I want to be the first person other than Lyn to post a question. What are you favourite hikes?

-- Neal Glew (glew@cs.cornell.edu), November 29, 1999

Answers

My favorite hikes are those that end in a jacuzzi with a glass of wine. A professional masseuse would be nice, too, although that's never happened. Hehe.

-- Lyn (millett@io.com), November 29, 1999.

I, too, like those hikes with jacuzzis and masseuses (or masseurs) at the end, and have managed an amazing number of those. It helps to pick your social group carefully.

One of the problems with this question is that it's so wide open in terms of degree. My hikes range all over the place, from an afternoon wandering in Birkenstocks to over 20 miles and thousands of feet in elevation.

And of course "where" is the other question.

In Marin I like the hike to Carson Falls starting from Bolinas-Fairfax road at the first major parking after the golf course. The beginning isn't terribly pretty, but once you drop down to the falls, and thence from the falls down to the redwood grove, it's a wonderful afternoon wander. When there's water it's a great set of falls and a nice stream, when it's dried to a trickle it's great to sit below the falls and watch the hummingbirds drink off the mist.

If you spend much time in Yosemite you *must* climb Half Dome. Doable in a day, next time I'll probably get a backcountry permit and camp in Little Yosemite Valley to make it a two day trek. Wonderful not only for the hike and the views but the comraderie that happens when you get up above the tree line and start sharing the space with people who've accomplished at least that.

If you've only got a shorter time in Yosemite the mist trail is nice, but the 4 mile trail to Glacier Point has better views of the valley overall and is far less populated.

A state park that's nearly as dramatic as Yosemite in many ways but known mainly only to climbers and through hikers is Castle Crags up near Dunsmuir.

One of the problems with the bay area in general is getting away from the masses of people. Folks around here are so used to long drives that even getting up into the Sierra doesn't do much in the way of solitude, and I miss the hiking in the south-east because of that. The Loch-Leven lakes area (short of Truckee, near the Rainbow Lodge) is gorgeous, but way overpopulated.

-- Dan Lyke (danlyke@flutterby.com), November 29, 1999.

At the moment my favorite hike (indeed, the only one I take any more) is once around the perimeter of our land...about 2 1/2 miles of Palouse hills, wheat fields, canyon, scrub and pine forest. It's odd to finally be settling down at this age and feeling a connectedness with the land, especially after several years of nomadic life. But that's definitely what's happening. If you're in the neighborhood, stop by and we can hike it together.

-- Mike Gunderloy (MikeG1@mcwtech.com), December 02, 1999.