Marin Voyage

Test post please ignore.

For some untenable reason I have never managed to travel across the Golden Gate bridge and properly explore the Marin Headlands. Muir Woods? Check. Couple of beaches? Sure. The rest of it? Unknown territory. It has been building in my mind for months and finally came to a head today - today I had the joy of finally exploring just several miles of the Marin Headlands and understanding why it is so revered.

It was slightly cloudy and I almost didn't go! However, I had a new pair of running shoes, it was 4:30 PM, and I was completely burnt on work and knew nothing else truly productive was about to happen. Escape while I can. Geared up for a workout and ready to beat traffic, I realized I had no known destination.

I knew I wanted to go...somewhere..here. Anywhere. Ideally somewhere I could run, and explore, and generally get an idea of what was special about the Headlands. The trails next to Rodeo Beach became the destination - there was a "Coastal Trail" which sounded ideal.

The drive in-and-of itself is relatively special - crossing the Golden Gate is its own experience. It's slightly terrifying in the sense of the lanes which are far too narrow for my American preference, but the journey through the Presidio, up to the arches of the bridge, wind buffetting your vehicle as you traverse, is kind of exciting. The second exit, my first time ever taking it, began the true excitement of the journey.

Already the hills were grassy in a way only California is. As I turned left at GPS behest - a looming tunnel appeared and I had to warn my phone call "I'm going somewhere really rad and I'm sorry if I lose you."

It felt like crossing the threshold, and the view on the other side was naturally extremely beautiful. This is all accentuated by a slight degree of "I've been thinking about this for way too long" but it is legitimately beautiful. I passed bikers and adventure vans and the random smattering of housing communities until arriving at the destination. One of the prettier beaches I've seen around the Bay Area.

The first thing which stood out, beyond the beach itself, was someone with a kayak above their head sprinting out across the sand and then doing jumping jacks, preparing to plunge in to the ocean. There were several surfers and the surf was 3 to 5 feet - totally ideal conditions to hit casually some time.

TODO: Get the right ffmpeg commands to convert a video to a GIF. e.g. https://engineering.giphy.com/how-to-make-gifs-with-ffmpeg/

The trail I intended was uphill and soon split in to a hiking trail and a biking track. The biking track was paved - mountain bike not necessary (as far as I could see!). I hit off up the hiking trail to immediately see some coastal views.

The trail had military remnants scattered across.

Eventually I made it back down and began the journey home, following signs for 101. This worked out incredibly well because the way you get back is with the most scenic of views...

Back to San Francisco to rally some friends for another day, and grab some groceries.