5.2 miles on San Bruno Mountain

San Bruno Mountain is NOT in San Francisco.  So this walk does not count toward my city miles.  I don't care, though - it was fun!

So my friend, Mai (who is training for the Nike Women's Marathon, btw) and I decided to explore San Bruno Mountain.  It's a national park just south of San Francisco, in San Mateo County.

 

Here's a rediculous picture of Mai and I with a trail map.

Saddle Trail is the widest, flattest trail in the park.

It also has the greatest views of downtown.  You know what else is great? My hair in the wind.

As the trail curls south into Old Guadalupe Trail, not only does it becomes more wooded and less windy...

...but it is loaded with wild blackberries!

I'm pretty sure we weren't supposed to eat them.  But we did...and they were AWESOME!

My favorite trail is called Bog Trail.  Mai and I weren't sure what a bog was, so I just googled it:  A bog or mire is a wetland type that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material--usually mosses, but also lichens in Arctic climates.

I don't know about acidic peat, but there was some water...

...and very unusual plant life.

Oh, and more blackberries.

When we got back to the parking lot, we decided to keep exploring and try a few more trails.  So we headed south and decided to try Summit Loop, Dairy Ravine and Eucalyptus Loop.

I was a little disappointed there were no horses on our trail.

The views to the south are totally different from the north.  But, as you can see, the fog was starting to roll in.

Rapidly.

By the time we got to the summit, the scene was epic.   The fog made the walk back to the car a little disorienting too, but we made it.  What a fun hike!