This weekend, after a few months hiatus, we went hiking.
Since moving to California nearly a year ago, we've enjoyed taking advantage of the diverse geography (hiking, wine, ocean, etc), but without a car, and primarily public transportation at our disposal, hiking has proven to be slightly more difficult than when we had a car and were living in the south bay.
On Saturday we rented a Zip Car and headed down Highway 1 past Pacifica, to the McNee Ranch State Park. We were kind-of celebrating my birthday with this hike (I know, I'm a sick person to choose physical activity for a birthday celebration) so my husband allowed me to select the trail. A sad mistake for our bodies.
I chose a 'strenuous' trail (ha!) thinking it would be closer to moderate for us — we're more in-shape than the average person, right?. Turns out, strenuous (defined as demanding or requiring vigorous exertion; laborious) was actually closer to difficult (defined as not easily or readily done), but the views were amazing. We hiked from sea level — literally from the ocean — to nearly 2000 feet in about 3.5 miles. It was painful, it was crazy, and it was beautiful. At one point, we were able to see the ocean and the East Bay at the same time and San Francisco was a glorious peninsula separating the bay from the sea.
We also enjoyed a beautiful Sunday evening along Embarcadero in the city. While the Golden Gate Bridge is the landmark of the city, I argue that the Bay Bridge (and surrounding area) is the most beautiful.