A Walk to San Francisco

In April we completed a multi-day, inn-to-inn hike across and down the Marin County peninsula, across the bay from San Francisco.

We walked through Muir Woods and across the peninsula to the Pacific. We then crossed back to the Bay side before heading to downtown San Francisco. This was an easy adventure: each day we hiked 10 miles or less, and our backpacks were light.

Timeline

Day 1

Minneapolis to Sausalito

Plane
Minneapolis to San Francisco.
BART Train
San Francisco airport to Embarcadero BART Station. (Pin 1 in above map.)
Ferry
Embarcadero to Sausalito.
Stay
Gables Inn, Sausalito. (Pin 2 in above map.)

Day 2

Mountain Home Inn

Bus
#61 from Sausalito to Mountain Home Inn.
Stay
Mountain Home Inn. (Pin 3 in above map.)
Hike
We arrived mid-morning at the inn, so we dropped off our packs and headed out for a couple day-hikes. Trails start right at the inn, so one hike took us up higher in the hills, and the other hike took us to the huge redwoods of Muir Woods, below the inn.

Day 3

Mountain Home Inn to Muir Beach

Hike
We hiked from the inn high on the Marin County peninsula, down then up through Muir Woods, then down through undulating meadows with bright spring wildflowers. Near the Pacific, we checked into an incongruously British-style pub.
Stay
Pelican Inn, Muir Beach, 2 nights. (Pin 4 in above map.)

Day 4

“Rest Day”

Hike
We hiked a loop: Pacific views on the outbound, then back through the hills behind.

Day 5

Pacific to Bay

Hike
We hiked across the Marin Peninsula, in a somewhat diagonal direction, up, up, down, down, up, down, from the Pacific to the Bay.
Stay
Gables Inn, Sausalito. (Pin 2 in above map.)

Day 6

Sausalito to San Francisco Airport

Hike
We walked from Sausalito back to Embarcadero BART Station. The route took us across Golden Gate Bridge.
BART Train
Embarcadero BART Station (pin 1 in above map) to San Francisco Airport.
Stay
Grand Hyatt at SFO.

Day 7

Back to Minneapolis

The hotel has a station for the airport’s inter-terminal AirTrain. Getting from bed to an early flight was painless.

Trip Microblog

The Game Of Travel Planning

Mar 27, 2022

Spent many happy hours putting together a multi-day hike we’ll complete in April. Much of the hike is countryside, but on the last day we cross the Golden Gate Bridge towards San Francisco. The challenge was aligning cheapest days to fly with availability in two isolated inns.

SFO Arrival

Apr 17, 2022

Upon arrival at San Francisco SFO, an Easter bunny marshalled us through the gate area.

Sausalito Ferry

Apr 17, 2022

Flew to San Francisco, then BART to Downtown, then ferry to Sausalito for the night. Behind us, Downtown, and the Bay Bridge. Tomorrow we take a Marin County transit bus further north, then we start walking, ending up back in San Francisco on Friday.

Receding Skyline

Apr 18, 2022

Took this shot of the San Francisco skyline just after breakfast in Sausalito. We then rode a Marin Transit bus to a point north of Muir Woods, dropped off our backpacks at an inn where we’re staying tonight, then hit the trails. At the highest point on our hike we could see the Pacific and… Continue reading Receding Skyline