Passing Through Fences

Passing Through Fences
            I can’t count how many barbed wire fences my brothers and I slipped through as kids.
            This was a required skill for traipsing through our playground of endless farmland.
            In generous moments, one sibling would step the middle wire down and pull the upper wire up for another to pass through.
            After winter jacket holes earned struggling against the barbs alone, even the most stubbornly independent of us accepted the offer, an act of silent camaraderie.
            My older son, born and raised in a city, teases me when I wax nostalgic about my creek and forest-filled childhood.
            Raising two boys in an urban environment makes it hard to share a treasure from my development: racking up miles of earth underfoot, sky overhead.
            One day, while I mused over where to take our autistic son for a short walk, my older son said, “I know a place.”
            We parked on a city street, bordering an open space area. He led us down the sidewalk, along a typical wood and metal barrier fence.
            “This way,” he said, climbing under the barrier fence onto a dirt path. One at a time, we dropped below the fence and followed.
            The trail descended to a creek valley, haunted with tunnels of ivy-covered trees. A narrow passage opened out onto the beach. A surprise from our city boy, compliments of his memory of a science field trip.
            Today’s Hike Notes are about the short but visually stimulating walk from Lobos Creek to Baker Beach. This trail along the final stretch of Lobos Creek, the last free running stream in San Francisco, opens onto the popular Baker Beach. This is a new favorite when we’re low on energy but want a little sense of adventure.
            Please feel free to share. If you’re not able to take one of these Northern California hikes, hopefully you can enjoy the photos!
            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 25: Lobos Creek to Baker Beach