walked while clinging to one of us parents, head on one of our shoulders. Or he walked with his head slumped down and his shoulders hunched. We often did what we called the “Fred and Ginger,” moving face to face with Sean, one of us guiding him like Fred Astaire while he moved backwards like Ginger Rogers. Instead of being light on our feet, we were slow and dragging. Even when walking forward, Sean often shuffled his feet along the dirt, barely picking them up off the ground, though he did move forward. Maybe he liked the feeling of scuffing his feet. Our outdoor activity helper suggested he try using hiking poles. Sure enough, over time with some coaching, Sean started walking with better posture. He lifted his head a bit, though he still looked mostly at the ground. He still liked to scuff his feet, though the hiking poles helped some. Many years later, Sean walks with pretty good posture without using hiking poles, though he still keeps his head tilted toward the ground. He picks his feet up step by step much better than he used to, but once in awhile that scuffing habit kicks in again. When I encourage readers to, “Keep putting one foot forward!” I mean that both literally and figuratively. Step by step, we can all make progress. And if you slip back a little sometimes, that’s okay, too. As people repeatedly told us over the years with Sean, life often involves taking two steps forward, then one step back, but that means we’re still moving forward! This week’s Hike Notes, Gerbode Valley-Bobcat Trail, offers a hike offering views of the soft rolling hills of the Marin Headlands and the ocean, all over a relatively easy rise in elevation. 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 201: Gerbode Valley-Bobcat Trail
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Falling Petals
In the five and a half years I lived in Kyoto, Japan, I came to understand the reverence for cherry blossom season. In my school days, I was moved by Japanese poetry comparing the death of a samurai in the prime of life to a falling cherry blossom petal in its fleeting moment of beauty, but I didn’t truly understand the cherry blossom obsession. Instead of studying Japanese at a school for foreigners, I hired a private tutor to teach me to read and write. She taught me the three different character sets using textbooks for Japanese students, starting from kindergarten level. I was bewildered by how many lesson pages were about hanami, the Japanese tradition of cherry blossom viewing. But the first April came, and then the second, and on until I passed through six cherry blossom seasons in Kyoto. I repeatedly visited personal favorites among countless stunning places to see glorious blossoms from a variety of trees. Pale pinkish-white blossoms, deep pink blossoms shaped like pompoms, medium pink blossoms draping down like a willow tree. I made sure I caught the blossoms at their peak each season. “I saw them!” I thought each year. “I didn’t miss them!” My husband and I planted a small cherry tree as soon as we bought our little house in San Francisco. We took photos of our boys in front of the tree each year when it blossomed. Sadly, our little cherry tree is looking forlorn. Too many years of drought? The lichen growing on its branches and the lack of buds are discouraging. We went to see the cherry blossoms at the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park last weekend, and saw many trees that looked like ours, still dormant, few buds, some with branches marked by what might be a disease. There were still plenty of beautiful cherry blossoms to see. Perhaps the bedraggled trees that looked like ours will be late bloomers and surprise us all. And if our little tree has bloomed its last bloom, we will gently put it to rest and plant a new one. Cherry trees bloom at different times by location and type. Enjoy finding these treasured ornamental trees where you live! This week’s HikingAutism Hike Notes from the archives is Japanese Tea Garden Stroll, an easy walk through the garden paths of the Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. This week’s Hike Notes from the Archives: (Original Hike Notes 56): Japanese Tea Garden Stroll Click Insights/Hike Update News for inspiring reflections. Browse hikes on the main Hikes page or on the Hike Search by Area 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. See products with inspiring designs that support the efforts of HikingAutism under Support/Shop. The Links page lists a loose collection of helpful information links. Check the Home page for the broader background story. If you’re not able to take one of these Northern California hikes, hopefully you can enjoy the photo galleries at the bottom of each hike page! Feel free to share and follow on Facebook at HikingAutism, follow on Twitter at @HikingAutism and Instagram at lisalouis777 Unexpected Blossoms
