Through Misty Glass
            Like many parents in the developmental challenge/special needs world, we gradually realized that “something was off” with our younger son.
            He avoided eye contact, didn’t respond when called by name, didn’t point to desired objects or use other typical gestures, and struggled mightily with language, receptively and expressively. And there were monumental freeze-ups and meltdowns.
            Trying to fathom the complex layers of challenges was like looking through a fogged window on a cold day. Our son was not developing on a typical track, and finding effective ways to understand and help him took long, frustrating, heartache-filled years.
            And there he was, looking at the world from the other side of the blurred glass. Sensory overload and undefined neurological challenges left him fumbling in a “normal world” that his system couldn’t easily navigate.
            It often did—and sometimes still does—feel like we are trapped on opposite sides of a glass barrier. Years of chipping away at physical ailments and unraveling mysteries of “being wired differently” have brought our connection through the clouded window into better focus.
            Through years of hard work and unconditional love, we communicate with incremental improvements. I don’t know that our family will ever escape the hazy boundaries of autism, but our misty window connections have generated a special love that we wouldn’t otherwise know.
            This week’s Hike Notes brings visitors to San Francisco’s treasured Conservatory of Flowers, a historical landmark in Golden Gate Park. Even on a cold, rainy day, the Conservatory of Flowers offers a misty escape among tropical plants in vintage architecture.
            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 88: Conservatory of Flowers

Through Dark Woods Wandering
            Many of us think of life as being linear. We go from point A to point B to point C. Yet time and experience are more multi-dimensional than we recognize.
            Though trails also have a linear aspect to them, they often twist and turn. They fade, they narrow. Overgrown vines and fallen trees block the way. Heavy rains make an easy path hard or impossible to follow.
            One trail crosses another. They separate, then intersect again further down the line.
            On rare occasions, we find a bright stretch of trail so straightforward we can move ahead in auto-mode.
            Yet trouble spots inevitably appear. We wander into what feel like endlessly darkening passages. Sunlight doesn’t cut past dense foliage, even at noon. 
            But eventually the heavy tree cover breaks, revealing bright greens and yellows ahead, patches of white clouds and blue sky above.
            Dark, moody paths have their own special beauty, even if they feel a little spooky and unsettling.
            No matter how gloomy a patch of forest may feel, there is usually a bright turn ahead.
            This week’s Hike Notes, Interior Green Belt-Mount Sutro, leads hikers on the woodsy winding paths of Mount Sutro. All but one of my Mount Sutro walks were on chilly, dark days. The gray foggy moments are as uniquely charming as when sunshine battles through the trees to the trail underfoot.
            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 87: Interior Green Belt-Mount Sutro

Reading Between the Lines
            Communication can be challenging even between the most articulate of persons. Missed nuances, misinterpreted tones, misunderstood intentions.
            Trouble understanding each other expands geometrically without a shared native tongue, or worse, with no shared language at all.
            Imagine the struggle when a person has little or no ability to speak. In the special needs world, the term “non-verbal” is often applied to persons who actually have some spoken or written language capability, but at a barely functional level.
            Parents of limited-language children spend a great deal of time guessing the meaning of actions or utterances that would totally confuse outsiders. Words that are not enunciated clearly, atypical gesturing, aggressive behavior, a face devoid of emotional clues.
            Without clear communication signals, we have to make educated guesses. This is an art form in and of itself. Autistic individuals may have particularly unique ways of expressing themselves. On movie field trip day at our son’s new special needs program for young adults, we received a phone call.
            “He won’t leave the theater and we have to catch a bus.”
            “Have the end credits finished? He won’t budge until the end credits have completely cleared the screen.” How would someone new to our son know that?
            “He was lying face down in the middle of the hallway today.”
            “That usually means his stomach is upset,” we explain. It took us years to figure that one out, so how could anyone else guess?
            Parents and teachers not only work hard to understand an individual’s mode of expression, we also try to teach communication skills so the general population can understand.
            Sometimes there’s progress. Sometimes there isn’t.
            In the meantime, we keep reading between the lines.
            This week’s Hike Notes, Golden Gate Overlook Walk, leads past historic military sites with the Golden Gate Bridge in view. 
            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 86: Golden Gate Overlook Walk

