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

He Ain’t Heavy
            Nowadays most people know someone with a family member on the autism spectrum. It has become so prevalent that people who meet our family—with our younger son clearly dealing with challenges due to his autism—quickly tell us that a nephew, a cousin, a granddaughter, or a friend’s friend is dealing with similar challenges.
            Much attention is paid to the struggles of parents trying to help their special needs children. Emotional stress, financial stress, the stress of trying to interact with society when your family doesn’t fit in easily.
            Only in recent years has more attention been paid to siblings of special needs family members. Whatever disability one child may be dealing with—physical, cognitive, emotional—it means that the “typically developing” siblings often get sidelined. Parents are relentlessly “putting out fires” on the health front, school front, safety and survival front for the child with more urgent struggles.
            In siblings whose needs were unavoidably put on the backburner, a spirit of generosity and understanding often shines through. It is a bright spot reached through adversity.
            Our older son takes it upon himself to take his younger brother by the hand when we go on hikes. “You go ahead, I’ve got Sean,” he says, offering tired parents brief respite to shoot photos, or just stop and gaze at the scenery. 
            Thanks to all the siblings who help their special needs brothers and sisters. We know it’s not easy!
            This week’s Hike Notes, Oak Woodlands Trail-Golden Gate Park, takes readers on a scenic, woodsy trail hidden right in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. We discovered this trail for the first time recently despite living right by Golden Gate Park for decades!
            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 78: Oak Woodlands Trail-Golden Gate Park

Catch Your Wave
            Twelve surfers sit facing the horizon.
            A promising wave starts to form just beyond the line of surfboards.
            Half the surfers let the wave pass by.
            Another four turn their boards and start to paddle, then shift gears and let the wave roll past.
            The last two catch the crest and steer their boards along the edge, twisting to adjust position. One rides to the frothy end in the shallows. The other cuts back midway and faces away from shore, waiting for a better wave.
            With what appears to be the same spot, same wave, and same goal, the surfers chose different options.
            Countless nuances affect our choices. For a surfer it might be the way a wave breaks, or how near the next surfer is. And there’s the indefinable, personal sense at a crucial instant of whether to go for it.
            Making choices based on experience and instinct is our right, whether we can explain our reasoning or not. We may not totally understand the triggers that make us say yes or no. Gut instinct is a force to be respected and honed.
            Catch the waves you feel right about. Let the others roll past. Tap into your senses to make a choice again next time.
            This week’s Hike Notes, Rockaway Beach to Pacifica State Beach, reflect this instinctive choice phenomenon. My family loves the northern end of Pacifica State Beach, but we don’t like the crowds and tight parking lot at the southern end. We still choose to go to Pacifica State Beach, but we start from neighboring Rockaway Beach and hike over the hill to get there. Sometimes life lets us enjoy two good choices in one!
            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 77: Rockaway Beach to Pacifica State Beach

The Unsteady But Persistent Path
            “Have a goal. Stick to the path. If you’re determined, you will reach your goal.”
            Ha! Sounds great, but life just isn’t that simple.
            Though those points are true to a degree, it’s unfortunate when people feel like failures because their path to a goal is rough and twisted.
            All of us fall down and have to pick ourselves up again. Failure leads to hard-earned progress.
            For families like ours with one member severely challenged on multiple fronts, it may look like we’re aiming low to others. When things are tough, our goal may be to just survive the day, or the hour.
            Our younger son is autistic, epileptic, and has limited language ability. Unpredictable behavior and multiple allergies can throw things off track in an instant. He also suffered such extreme sensory overload for a stretch that he could barely leave the house. (See the Home page.)
            The thought that we’d ever go on an overnight trip seemed like a joke. Being away from home is hard for our son, and thus for the rest of us. Spending time in public can also be exhausting when your family member doesn’t match social expectations.
            Despite that, with strong encouragement and logistical support, we managed to go on a one night trip, and then another. Then we did a two night trip away.
            Gaining the ability to go on short family trips wasn’t easy, but we persisted through ups and downs, and learned to laugh at the trouble spots.
            Fall on your face, pick yourself up, and try again. You might discover that you’ve been enjoying things along the way, despite the challenges.
            This week’s Hike Notes take readers to Asilomar State Beach. This one mile stretch of beach on the western side of Pacific Grove, CA offers stunning views along wooden paths and sandy walkways.
            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 76: Asilomar State Beach