In search of spring blossoms, I remembered that the Shakespeare Garden in Golden Gate Park features various flowers mentioned in the works of Shakespeare. Time to visit and see what was in bloom. Looking down at the ground-level flower beds, I was disappointed not to see spring colors on display. Then I looked up. My vision was filled with a lovely canopy of pale pink and white petals mixed with spring-green leaves and gray-green moss. Visitors strolled beneath the tunnel created by these delicate blossoms along the walkway that leads past a sundial to a bust of Shakespeare himself on the back wall. These aren’t cherry blossoms, I thought. The pale, fluffy flowers had a similar visual effect, but they were not the iconic cherry petals so many of us look for in March and April. I found out that these were crabapple trees. Why crabapple trees in the Shakespeare Garden? Turns out there is a story about William Shakespeare falling asleep under a crabapple tree, which supposedly later attained magical powers. Enjoy the emerging array of spring flowers where you live. If you’re lucky, you’ll stumble onto some surprises. Keep putting one foot forward! This week’s HikingAutism Hike Notes from the archives is Shakespeare Garden-Golden Gate Park, one of many special feature areas within San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. This week’s Hike Notes from the Archives: (Original Hike Notes 183): Shakespeare Garden-Golden Gate Park Click Insights/Hike Update News for inspiring reflections. Browse hikes on the main Hikes page or on the Hike Search by Area 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. See products with inspiring designs that support the efforts of HikingAutism under Support/Shop. The Links page lists a loose collection of helpful information links. Check the Home page for the broader background story. If you’re not able to take one of these Northern California hikes, hopefully you can enjoy the photo galleries at the bottom of each hike page! Feel free to share and follow on Facebook at HikingAutism, follow on Twitter at @HikingAutism and Instagram at lisalouis777 What the Rain Brings
Every year, I see wildflowers on mountain trails, on bluffs above the beach, and in valley meadows. Sometimes they appear subtly, one or two blossoms here and there along a path, mixed in near ferns or poison oak. Seeing a lone wild iris on a Mt. Tam trail stops me in my tracks. Purple, pale yellow or white, they are all beautiful. Having said that, the “superbloom” phenomenon that has become a hot news topic in recent years also offers a powerful experience. The right combination of rain levels and temperature, usually a wet year after several dry years, can cause dense flower growth across vast fields, making it look like entire fields or mountainsides have been painted with bright colors. Will this year be a superbloom year? No one can accurately predict a given year’s rainfall and temperature patterns or know exactly how those will affect plant growth. We’ll know soon enough. Even if we don’t end up seeing the wide swaths of colorful blossoms we saw last year, wildflowers are already adorning trails with mixtures of pink, orange, white and purple. Next time you’re outdoors, whether in a city park or a remote trail, look carefully to see what bits of color pop into view. This is the season when flowers surprise us at every turn. Keep putting one foot forward! This week’s HikingAutism Hike Notes from the archives is Mori Point, a place that features glorious ocean views, sometimes whales offshore, and on years when the weather has been just right, a carpet of wildflowers in spring. This week’s Hike Notes from the Archives: (Original Hike Notes 12): Mori Point Click Insights/Hike Update News for inspiring reflections. Browse hikes on the main Hikes page or on the Hike Search by Area 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. See products with inspiring designs that support the efforts of HikingAutism under Support/Shop. The Links page lists a loose collection of helpful information links. Check the Home page for the broader background story. If you’re not able to take one of these Northern California hikes, hopefully you can enjoy the photo galleries at the bottom of each hike page! Feel free to share and follow on Facebook at HikingAutism, follow on Twitter at @HikingAutism and Instagram at lisalouis777 Celebrating a Milestone!
This week marks Hike Notes number 200! I started HikingAutism.com in March 2018. Creating new posts each week has been a stabilizing force for me through the pandemic, family health crises, world news ups and downs, and family losses. I would create HikingAutism.com for my own sanity even if no one else ever read a post. I am grateful to say, however, that many readers over the years have told me they felt inspired by an Insights post to get outdoors more or do something else to help themselves or others, that they tried one of the listed Hikes, or even shared a favorite hike for World Walks. People dealing with major challenges—such as our family trying to help our severely autistic son live his best life—often feel isolated from the “normal” world. For our family, every activity involves extra difficulties. Going out in public can feel daunting. I started HikingAutism.com because I didn’t want others facing a difficult life situation to feel alone. Someone in the world has experienced something similar. Knowing and sharing that gives us strength to keep going. HikingAutism.com also allows me to share the joy of spending time in nature, which has been incredibly helpful for our whole family. I offer the photos and hike descriptions in hopes they’ll lift someone’s heart. For those without the mobility to get out on a trail, looking at nature photos can still make the world brighter. For this special milestone Hike Notes celebration, I am allowing myself to be self-indulgent. Typically, for each set of Hike Notes, I sort through around 200 photos. It is a tough process cutting down to 11: One photo for the title image, one for the accompanying Insights post, and nine for the gallery of photos that appears at the bottom of each Hike Notes page. I always want to