Another beautiful day in the San Francisco fog. When people first started referring to this time of year as the San Francisco Winter I had no idea what they were talking about. But the past few days have helped me to realize what exactly they mean. The morning fog lingers, sometimes all day, and creates this cool breeze that really makes it feel like fall in the middle of summer. That is how today started, it was windy and cold as I jumped in Lindsey's car and headed for the Dipsea Trail in Mill Valley.
Lindsey is an old friend of mine from the Tahoe days. She actually was my neighbor, who left Tahoe and moved to San Francisco. I told her when she moved here I would come visit and almost six years later I am visiting on a permanent basis. What a small world.
This morning when she picked me up all I knew is we were headed out of the city for what she called some training followed by a hike. The hike part I was looking forward to but when she said "training" that is when I began to question things a bit. I believe my initial quote to her was "This isn't Fight Club is it?".
The description she gave us as we headed out there wasn't painting any sort of picture I wanted to see either. The discussion quickly turned to the 677 stairs that we would have to climb at the start of our journey. The idea of jumping out of her moving Subaru definitely crossed my mind, but realizing it probably wasn't worth the money I would have to fork over to the hospital I stayed in the car and we continued out to the Valley that is Mill.
The drive out there was actually kind of cool. Heading over the Golden Gate Bridge is fun. I mean it's like every other bridge you have ever driven over in the fog. Except is is that SWEET (read the sarcasm here) red/orange color. It is a pretty cool bridge but just a bridge all in the same. And while I am sure I will soon be blogging about my trip there, I am slightly dreading it due to the enormous number of tourists I saw today. Maybe I'll check it out the next time we have a torrential down poor. That tends to stave off the tourists.
After making it accross the bridge we finally arrived at our destination. The "hike" itself started with a mellow walk through a park with children playing. Relatively mundane really. I believe it was the site of an old mill or something like that. Then all of a sudden we are at the base of the stairs that signify the true start of the adventure. It looks a little something like this, stairs as far as your eyes can see. If someone told me this is was the Zeppelin song was about I would have to believe them. Then when you think you have reached the top one of your "friends" decides to inform you that is only the first of three sets that you will be walking up. It's probably not as bad as I am making it sound, but when you are see them for the first time they do seem rather ominous.
Once we make it up the stairs the training portion of our day is over and now we can start hiking. We meander down the single track trail in the woods and catch the occasional glimpse into the wooded valley. It really is a gorgeous area. The way we were able to go from the heart of the city to natures playground really reminded me of home. We continued down this trail for a while until we found the Tourist Club. By this time the weather had once again made its standard 180 degree flip and we were enjoying blue skies and warm sun.
The touist club is a Bavarian style, private club that is built on the trail and serves up cold beers on the weekends to the public. They have an amazing deck you can sit on and enjoy the view. And feel free to pack a lunch. They will provide the beverages and you can eat your sando while enjoying the lush green valley.
After a bit of an extended stay we head back down the trail, back down the 677 stairs, and back to the car. It really was a great day. Not only did I get to connect with an old friend in a new city I got to do it in a really beautiful place. If your in the area and have a chance it is definitely a place worth checking out. And don't forget to pick up a burrito at Grillys on the way back. Its a delicious way to pack on all those calories you just burned off on the stairs.
Dipsea Trail Link
