The Coast

When I lived in Boulder and told people I didn't like it, I was met with disbelief.

"But you love hiking!" they'd say.

And I do love hiking. But I can hike in the Bay Area year round, solo, without worrying about being trapped in a freak snow storm.

And the views, the beautiful views of the ocean that can be around every turn if you so wish, easily knock out the views of towns and land horizons that you might get in Boulder (if you hike high enough).

When I first drove back to San Francisco from Colorado I could practically see the ocean in the future ahead of me. I missed it with a deep ache. And when I finally saw it again it gave me that swelling feeling that you get in your chest when something suddenly feels very right.

On Sunday morning I woke up needing to see the ocean from the broadest possible vantage, where you look out on the horizon and feel that you can see the curvature of the earth. I drove out early and took the Coastal Trail from Muir Beach to Tennessee Valley Beach, and all along the way this is what I saw:




The trail follows the coast all the way to Mexico, according to signs on the path.

The part I walked on is nearly a cliff, with fissures here and there, where if the earth is damp you could potentially slide all the way down the face to the waves breaking below.

I'm so glad to be back here.