Come With Me on a Beautiful Hike
You'll forget you're doing something good for yourself!
Photo Credit: Author
Let me describe for you my perfect summer weekend. It starts in the Marin headlands - a stunning area along the Pacific Ocean about 10 minutes from downtown Sausalito. The Park Service describes it like this: “Dramatic cliffs of oceanic rock offer sweeping views of the Golden Gate Bridge, and the foghorn frequently resounds over the misty lagoon and rolling hills of coyote brush and sage.” Exactly! We’ll take off on a hike that offers plenty of those views. Candy for the eye everywhere you look! And a beautiful crisp ocean breeze to make sure the bright sun directly overhead doesn’t get too punishing. We’re headed for Muir Beach and one of my favorite hotels, the Pelican Inn. We wind ourselves away from the coast and into the gold hills. It’ll be a 7 mile trek replete with plenty of birds, wild grasses and surprise vistas around many turns. We’ll find a few climbs, but mostly it’s rolling terrain across amazing Pacific shore bluffs. At about the 6 mile mark, we’ll start to feel the descent toward Muir Beach, the Pelican Inn and the pub that awaits. When you reach the Pelican, you’ll be rewarded with a nice room with a four-poster bed, a warm English meal of bangers and mash or beef stew and, of course, that pint that brought you that last mile. By all means, settle in. It was a short walk, so you arrived early. Sit a spell on the grass out front or try a game of darts before venturing in for dinner. After dinner, meet your fellow travelers in the “snug room,” a room that looks like your British uncle’s library with a huge bookcase full of games and an even bigger fireplace. Enjoy the company and the rest, because tomorrow you will be off on another hike. This time to Stinson Beach. It will be another full day of gorgeous vistas, ocean breezes, butterflies, wild flowers and plenty of time to contemplate the beauty. This time, you’ll only be walking about 6 miles, so you can dally at the Pelican over breakfast and take in the sights at Muir Beach before you take off on your walk to Stinson. Don’t sell your time at Stinson short, though. There’s plenty of eclectic fun to be had once you get there. There’s a lighthouse restaurant, among others, and plenty of tie die and spices to shop for. And, of course, a nice warm bed at your hotel (we usually choose the Sandpiper) to welcome you to slumber at the end of a long day of hiking and browsing and eating and drinking. Next? Off to Bolinas! Get an early start on this day because it’s 13.5 miles - of eye-achingly beautiful scenery! It’s enough to make you forget you’ve been walking for hours. Again, food and bed await at your destination, and each time that pillow feels better than it did yesterday. Try Smiley’s Schooner Saloon. You can wet your whistle and quell your appetite on some cantina fare before hitting the sheets in one of their 7 rooms. Your final destination? Olema. You’ll get there on Day 4 after another 14 mile walk over bluffs still wondering at the beauty of the shore and the drama of the coast. Choose to stay there, or taxi back to Sausalito for a nice dinner at one of the happening restaurants on the main street and rest your head on a pillow at one of the many hotels, or treat yourself to a stay in one of the houseboats there.
Sound great? Maybe it sounds ambitious. It is. It’s 41 miles over 4 days. You don’t just do something like that on a whim. At least, you don’t at our age. You have to “train” for your amazing vacation. I do it by walking a minimum of 4 miles a day, and usually up to 10 miles at least one day per week leading up to the fun. I also get to do a few amazing waterfall hikes in “prep” for the big Marin adventure. I try to do at least 4 hikes on the weekends leading up to the big 4 day hike.
Wait! Did I just do at least 60 minutes of exercise at least 6 days per week for a couple of months to get ready for my adventure? Why, yes. Yes, I did. And I did it because I WANTED to, not because I had to. Suddenly, the 6 or 8 or 10 miles of pavement don’t seem punishing. They seem like a fabulous path to an amazing vacation. And waterfall hikes? Those aren’t work! Sign me up! Yeah, sure, it leads to a more fit body, less inflammation, fewer metabolic problems a longer life and all of that, but the real reward? I get an AMAZING summer weekend wandering around the bluffs of Northern California and I still have energy to enjoy the pubs, lighthouses, saloons and houseboats along the way! BOOM!
If you want to explore inn to inn hikes I have a couple of resources for you. For California hikers there are two books and they are awesome. They give you everything from the route to take to where to stay to how to get back to your car at the end of the hike. There is one for Northern California (I especially recommend the Marin hike described above which is the first one in the book, and the Mendocino hike.) and one for Southern California. I can’t recommend this Vermont hike, yet, but ask me next year because I’m doing it for sure in 2023. It looks AMAZING! Inn to inn hikes are becoming more popular in the US (and have always been popular in Europe). If you Google it, there may very well be one for your destination.
If you don’t want to explore inn to inn hikes, but you do want to get in your exercise without it feeling like work - find another goal! Here are a few:
Walk a half marathon. We do this every year. It takes a good 3 months of great exercise to work up to the distance and the pace. This year my friend placed first in his division and I placed second in mine. You don’t do that without a lot of exercise leading up to it, but, man, is it worth it!
Sign up for a bike ride. There are lots of beautiful organized rides in every state! Many have a “family friendly” designation that’s probably about 10 or 15 miles on flat land. Then, strap on the helmet and ride around your neighborhood for a few weeks leading up to it. I did one last spring through some beautiful vineyards with a friend. The views and company were well worth the preparation - even though I hadn’t been on a bike in 30 years.
Take your grandchildren to Disneyland. My friend did this and learned her lesson because she hadn’t worked up to it at all and all she did all day was look for the benches to sit down. The next time she went, she walked around her neighborhood for hours weeks ahead of time until she should stay on her feet and walking for 4 or 5 hours at a stretch. She, and her grandkids, had a MUCH better time at Disneyland the second time they went.
Join a team. You know those practices that help you do better at the competition? They’re exercise! They count toward a goal of both whipping your opponent’s butt and chasing away your inflammation.
Yoga retreat. Yes, you can do these without working up to them, but you’ll pay in sore muscles while you’re trying to enjoy the beautiful resort. Plus, you’ll gain a lot more from the classes if you have a slightly stronger practice when you start. Do a couple of yoga classes a week for a few weeks before you go and watch how much more rewarding the retreats are!
There are lots of other options to help you look forward to your exercise. Grab yourself a FUN goal that’s a little challenging. And then work toward it. You’ll forget that you’re doing that dreaded exercising. Getting your butt out the door will be as easy as remembering the fun you’re going to have. It’s way better than beating yourself up because you don’t want to head out to the gym today, but you know you “should.”
I’m going to leave you with a quote I found on Quora. I’m not usually a fan of Quora, but I’m making an exception for this:
“Own your life; make your own choices; learn all you can; enjoy and appreciate all you can, and be as kind as you can — because our stay is brief, and no one’s promised a tomorrow.” K. R. Bailey