Last weekend I walked with a friend from the headlands to Stinson Beach. We met in Stinson, left one car and parked the other at the Arts center in the headlands where we began our hike up the Miwok trail, over the hill down to Tennessee Valley. As we hiked out of the valley on the coastal trail over to Muir beach, I was struck by the beauty of the constantly changing views of the coast, the Golden Gate, the Richardson and San Francisco Bays.
We stayed at Green Gulch Zen farm, walking past it's incredibly lush vegetable gardens on the way in. The room was comfy and the zen students friendly and gracious. After breakfast we packed a lunch for the trail and headed out on the road past the huge renovation project going on at Muir Beach. It took us a few minutes to find the staircase that goes past the community center because it goes up beyond what appears to be a private driveway.
After walking through the open chaparral, dropping down into Steep Ravine canyon among the redwoods is just breath taking.
In Stinson, we stayed in a cabin with two rooms and a kitchenette at the Sandpiper Lodge, a very comfortable inn with a lovely garden in the back. That night we had fresh sea food at the Parkside Cafe, and the next day we enjoyed touring art galleries and the bookstore before walking barefoot on the beach. A perfect end to a wonderful walking getaway.
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