Scrapbook: Spring Visit to the San Francisco Bay Area

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A month in the Bay Area—with a long weekend in Yosemite—being guided by friends who live there. What’s not to like? Join us!

 
 
 

Change of scenery: I’m in the San Francisco Bay area for the next four weeks: working, visiting my son, seeing friends, exploring—outdoors as much as possible.

 
 
 

South Bay rambles, with friends.

 
 
 

East Bay ramble in the refreshing Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park in the hills above Oakland with Christina. In the mid-1800s this area was extensively logged to supply building materials for the San Francisco Bay Area. Some of the saplings that survived now populate this stately forest of 150-foot coast redwoods.

And did you know that trees emit compounds that offer a wealth of beneficial effects to human health? No wonder we felt so good! Some are natural antioxidants, others calm anxiety, and others serve as antidepressants. h/t Susan Tyler Hitchcock who has written a book for Nat Geo I can’t wait to read called Into the Forest.

 
 
 

Yosemite. John Muir was here. Ansel Adams was here. But long before, the Ahwahneechee were here, a Southern Miwok people who stewarded this land they called Ahwahnee for millennia. They were systematically driven away by European settlers and, later, preservationists who espoused a “pure wilderness” free of humans.

Today of course many are recognizing wrongdoings and mistakes of the past and seeing the merit of ancient indigenous concepts of revering nature and practices such as controlled burning.

The Ahwahneechee people continue their fight for recognition and to use their traditional lands for cultural purposes.

The very least that we—those who visit and enjoy this special place—can do is to learn more.

 
 
 

Cool morning hike along Dewey Point Meadow Trail in the Yosemite Valley rim. Warm afternoon walk in the Valley floor. Northern California.

 
 
 

There’s something so moving about this immovable rock, which fills your field of vision unexpectedly as you walk or drive around the valley floor. Three times the height of the Eiffel Tower, El Capitan is the tallest exposed vertical face of granite on earth. To witness rock climbers from around the world tackle something so seemingly impossible is an inspiration and challenge to anyone. Yosemite National Park.

 
 
 

Gentle giants: We’re at Tuolumne Grove, one of Yosemite National Park’s three groves of giant sequoias. The largest trees in the world, giant sequoias grow today only on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada in California, between 4,000 and 8,000 feet in elevation. Though resilient, they face challenges from warming temperatures and resulting hotter droughts.

As the famous poem goes, “I think that I shall never see / A poem lovely as a tree.”

On the way back to San Francisco, we stopped for a bite at Priest Station Café, owned by the family of famed alpinist Conrad Anker for generations. While waiting for your coffee, browse the collection of books at the counter.

Thanks to my son Ned for the wonderful introduction to this incredible place. He was a great guide!

 
 
 

This good girl, Hazel, has been showing me around the neighborhood, which includes a lovely hilltop Buddhist temple. Farm Hill, Redwood City, California.

 
 
 

We spent the entire day talking, and it still wasn’t enough, just like in high school! Thanks, Cindy, for taking me to a couple of your favorite local beach spots, Capitola and Seascape, along Monterey Bay. Northern California.

 
 
 

Half Moon Bay day: Kayaking and lunch with Jill, and a stroll in town and on Francis Beach with Ned and Juhi. On the Pacific Coast south of San Francisco.

 
 
 

My base this week is Tiburon, a town on a peninsula of the same name that juts into San Francisco Bay. There are large tracts of undeveloped land—some protected, others contested—which give the place a quasi-rural and open feel. It’s just beautiful, with 360-degree views of the Bay, the Golden Gate Bridge, Angel Island, Mount Tamalpais, and more. Lucky me to have a college pal who lives here. Marin County, California.

 
 
 

Californians are lucky to have such easy access to open spaces, often practically in one’s backyard. Enjoyed a more than pleasant visit to Pleasant Hill for a walk on the Contra Costa Canal Trail with its pocket park called Las Juntas and its unobstructed view of Mount Diablo. Thanks, Talia, for showing me around. A homemade Arabic mezze dinner with your family capped the wonderful evening.

 
 
 

Once upon a time (circa 1991!) this wonderful woman & the rest of the team at Caribbean Travel & Life magazine gave me my entry into the world of traveling & writing about it…SO special to reconnect after all these years!! #friends #fun #Connections

 
 
 

There’s more to Sonoma than great wines and viticulture. There’s the restored Mission San Francisco Solano, the last and most northerly outpost of Mission Trail (which starts in Guatemala), marking 300 years of Spanish-Mexican settlement and Catholic evangelization. The mission is now a state park and there’s an easy-to-overlook plaque that acknowledges the labors and sufferings of the local Coast Miwok, Patwin, Wappo, and Pomo tribes.

Nearby, there’s the grassy plaza where the short-lived California Republic was declared in 1846 by a small group of American settlers in what was then Mexico, and the bear flag first raised. (Soon after, the U.S. military began occupying California.)

Thanks to friend and mentor Richard for the hike to the overlook, lunch, stroll through downtown, and conversation. Had Edie been around, it would have doubled the pleasure!

 
 
 

Outdoors and off-the-beaten path California, with friends: McNears Beach, Raccoon Strait, and Larkspur.

 
 
 

Day on the Bay, courtesy of Kimberley, Cap’n John, and mates Julie and Lou. Thanks for a view of the Golden Gate Bridge most people don’t get to see.

 
 
 

Along with its heavenly views, Angel Island, now protected as a state park, was the site of some fascinating history. In its most infamous period from 1910 to 1940 it was an immigration station used to inspect, disinfect, and detain mostly Chinese, Japanese, and other Asian immigrants arriving by ship, a racist policy of exclusion. At other times it was a military barracks, a quarantine station, and a missile site. Today it is a delightful place to learn, hike, stroll, bike, and camp. Take the ferry from San Francisco or Tiburon.

 
 
 

Felt both the pang of absence and the balm of presence of friend Barbara at one of her favorite spots, the Gyotu Foundation Buddhist Temple, in East Richmond Heights. It’s a place of beauty and joy, and a reminder that all life is connected; we never really lose our loved ones. They sing through birds, love through trees, live through children.

With three turns of a prayer wheel I released many millions of prayers for peace and love. May some of them reach you and your intentions.

Grateful to Charles for sharing with me this place that is so special to him. Om mani padme hum

 
 
 

I somehow got invited to a Bay area women’s friend group that got together virtually the last couple of years. Great to see some of them in person. A girl needs her girlfriends. Thanks for gathering us, Nadia!

 
 
 

Great day in San Francisco with my son Ned on his birthday, with his girlfriend Juhi, and his best friends Sam and Vikram.

 
 
 

Guided by friends: My favorite way to travel is in the company and through the eyes of local friends. They’ve been there before, they know the insider strategies, shortcuts, and secret places. And in the end, as as one new friend put it, all great things in life are co-created and suffused with the spirit of loved ones. Thanks to new friends and old for sharing your places (and dogs) with me. And special thanks to those who housed me—for two weeks each—in Redwood City and Tiburon.

 

Photos © Norie Quintos.