share more images, but I’ve stuck to this system for consistency. Sometimes less is more. However, in celebration of Hike Notes No. 200, I am including 30 photos in the gallery. Watch for glorious sunsets, seascapes, the silhouette of the Farallone Islands, a variety of animal life, and the rare shot where I slip into the gallery. It is a privilege for me to share images and thoughts inspired by looking at beautiful places through a camera lens. Thank you to all the HikingAutism.com readers. I will continue sharing Insights and Hikes as we keep putting one foot forward together! The subject of this week’s Hike Notes, Steep Ravine Cabins and Camp Area, is often mentioned as the crown jewel of camping spots in Marin County. Every nature spot has merit, but the Steep Ravine camp area offers many of the best aspects of the Marin coast. 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 200: Steep Ravine Cabins and Camp Area Signs of Spring
In cold, snowy Upstate New York, my brothers and I would put on our dress clothes for Easter and pile into the station wagon. We dodged shallow, muddy patches of snow to avoid messing up our good shoes. After the hour-long drive north, we’d get out of the car and follow our parents up the worn wooden front steps of my grandmother’s house. Grandma’s house was even further north than her childhood home in infamously snowy Tug Hill. I trailed behind when we got out of the car, stopping to look at the lingering piles of snow. Seeing daffodils push up through the Easter snow was my proof that spring had arrived. I knew that tulips would follow shortly. Here in San Francisco’s more moderate climate, I watch for daffodils to come up in late February. My instinct for tulips was in April or May as a child, but here in California I have to remind myself to check in March so I don’t miss them. Sure enough, it’s mid-March and not only are daffodils in full bloom all around, but the famous tulip garden in our neighborhood is now bursting with color. Seasonal weather and varieties of flowers may differ by region, but any burst of floral color is welcome. Whether it’s a carefully planted garden, blossoms that have grown through cracks in the sidewalk, or wildflowers on a mountain trail, enjoy the simple pleasure of the flowers you find around you! Keep putting one foot forward! This week’s HikingAutism Hike Notes from the archives is Queen Wilhelmina Garden, a garden by a windmill in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, known for its spring tulips. This week’s Hike Notes from the Archives: (Original Hike Notes 129): Queen Wilhelmina Garden Click Insights/Hike Update News for inspiring reflections. Browse hikes on the main Hikes page or on the Hike Search by Area 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. See products with inspiring designs that support the efforts of HikingAutism under Support/Shop. The Links page lists a loose collection of helpful information links. Check the Home page for the broader background story. If you’re not able to take one of these Northern California hikes, hopefully you can enjoy the photo galleries at the bottom of each hike page! Feel free to share and follow on Facebook at HikingAutism, follow on Twitter at @HikingAutism and Instagram at lisalouis777 Choosing to Feel Lucky
I was afraid of insects as a child, but everyone said that ladybugs were a sign of good luck. Ladybugs were the one type of beetle I didn’t mind walking on my hand because I had a positive feeling about them. In the spirit of “glass half full” versus “glass half empty,” optimism is a choice we can make. There are well-to-do people who look at the ultra-wealthy and say with envy how lucky the richer people are. Conversely, there are people with limited financial means who feel they are the luckiest people in the world for having a roof over their heads, food to eat, and loved ones around them. When my parents’ health failed in recent times, I appreciated that they had lived good long lives, and knew how lucky we were that they had loving caregivers with them until the end. When loved ones have faced major health challenges, I acknowledged the good fortune of having capable and compassionate care teams bringing them back to health. We can choose to see the positive. Gratitude is a powerful healer and a great equalizer. May we all find the joy of being thankful for even the humblest of good things in our lives. This week’s Hike Notes, Spreckels Lake-Golden Gate Park, introduces readers to a small lake in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park known for birds, turtles, and model yachts. 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 199: Spreckels Lake-Golden Gate Park Hunting for Treasure
