Hiking Happiness

I went out for what I thought was going to be a short stroll through the neighborhood on Friday morning but ended up getting distracted when I found a trail that I hadn’t been on before and followed it. That’s one of the things I am really enjoying about having this flexible time in my life. I wasn’t getting in a half hour walk before I had to head to work. I had things I needed to do today, but I could do them in my own time so I could explore. The trail initially took me into a neighborhood that I had been in before so I followed the next part of the path down and came to a gravel fire road so decided to go that way. I passed a tree that looked like it had been used as a scratching post by a mountain lion, a couple of runners and a woman walking four dogs, one of which was holding his own leash in his mouth, very cute. The trail then started winding up and up and I realized I was headed toward where Shoreline Highway intersects with the Miwok trail. I decided to keep going knowing that I could eventually get home though it would take me a little while if I stayed on the Miwok trail. I kept shedding layers and then putting them back on as I alternated between walking in the sunshine and the fog. The trail changed back and forth from dry and dusty to very muddy, so I found a walking stick in case I came to any steep downhill stretches. 

I hopped on the Miwok trail and when I found a trail headed down back into a different part of the neighborhood I decided to take it figuring it would eventually put me out on the road and I could get back home. I was able to do that, but not after going down a very, very steep trail trail, and I was extremely grateful I had found a walking stick. I passed a guy hiking up the trail with his dog and commented on how impressed I was he was going up because of how steep the trail was. He said that he hiked it every day with his dog, and that going down was actually harder, which made me feel a little better. I could tell during the winter rainstorms the trail had basically become a creek. There were several places where hikers had created a looping trail curving in and around the main trail, I assume in order to avoid hiking in the water. This also made it a little bit easier for me to get down the trail. It eventually popped me out at the top of Laguna Street, an area I knew very well as close family friends lived at the bottom of the street. Their oldest daughter is my age, their son was my sister Michelle‘s age and their younger daughter was my sister Nata‘s age so we spent a lot of time at each other’s houses. They had a huge front yard filled with trees which we called The Forest, and we spent hours playing there. In the open space near the top of the street were two sculptures of frogs meditating on top of an old tree stump, very whimsical! I got back home after that trek feeling like I had a good workout and was ready to sit down and do some more work on my gap year guide. 

Mom and I went for a walk after lunch, and I joked that we were dressed like we were in two completely different climates. I had on a T-shirt, shorts and sandals with a sun hat, and she had on long pants, tennis shoes, a warm sweater, an insulated vest, and a scarf! It turned out I had made the right wardrobe choice, as it was a warm and sunny afternoon, and Mom quickly shed a few layers.