Hidden Gems
            A spider web bejeweled with dewdrops. A daffodil popping up unexpectedly through the snow. A sudden parting of dark clouds to reveal a glowing orange sunset.
            Sometimes we stumble onto small things that bring great joy. Nature’s stealth mission is to surprise us with these heart lifting revelations.
            Hidden gems appear of their own accord, if we keep our eyes open to see them.
            This week’s Hike Notes, Lily Pond – Golden Gate Park, introduces a little treasure we stumbled onto after long years of walking right past the entry path in San Francisco’s Golden Gate 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 98: Lily Pond – Golden Gate Park

Long and Winding Road
            If we’re lucky, we’ll live long enough to face big challenges. That’s what I remind myself when I hit rough bumps on the path of life.
            It’s usually when things are going remarkably well—that moment when I say to myself, “Gee, I haven’t had to deal with any major problems lately, how weird is that?”—when the next landmine blows up.
            Smooth stretches inevitably hit curves. One turn in our trail reveals unexpected trouble. Another leads to a happy surprise.
            Over time, we learn how to navigate the curves.
            Connect with loved ones, step outside for a breath of fresh air, look at the sunset. Simple things can smooth even the roughest bumps on the trail.
            This week’s Hike Notes, Wood Line - Presidio, take readers along the mesmerizing twists and turns of Wood Line, a curving line of trees through a wooded stretch of the Presidio in San Francisco created by renowned environmental artist Andy Goldsworthy.
            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 97: Wood Line - Presidio

Unmarked Trails
            Some of the best trails have no official name. A nameless line indicating a trail might appear on one map and not another. Lesser known trails don’t show up on any map.
            A favorite exchange about the contrast between outdoor time in Northern California where I reside now, and in New York State’s rural Mohawk Valley where I grew up (which has surely appeared in a previous hikingautism.com Insights post):
            “What’s the difference between the trails we hike in California and the trails where I grew up?”
            “Where I grew up, we didn’t have trails!”
            There were of course named trails with signs indicating distances and directions in established wilderness areas like the Adirondacks.
            In the woodsy area where I grew up, however, we did not have marked trails. We had faded paths through fields and forests, created by animals, weather patterns, ourselves, or ancient peoples long gone. We also had our instincts—for where best to cross a creek, how not get lost in the woods, or which farm field to cross to find a road leading home.
            The San Francisco Bay Area has an abundance of beautiful named trails, but we also have anonymous trails. Those require a bit of bushwhacking skill to keep a sense of direction, and hopefully stay out of poison oak and avoid ticks. That’s what adds extra spice to a hike.
            When given the option to stay on a main trail or wander off trail a bit, I usually choose the latter.
            Often in daily life we stick to the easy routine path, our “named trails.” Go ahead and wander off the main trail once in a while. Trying something unfamiliar is good exercise for our heads and hearts.
            This week’s Hike Notes, Oakwood Valley - Alta Trail, introduce the Oakwood Meadow Trail leading up to the Alta Trail, which offers great views. In the end, this hike leads back to the start along an unnamed trail that has its own charm and challenges.
            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 96: Oakwood Valley-Alta Trail

Your Own Shangri-La
            Shangri-La… mystical, earthly paradise, hidden from the known world. An iconic fictional destination.
            What if there really is a Shangri-La? A place of stunning beauty and harmony, where the rest of the world’s troubles feel non-existent?
            We all have the power to find a personal sanctuary of tranquility.
            Though I’ve been in many fitness classes that guide students to “be in the moment,” I am not an expert on meditation or mindfulness. Having spent much of my life feeling hyper, edgy and impatient, I do not find peace of mind easily.
            And yet, I have discovered my Shangri-La. Make that plural: Shangri-Las. 
            From early childhood, no matter what storms were brewing on whatever front, a walk through the woods, along the creek, or through the fields near my house transported me away from emotional turmoil.
            Heart-gripping, sob-inducing troubles dissipated as I put one foot in front of the other, pushing through dense brush, climbing through fences, following barely visible ancient paths.
            Every hiking site noted in HikingAutism.com has offered me some level of calm and focus.
            Shangri-La, the elusive place of beauty and harmony, exists at any given moment in the place we happen to be standing. It is a state of mind and perception. I am grateful to live in a place where every direction holds the potential for a Shangri-La mental break.
            Step outside to look at the sunrise, the sunset, flowers near your home. The uplifting benefits of “living in the moment” with nature in view are simultaneously priceless and free of charge.
            This week’s Hike Notes take us to a place that offers plenty of Shangri-La caliber views, Fort Funston Upper Trails. Leash-free status makes it a hot spot for walking dogs, but plenty of us enjoy walks there without owning a dog.
            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 95: Fort Funston Upper Trails

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

Beauty Beneath the Surface
            Beauty is not always easy to see.
         The Ugly Duckling eventually reveals its physical loveliness as a graceful swan, but not all beauty is visual.
        Those with disabilities often have quirks that dominate what the uninitiated see—atypical physical features, an inability to move easily or gracefully, behavior that doesn't match social expectations, cognitive or neurological challenges, difficulty with social interaction, intimidating medical needs.
            At a glance, those things may seem off-putting. Unfamiliarity may breed contempt.
           But for those of us who care for a person with disabilities, those differences do not preclude other forms of beauty.
            Though he rarely looks me in the eye, an autism trait making him seem aloof, I know that my son’s heart is full of love and sensitivity.
            Though his obsessive compulsions drive family members crazy with repeated irritating behaviors, the unconventional liveliness our son creates brings healing laughter of solidarity.
            Though his instinct to share physical affection appears rarely, the spontaneous hugs I receive from my son as I help him brush his teeth and wash his face melt my heart.
            His pure, innocent sharing of a warm hug. The twinkle in his eye when he feels we’ve shared an inside joke. His bravery in overcoming overwhelming sensory overload and fears to do something he needs to do. These express the beauty of my son’s heart.
            Thanks to those living with extraordinary challenges for sharing your beautiful selves with the rest of us, whether we be caregivers or strangers on the street. How true that we cannot judge books by their covers.
            This week’s Hike Notes introduce a Las Gallinas Pond Walk. Though a surprise choice at first glance—being part of a sewage treatment facility—the wildlife ponds at Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary District offer beautiful views of Marin, and the chance to see an abundant variety of local birds, with an emphasis on a rich array of water fowl.
            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 90: Las Gallinas Pond Walk