Magical Places on Repeat
            My autistic son plays five-second clips of video repeatedly, a hundred times if allowed. Volume turned high. Certain audio and visual combinations, mixed with emotional memory, scratch neurological spots he needs to itch.
            He’s not alone. I’ve played ten-second segments of certain songs over and over again because they strike a certain nerve. A snippet from a Chopin mazurka, a short blast of Led Zeppelin, a dash of Kendrick Lamar. I play on repeat until I’ve scratched that auditory-emotional itch. I drove my dad crazy as a kid by playing one of his favorite record albums—which became one of my frenzied favorites—so many times that he asked me to stop so I didn’t ruin it for him. He was totally right. (I couldn’t help play it one more time before putting the record away.)
            We are grateful that our son Sean is no longer completely trapped by the need to do only what is familiar. He has gained the ability to visit new places, after years of that feeling impossible (see background story on the Home page).
            Yet there is comfort in repetition.
            Like Sean, we understand the pleasure of experiencing the same place more than once. The area above Rodeo Beach, around Battery Townsley in the Marin Headlands, is one of those places for us.
            It may merit a short walk one day, a long hike on another. The ocean may be sparkling like diamonds, surfers appearing as silhouettes in the foreground of a stunning background of big ships and rock formations. Or it may be so foggy you can barely see ten feet in front of you, an aesthetic pleasure in its own right.
            This week’s Hike Notes, Old Bunker Road, lead us on a one mile path between the Marine Mammal Center and Battery Townsley in the Marin Headlands, offering glorious views of rolling hills and the Pacific.
            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 85: Old Bunker Road

Underestimating Ourselves
            One of the things special needs parents fear most is that others will underestimate our child’s capacity to learn and grow. Individuals who learn and communicate differently are easily left by the wayside. Being stuck in neutral isn’t the worst of it. If there is a lack of opportunity and support for moving forward, special needs individuals slip backwards.
            For us, having a son who was scared to leave the house, scared to go in the car, and scared to set foot in a new place made every step forward seem impossible.
            Workers in the special needs field sometimes spot an opening that a parent can’t see, or is afraid to try. An outdoor activity helper decided that it was time for our son to try kayaking. Despite being afraid of so many things. Despite not knowing how to swim.
            With the logistical help of our helper, my son and I found ourselves floating in kayaks on the shimmering waters of Richardson Bay. Not only did my son not panic and flip the kayak over, but we were able to paddle near sunbathing harbor seals and artfully posed sea birds near the Sausalito shore. We’ve gone several times.
            The cumulative knowledge of specialists who work wonders with special needs kids occasionally surpasses what we parents see as possible. Turns out that there are numerous support organizations that offer water activities like kayaking, canoeing, and even whitewater rafting for special needs individuals.
            Seeing my son bravely try new things inspires me. Strong and adventurous though I think I am, I’ve had to learn how to push past boundaries to try new things, too.
            We all have more capacity to learn and grow—at whatever age—than we consciously recognize.
            Do not underestimate loved ones. Do not underestimate yourself.
            This week’s Hike Notes, Richardson Bay Kayaking, introduce a popular spot in Sausalito for kayaking and paddle boarding.
            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 84: Richardson Bay Kayaking

Guardians
            We watch over others. Family, friends, a passerby in peril. Some may not be aware that we’re standing quietly at guard for them, but we are. And that’s as it should be.
            Others watch over us. Family, friends, a passerby who sees us in peril. We may not be aware that someone is standing quietly at guard for us, but they are. And that’s as it should be.
            Until the day I leave this earth, I will be tearfully thanking a particular guardian who watched over us. (There are of course many I offer ongoing thanks to.) The HikingAutism.com web site was born from our family’s ability to overcome years of being housebound due to our autistic son’s overwhelming neurological and sensory challenges (Home).
            Our “autism whisperer” David (In Memory and Thanks) helped our son and thus our family get back out in the world. Even better, we got out on hiking trails.
            Weeks before his death, David, my son and I had a mysterious interaction with a group of ravens. From that day forward, I associated ravens with his presence.
            Years after his death, I still think of David when I see a raven. I feel comforted, like someone is guarding over me and my family.
            This week’s Hike Notes take us to Muir Beach Overlook, which can be simply a one-stop viewing spot with glorious views, or can be the starting spot for various hikes. (Watch for picturesque ravens posing along the stairway path.)
            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 83: Muir Beach Overlook

