Best Easy Day Hikes San Francisco's North Bay (Best Easy Day Hikes Series) Review

Best Easy Day Hikes San Francisco's North Bay (Best Easy Day Hikes Series)
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Somehow in between a full time career and being a full time mom, Tracy Salcedo-Chourre has found the time to write some of the best hiking and biking guides to California. She is one of my favorite authors and in this little book, she shares her favorite short hikes near her home in Napa. The north Bay region has a lot of excellent day hiking, so selection was something of a problem. Trails in Marin, Sonoma, and Napa Valley have so much to offer that the author faced an embarrassment of riches. But she faced another problem as well. As she notes in her introduction, some friends did not want her to write about these trails as they prefer the gift of solitude to sharing the wealth. Against their wishes, Salcedo-Chourre has produced a beautifully written compendium to her outdoors home, and invites the reader to come along.
In all this book offers some 22 routes, many of which are only between 1 and 2 miles long. But these hikes pack a lot of scenery into a short distance. The hike to the Point Reyes Lighthouse graces the cover, and there are few better places to watch for whales or contemplate life in the previous century. Walks through John Muir Woods (a personal favorite) and Armstrong Redwoods can awe even regular visitors. And for those who simply demand longer hikes there is an 8 mile loop route along San Pablo Bay that I intend to take the next time I visit the Bay Area. As with all books in the Best Easy Day Hike series, each hike description includes a decent sketch map, point by point mileage descriptions, and accurate driving directions coupled with GPS trail head coordinates. What more can you ask for?
But the book does offer more. It offers a conservationist vision that is far more attractive than the stern, sometimes anti-people environmentalism that occasionally rears its head in political discourse. As noted above, some people would rather not have special trails publicized. Their sense of isolation is more important to them than sharing the beauty of nature with others. But if public lands are truly public, we should encourage people to get out and hike the trails. And I think many who fret about sharing hikes with the masses whose taxes help pay for public land access are a little overwrought in any event. Yes, Muir Woods is crowded. But it is not the same type of "crowded" feeling one gets on Market street. The trees and canyon work their magic on virtually all visitors to that lovely park. They walk quietly in loving reverence always making room for others. And they can take their peace with them as they leave. We as a society are richer for the open access to places like Muir Woods, and many others found in this book. Kudos to Ms. Salcedo-Chourre for sharing the trails and land she values so much with the rest of us.

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