Take the Plunge
            Summers as a kid in the forest-covered, lake-filled Mohawk Valley where I grew up meant swimming. We knew the best swimming holes in the creeks and countless lakes dotting the wider Adirondack region.
            Though no longer an option due to safety and environmental issues, summer also used to mean hiking to the geologically fascinating, aesthetically stunning Trenton Falls Gorge. A hopefully well-tied climbing rope awaited those who dared to climb up the multi-tiered rock face.
            Once atop the cliff ledge, the only way down was to jump out from the rocks into the bracing cold water below. Freezing in fear on the cliff was only a temporary option, because the rope logistics didn’t work going down. Climb. Jump. Swim.
            The San Francisco Bay Area is rich in natural wonders, including ocean, lakes and rivers. Yet swimming spots are not easy to come by. Too cold, too big, too dangerous. I missed having easy swim spots to take my kids.
            When my son’s hiking/autism helper said there was a lake with a rope swing in Marin County, I was determined to get there. A year after hearing about it, with almost three miles of hiking trail behind us, the rope swing loomed before us.
            Big tree, high on a hill over the lake. Hard for a short person like me to even reach the dangling bit of rope.
            “Ready, set, go!” my son said as I stood holding the rope, trying to rev myself up to swing out over the lake. “Say it again, Sean,” I said, procrastinating for another few seconds.
            “Ready, set, go!” And there I went. Flying free for a brief moment, I then felt the icy shock of cold lake water. It was so great I did it two more times.
            Maybe there’s a difficult challenge we have to face. Or something fun and exciting that takes courage to try. Sometimes it takes an extra push for that last big leap forward.
            Listen to voices cheering you on, even if it’s just your own. Brace yourself. Picture yourself moving toward your goal. Leap forward.
            Plunging ahead is not always easy, and the results are almost never exactly as we imagined. Sometimes that first step is the hardest.
            If you stumble—and most of us do—get back up and try again.
            This week’s Hike Notes introduce Bass Lake, a woodsy lake near Bolinas, California worth the Coastal Trail hike to get there.
            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 75: Bass Lake

Nature In the City
            Crossing rocky, ice cold creeks in bare feet. Traipsing through hilly, rocky farm fields and deep pine forests—on 90°F summer days and –15°F winter days alike. Staying vigilant at the sound of a black bear’s breathing outside a tent during Adirondack summers. My love of the outdoors from childhood is a guiding force in my life.
            And yet I raised two sons in a city.
            Living in a city does not mean being deprived of nature. Our urban region is home to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, one of the largest National Park areas. Countless state parks, county parks, open space preserves, and various other sites add up to a natural treasure trove.
            For those with family members dealing with tough challenges—physical, mental, developmental—getting out to a beautiful nature spot may feel impossible, as it felt to our family for years (see the Home page background story).
            With help and effort, we gained the ability to get to many amazing sites, some of them challenging to get to both logistically and physically.
            Maybe you lack the mobility, support, or logistical means to get to nature sites in your area. Don’t give up. Absorb the beauty of nature at hand. Front porch flowers. Neighborhood trees. A potted plant on your windowsill. Vines growing through a fence. Watch the sunrise or sunset, even through a window. Listen to the rustle of leaves on trees. Feel a breeze blowing on your face.
            Reach out for help, as we did (In Memory and Thanks), and one day you may get further afield.
            This week’s Hike Notes, Corona Heights-Randall Museum, shows one example of the abundant nature—from geological history, to rare wildflowers, to even rarer butterflies—that even a city setting like San Francisco has to offer.
            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 74: Corona Heights-Randall Museum

Stumbling Onto Things As We Go Along
            After graduating from college at 20, I worked several months to earn plane fare to Japan and a few months’ living expenses. I arrived in Kyoto at age 21 and stayed for five and a half years.
            Though many aspects of Japanese society are rigid and controlled, I learned some things about loosening up. A favorite Japanese term is ikiataribattari, which loosely translated, means doing things hit or miss, haphazardly, or trusting things to chance. It’s often used when we want to go out but don’t have a set destination. “Let’s just head out and wander, and see what we stumble onto that catches our interest.”
            When heading out for a hike with my autistic son and his hiking buddy helper, we don’t always have a plan set in stone. Even if we did, traffic, weather conditions, and energy levels don’t always cooperate.
            We jump in the car, head across the Golden Gate Bridge, and determine a destination as we go along. If we miss an exit while debating where to go, there are more options further up the highway.
            Sometimes you find happy new places by just stumbling along. This week’s Hike Notes, Stafford Lake Nature Walk, take us to one of those unexpected destinations. The Terwilliger Nature Trail in Novato is an easy, pleasant hike in the rolling hills of Marin that is great even for beginners.
            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 73: Stafford Lake Nature Walk

Unexpected Angels
            Over the course of a lifetime, each of us will be touched by the generous spirit of others.
            Family and friends are often the first line of support when we hit bumps in life: an illness in the family, loss of a job, a home, a loved one.
            And how many heartfelt stories have we heard of a teacher, a nurse, or a caring neighbor changing a person’s life through kindness given above and beyond the call of duty?
            Key uplifting life moments may spark from surprising places. A casual acquaintance steps up to help when hearing of someone’s struggle. A stranger on the street sees a person in peril and takes action. A social media contact reaches out to someone showing signs of trouble.
            One of our family’s unexpected angels was our son’s “autism whisperer” David (In Memory and Thanks), whose brief time on earth left the legacy of our son’s ability to get out in the world, and my wish to share that positive spirit with others.
            We are grateful for the other “angels” who have stepped up and continued to walk by our side. The unanticipated kindness of strangers continues to surprise us.
            Never underestimate the power of goodness in the human spirit.
            When graced by the goodwill of others, find a moment to express gratitude. If given the opportunity, be that comforting angel for someone in need.
            This week’s Hike Notes, Telegraph Hill Stair Walk, takes readers on one of the many stunning stairway walks in 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.
            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 72: Telegraph Hill Stair Walk