Murmuring Shadows
            A dark pathway descends at geometric angles through deep greenery, metal railings glimmering in the late afternoon light.
            Now we are in a quiet circular space, flowers in the center, memorializing the many whose memories rest here.
            Walk a little further, and we are in shady forest. Gentle shadows envelop visitors with a calming sense that encourages contemplation.
            Artfully placed benches invite visitors to be still for a moment in the comfort of nature.
            A lone person on a bench may be communing with the spirit of a lost loved one. The benches emanate a welcoming spirit. Empty seats may in fact be occupied by the essence of old friends who have found each other.
            The eastern end of Golden Gate Park tends to be a lively place full of cars, bikes, and pedestrians, hurrying from one iconic visitor site to another. The AIDS Memorial Grove is a hidden spot of tranquility within that.
            The subtle paths that lead into the AIDS Memorial Grove are easy to miss. Those who do find their way will encounter messages of love, loss, and a resilient spirit of carrying on despite the most heartbreaking and difficult circumstances.
            This beautiful, quiet place reverberates with the indomitable spirit of love enduring.
            This week’s Hike Notes, AIDS Memorial Grove – Golden Gate Park, sweep us from the bustling, noisy part of Golden Gate Park into a comforting, tranquil forest space.
            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 82: AIDS Memorial Grove – Golden Gate Park

Anticipation
            I first heard “Steep Ravine” when looking up new trails to hike in Marin County. The name exuded an enticing mixture of a promising hiking adventure and potential peril. Photos of winding stone stairways and a ladder for climbing a steep part of the trail put this on my do-or-die list.
            I later found out about cliff side rustic cabins of the same name facing the Pacific at the end of the Steep Ravine Trail. No electricity, no indoor water, no showers, bathrooms down the trail. These are still the most sought after cabin reservations in the area, despite the bare bones accommodations.
            Steep Ravine Trail. Steep Ravine Cabins. I built up expectations in my head long before I was able to actually experience them.
            Did they disappoint? They did not. Several hikes on the Steep Ravine Trail, connecting from various trails, and multiple stays in those rustic cabins later, I can report that every visit brings a magical sense of the nature unique to these places.
            This appreciation may be due in part to the iconic essence of these sites, and in part to wisdom gained over time. Years ago, I might have felt crestfallen when all did not match my pre-conceived image of perfection. I’ve now gained the ability to appreciate unexpected twists and turns, and take joy in discovering fresh realities which never exactly match my anticipation.
            This week’s Hike Notes, Rocky Point Road to Steep Ravine Cabins, introduce a paved road walk from Shoreline Highway—Stinson Beach in view—down to the iconic Steep Ravine cabins, only accessible by car if you’ve snagged a hard-to-get reservation that comes with the gate code. Walking gives more time to enjoy the scenery! View in this photo is from Stinson Beach looking toward the Steep Ravine Cabins.
            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 81: Rocky Point Road to Steep Ravine Cabins

Home Away from Home
            A rustic wooden cottage. Trees and blue sky reflecting in water. Leaves blowing across a path. A lone figure flicking a fishing line.
            Images from my childhood in the Adirondack foothills float into my head unexpectedly, triggered by parallels appearing thousands of miles away on the West Coast.
            Nostalgic childhood reflections can pop up whether we live thirty miles or three thousand miles from the place we grew up.
            I treasure the early years I spent running barefoot in the woods and creeks of rural New York State.
            Now a city dweller, I am even more grateful for the abundant sources of stunning natural beauty that I find in every direction in the San Francisco Bay Area.
            This week’s Hike Notes, Bison, Fly Fishing and Horses – Golden Gate Park, introduces a walk my family thinks of as “our own back yard.” Within a short distance, visitors can see bison in a historic paddock, visit the Anglers Lodge and Casting Pools (the “fly fishing pond” as we call it), and the San Francisco Police Department horse stables, all of which bring back memories of back east for me.
            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.
            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 80: Bison, Fly Fishing and Horses – Golden Gate Park

Forging Ahead
            As a kid, I often created plans in my head, honed down to the finest details.
            The world doesn’t usually spin according to the perfect images in our heads. The slightest deviation from my intended outcome would throw me into a tizzy. It would take buckets of frustration tears before I could step forward along the path of reality.
            My son on the autism spectrum can’t express this verbally, but his behavior reflects the same pattern when things don’t go as he imagined.
            Whether a small scale plan (an activity for the day), or a large scale plan (one’s personal life and career), obstacles appear unexpectedly. The weather changes. Support systems change. Our own capacities change. 
            Stomping our feet in frustration in the same spot immobilizes us, physically and emotionally.
            Moving forward on the logical path in view extracts us from the dark-place emotional mud pit. What initially feels like failure is usually an opportunity to learn and grow.
            This week’s Hike Notes, San Bruno Mountain - Ridge Trail, introduces the highest trail on San Bruno Mountain. (See San Bruno Mountain - Saddle Trail for another hike in this area.) The clear cut paths on this high ridge make it easy to keep putting one foot forward.
            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.
            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 79: San Bruno Mountain - Ridge Trail