Visiting San Francisco and Hiking at Muir Woods National Monument

I just got back from the best trip ever. For the past 12 days, I was in California, Nevada and Utah. It was incredible. I want to recap the major parts of my trip here because I saw some amazing things and want to share. I’ll start with the first few days that we spent in the Bay Area. My parents pretty much planned the trip and Jordan and I went along. I suggested some spots to see because there were many places I wanted to check out while on the trip.

On the afternoon we arrived, we decided to walk up Lombard Street, SF’s most famous street.

There were so many people driving down it, they had cops directing the tourists. Crazy. Don’t attempt to drive down Lombard Street mid-afternoon unless you want to wait in a line, in your car. Just walk it!

Running in this city would give anyone a great workout. Wow!

Later in that evening, Jordan and I took our first ever Uber Ride to Baker Beach. (This just in…Uber is life-changing.)

It was chilly, but nice.  The next day we got up early and drove over the Golden Gate Bridge to Muir Woods National Monument.

Protip: Get to Muir Woods EARLY. The parking lot fills FAST. The gates open at 8:00AM. Get there at 7:30.

I had researched the best hikes to do at Muir Woods and found one that connected a bunch of trails for a nice loop, the Canopy View / Redwood / Sun / Dipsea Trails Loop. This was nice because it wasn’t packed with tourists. It was gorgeous and offered varied scenery throughout. I was walking the trail while thinking about how if it wasn’t for John Muir, the father of conservation, national parks and places like Muir Woods wouldn’t exist!

Here I also saw my first Redwood Tree. Love!

The fog was rolling through.

The Dipsea trail is also the location of a big trail race! It is the oldest trail race in the US. We came upon Mile Marker 2 on our hike.

It took us about 2 hours and 45 minutes hours to finish the entire loop, including stops. It was a great start to the trip. Little did I know, the hiking would only get better from here.

We stopped at Muir Beach Overlook on the way out.

We also stopped at Fort Point National Historic Site, located right under the bridge.

According to the NPS, Fort Point defended the San Francisco Bay following California’s Gold Rush through World War II.

And that was the beginning of our trip-stay tuned for more!