About a year ago I was driving in Marin hoping to see big puffy clouds of pinkish purple heather. I confirmed from an old hike date that I’d seen it blooming in full glory in late February. I don’t know the standard blooming period for heather, but going again in late February seemed like a smart bet to see tiny purple blossoms collectively create giant puffs of purple cotton candy. As we walked the road toward our trailhead, I looked past some eucalyptus trees and beyond the crest of a distant ridge. A bright patch of purple flowed between the hills. That was the treasure right there. Distant brushstrokes of purple proved that the heather was in bloom. As we got closer to our trailhead, the giant swaths of purple I remembered came into view. My quest to re-experience those beautiful clouds of purple blossoms was fulfilled. The hike was good, too, but wouldn’t have felt the same if we hadn’t seen the heather. May we all chase our dreams, even something as simple as finding a magical patch of flowers. Keep dreaming, and keep moving! This week’s HikingAutism Hike Notes from the archives is Heather Cutoff Trail, a trail near Muir Beach Overlook that features a series of switchback turns leading from a coastal ridge down to a meadow and creek area. This week’s Hike Notes from the Archives: (Original Hike Notes 177): Heather Cutoff Trail Click Insights/Hike Update News for inspiring reflections. Browse hikes on the main Hikes page or on the Hike Search by Area 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. See products with inspiring designs that support the efforts of HikingAutism under Support/Shop. The Links page lists a loose collection of helpful information links. Check the Home page for the broader background story. If you’re not able to take one of these Northern California hikes, hopefully you can enjoy the photo galleries at the bottom of each hike page! Feel free to share and follow on Facebook at HikingAutism, follow on Twitter at @HikingAutism and Instagram at lisalouis777 Empty Bench
A weather-bleached bench on a windblown bluff, lone icon facing the infinite Pacific horizon. A wobbly wooden bench, hidden under a copse of trees on an unnamed trail, looking across the Golden Gate toward the San Francisco skyline. A new plastic bench sitting primly in its place along a small pond off a forest trail, waiting for someone. Benches are an invitation to sit, to look, perhaps to chat with a companion. They stir the imagination when they sit unoccupied. I see an empty bench and remember people who are gone. I’ve lost several loved ones in recent years, and have come to sense their absence as a group. I imagine them floating together somewhere in the ether, and yet I feel their spirits here. Next time I find a welcoming bench, I will invite the essence of those loved ones to sit with me for a while, and remember. This week’s Hike Notes, Windy Hill-Hamms Gulch and Spring Ridge Trails, takes readers on the descending leg of a loop hike in the Windy Hill Open Space Preserve, these trails highlighted by leafy shadows and tree tunnels that lure walkers onward. 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 198: Windy Hill-Hamms Gulch and Spring Ridge Trails Talking About the Weather
If I find myself blathering on about the weather with someone, I figure it’s time to wrap up the conversation. And yet, weather can bring good things, and is worth talking about. I grew up in an era when my friends and I actually sang, “Rain, rain go away, come again some other day!” during long rainy stretches of our Upstate New York summers. Plenty of Adirondack camping trips in my youth were spent trudging around under a rain poncho. After a week of only bathing in cold lake water, my brothers and I carried the mixed aroma of sweat, campfire smoke, and the damp-induced mold and mildew of the canvas tent fabric we slept under. Here in California, we often have the opposite complaint, suffering varying levels of drought for decades. During the driest stretches, the weatherman mentioning even a ten percent chance of rain was enough to get people excited, only to be disappointed again. Climate change has brought greater rainfall in the last couple of years, which is great for countering the drought, but it would be nice if it didn’t fall all at once. Atmospheric rivers that blast through one after another wreak havoc. One benefit of rainfall is that waterfalls flow again. I’ve been on many a hike in the Marin Watershed to visit waterfall sites, only to see barely a trickle, and sometimes dry creek beds. With greater rainfall this season and more storms on the way, I know the local waterfalls will be flowing at full blast. Staying warm, dry and safe during the storms is a comfort, but going out after the rain to feel the freshness of the air and see the bright post-rain colors is always uplifting. Check out a local waterfall if you can. Keep putting one foot forward, whatever the weather! This week’s HikingAutism Hike Notes from the archives is Tucker Trail, featuring the Tucker Trail and Tucker Cutoff Trail in the Marin Watershed. These trails offer special pleasures of their own, but also connect to the wonderful Bill Williams Trail and Eldridge Grade (see Bill Williams-Tucker Trail Waterfall Hike and Eldridge Grade-Windy Ridge Hike Notes.) These lesser traveled trails offer some of the best treats the Marin Watershed has to offer. This week’s Hike Notes from the Archives: (Original Hike Notes 117): Tucker Trail Click Insights/Hike Update News for inspiring reflections. Browse hikes on the main Hikes page or on the Hike Search by Area 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. See products with inspiring designs that support the efforts of HikingAutism under Support/Shop. The Links page lists a loose collection of helpful information links. Check the Home page for the broader background story. If you’re not able to take one of these Northern California hikes, hopefully you can enjoy the photo galleries at the bottom of each hike page! Feel free to share and follow on Facebook at HikingAutism, follow on Twitter at @HikingAutism and Instagram at lisalouis777 |
Lisa LouisSharing insights and hiking highlights (Hikes, Hike Search by Area) from the special needs caregiver front in San Francisco. Archives
April 2024
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