Trail with No Name

Trail with No Name
            Skimming over a map, I noticed a small trail I’d never walked, despite being in familiar hiking turf. The map showed a line with no name. It wasn’t long, but it hugged the edge of the bluffs in a stunningly scenic stretch of coast. We drove to check it out, knowing we might be chasing an empty promise.
            We stood looking where the trail should be, but at a quick glance didn’t spot a trailhead. I checked the map against our nearby landmarks. There was no trail sign, but I spotted a narrow footpath opening through low coyote brush and rising up a hill.
            “This is it,” I said, starting to chug up the steep start of the trail. My companions followed.
            “Wow,” we said when we got to the top of the bluff.
            The Golden Gate Bridge loomed behind us, and came into better view the further down the trail we went.
            The rolling green-gray hills of the Marin Headlands rose to our right as we walked.
            Point Bonita Lighthouse and the sparkling cove before it stayed in view as we walked. Sailboats floated midway across the water to a view of the beaches lining San Francisco.
            In our very short walk high above Black Sands Beach, we not only had glorious views all around, but we heard a scuffling noise in the brush that sounded way bigger than the small lizards or birds that sometimes skitter across a path. Was it a bobcat? A mountain lion? We heard it again and turned back to see a deer popping up through the coyote brush. She looked at us with a coquettish turn of the head, then leapt away into the brush.
            The end of the path actually faded to a steep cliff edge that could tumble us down to the rocks and water below, or make a steep, bumpy landing on the road, so we backtracked a bit to find a smoother path back down to Conzelman Road.
            Our trail was short and nameless, but it made for a great little adventure. Sometimes the unnamed trails are the most satisfying.
            Remember to give lesser known places a visit. Keep putting one foot forward!
            This week’s Hike Notes, Headlands Lookout Bluff View Walk, introduces a short stretch of unnamed trail that offers stunning views above the Marin Headlands.
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New this week:
Hike Notes 212: Headlands Lookout Bluff View Walk