Urban Hiker SF

I hike by myself...a lot...especially during COVID. While sometimes I like to just take in the surroundings, many times I like to listen to podcasts. Luckily for us there are a number of great hiking podcasts out there right now. Here are some of my favorites. Some of these have a feminine focus, but that doesn't mean everyone can't enjoy them. G irl Gotta Hike The Girl Gotta hike podcast features "interviews with adventurous women and outdoor entrepreneurs" and is hosted by Melissa "Click" Goodwin. Melissa is an accomplished day- and long-distance hiker who's completed the Appalachian Trail (2011), the John Muir Trail (2016), the Long Trail (2017), Mount Everest Base Camp (2018), and the Hundred-Mile Wilderness (2019). She's a professional photographer, but whenever she can, she leads hikes and backpacking trips in the NYC area, the Catskills, and beyond. You can listen to my episode on the podcast , and I loved the two episodes on forest bathing

In mid-March 2020, the coronavirus began spreading rapidly across the United States, and here in San Francisco we were the first city in the country to go into lockdown. We were supposed to stay at home and only go out for the essentials, such as food and exercise, but as per usual I was antsy AF. 🤣 I wanted to follow Mayor Breed's stay at home order, so I decided I would go out, but I would only go as far as my legs would take me (no cars, buses, or Lyfts). After a few walks throughout the Mission, Castro, Glen Park, Diamond Heights, and Potrero Hill, I was reminded of all of the amazing stairways scattered throughout the city. Auspiciously, I had also checked out Stairway Walks in San Francisco from the library. I thought to myself, "What if I could see them all?" I then had the idea to document all of San Francisco's stairways. Over the past five months, I have documented 800 stairways on a map ( https://bit.ly/sfstairmap ), a spreadsheet ( https://bit

Whether you're a tourist, an SF noob, or an old-timer (like I'm becoming 😱), we all want the same thing: killer photos of the Golden Gate Bridge 🌉. After 13 years in this city (and 8 of them guiding folks around on hiking tours and writing hiking books ), I've identified some special spots for memorable shots. This post covers 10 spots in San Francisco, and soon I'll post on where to take bridge photos in Marin County. Ten San Francisco spots to take great photos of the Golden Gate Bridge Baker Beach Location: Battery Chamberlin Road in the Presidio About: The combo of the bridge, beach, and ocean make Baker Beach a classic choice for Golden Gate Bridge photos. The only issue you can run into here is that it can get crowded on warm days. To ditch the crowds, head north, but if you're shy, don't roam too far as the north end of the beach is known for its nude sunbathers .  Parking: LARGE parking lot (rare for SF!) at the end of Battery Chamberlin Road. Bat