September 29, 2021

What a beautiful day! Blue skies, calm winds and no jacket required. Knowing we were crossing the notoriously windy Golden Gate Bridge, I stowed my hat and wore my sweatshirt for the first half hour. Had to take it off!

As a side note, walking through Sausalito we spied a funicular that someone had built from the Main Street to their home above. So cool!

It was nearly 2 miles to the bridge and naturally the route was up. It’s a walking theme I’m convinced. If you are doing a thru-hike anywhere, the road always goes up. It may simply be you notice the ups more than the downs or flat because it’s harder, slower and generally more difficult. That’s how we grow right?

This bridge is magnificent. It’s 1.7 miles in length and had vehicles, cyclists, runners, walkers, and a full construction crew. We saw an official vehicle doing a traffic slow down by taking zig zag turns between the two lanes. Interesting technique!

Once across the bridge we stopped at the Info center. We were headed for the beach which neither of us had been to before but thought we would ask about it. The gal we asked showed us a paper map which proved to be helpful. When we mentioned Marshall’s beach all she said was… “Well, you should beat the naked men if you go now”. I had read about them. Yikes!

We found our way to the beach, passing batteries used during World War II, and taking many steps down…

The beach was amazing. The view of the Golden Gate Bridge above the beach is iconic.

We so enjoyed the cool and refreshing ocean water! After about 30 minutes one younger man walked by heading to the opposite end of the beach. I wondered if we had a potential naked man in our midst. And then a second and a third marched by. And yep soon we could make out the outfits had changed, or I mean dropped.

Time to head back up the hill, through the Presidio and to our BnB. The beach was so pretty we didn’t really want to go but we had to. There were plenty of trails from the beach to the presidio. Some forest improvements were happening. Trying to keep the invasive trees out. It was an impressive effort!

We made it to Inspiration Point. The views were amazing! We could see Alcatraz and the roof of the Palace of Fine Arts.

Finally arrive at the BnB and followed directions posted on the front gate. The owner said she’d be right there and out comes this little woman dressed in Lacey bloomers, a sundress and a hat. That, along with her front window with so many Knick knacks that we really weren’t sure we had the right address! But we did.

She was actually really sweet and showed us around her home, our room, the patio and a special wine bar that we were welcome to use (the space anyway). We were given a room upgrade and the patio/garden room with quick access to the outside as well as a kitchen ready for us to use.

We ordered pizza for pickup along with a cauliflower appetizer, walked three blocks for pickup and were back eating in the patio. Our pizza was amazing -pizza carbonara. Never had it before but yummy!

The day is complete. Tomorrow should be fairly easy, 10.5 miles to San Bruno. Good night!

#CAmission