Urban Hiker SF

The holidays can be fun—or stressful—if you're trying to pick out the perfect gift for a loved one. To make your job a little easier, we at Urban Hiker SF have compiled a list of gifts for your favorite urban explorers. These are my own personal recommendations and are not sponsored by these companies. I've organized this list into a few categories: fitness trackers, hiking gear, clothing, books, and misc. in case you want to scroll down to the category that's most relevant for what you're looking for. FITNESS TRACKERS Fitbit: I wear a Fitbit every day and love how it tracks my sleep, measures my heart rate, reminds me to move, and lets me use the Fitbit app to enter friendly competitions with friends (or solo). Though it's one of the more expensive models, I wear and recommend the Alta HR because I love seeing how my resting heart rate goes down after a few days of activity or how the amount of sleep I get affects my mood for the rest of the day. Amazfi...

At a book signing for Urban Trails San Francisco in early 2017, an attendee asked me if I had heard of Mt. Umunhum. Um...unhum? Um...no. I had done a fair bit of hiking in the Bay Area to research and write my book, so I was perplexed as to why I hadn't heard about this mountain. When I returned home, I Googled it and realized that Mt. Umunhum had been closed to the public since 1958. Lucky for me, it was set to re-open in September 2017.  Silicon Valley is somewhere there under the clouds Resting Place of the Hummingbird That gave me some time to learn more about this place. At 3,486 feet, Mt. Umunhum is the fourth highest peak in the Santa Cruz mountains and the highest point on the Bay Area Ridge Trail .  The mountain's name means "resting place of the hummingbird" in the Ohlone language. In fact, at one time, this was a large Native American population centers—with 70 diverse tribal units. Here's a timeline of what happened to the mountain s...

L ast year, I went to a wedding reception at the Cavallo Point Lodge and my boyfriend and I decided to spend the night there. The morning after the reception, we wanted to take advantage of our location and get some exercise, so we decided to explore some local trails. I revisited these trails again recently and wanted to write about them so you can take advantage of them, too. Hike 1: Cavallo Point Loop 
1.9 miles, 300 feet elevation gain Shortened version on the trail on Relive     Strava route to download or duplicate From outside the hotel’s main building (where the valet stand is) walk diagonally across the large lawn to reach the intersection of Murray Circle and Center Road. There you'll see a (small) trail sign for the Bay Trail. Head straight here onto Moore Road and then take your first left onto Sommerville Street. Start walking along Horseshoe Bay.  When you reach the Presidio Yacht Club after about 0.1 mile, take a wood walkway in front of ...

Every year, one of my goals is to leave the US and to visit a new country. In March 2017, I was still feeling the energy behind my new year's resolutions, and wanted to take care of this goal early in the year. My boyfriend had a business trip in London that month. And while I often join him on these trips, the scheduling just didn't work out this time. But we decided to take advantage of his being in Europe for me to fly over there and for us to visit a new country together: LIECHTENSTEIN.  ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ A tiny bit about the tiny country of Liechtenstein...   Schloß Vaduz or Vaduz Castle Liechtenstein is a constitutional monarchy. At the head of the monarchy is His Serene Highness H ans-Adam II . The prince and his heir apparent, prince Alois, still live in an actual castle, Vaduz castle. Liechtenstein appears to be so safe, that you can walk right up to the front door of the castle. ( Can you imagine doing this at...

The Fourth of July weekend was a great time to do a day trip outside my normal stomping grounds. My friend Alex was game for an adventure, so we decided to hit up the Tomales Point Trail in Point Reyes National Seashore .   Hike Stats: Distance: 9.5 miles  Elevation gain: 1,223 feet Moving time: 3:14 Elapsed time: 4:13  Trailhead: goo.gl/kaMAE3   According to this site , the hike is rated as  Challenging , but I'd rate it as Moderate . Though there were some hills, but I didn't find them particularly difficult or steep. That said, I do live in San Francisco, so my view on hills is likely skewed. Why this hike was awesome: Tomales Point 1. Non-stop ocean and bay views: This hike follows a narrow peninsula between Tomales Bay and the Pacific Ocean. This means you are surrounded by water for the entire route. The first part of the hike ends at Tomales Point, a great place to have a picnic lunch while soaking in the views. 2. Wildlife: The...