500 ft. cliff hiking with toddlers on our backs!

April 6, 2008 Sunday

We met up with the Brown family at the Tennessee Valley Trail in the Golden Gate National Recreational Area of Mt. Tamalpais.

Not even a 1/4 mile in, and already Kai kept running away from us, in a zig-zag pattern.

I then became a beast of burden. You can see not only the Pacific Ocean but the lagoon in the distance.

We saw wild turkey on the hillside, enjoyed the sea misted grasslands and walked past California poppies and lupines

And after 1.9 miles, we made it to the Tennessee Valley Beach.

and settle down for some grub, hiding behind the rock for some wind shelter.

Dylan climbes rock while daddy Ian covers his back.


Sierra warms up with mommy Christy.


Dylan, Sierra and Kai hang out on the rock formation.

We start our ascent up the cliff. Sierra wears Greg's windbreaker to stay warm.

Then as we left the beach to do the 500 ft. cliff climb, Kai then had his meltdown...and he did it kicking and screaming.


This was supposedly a bomb shelter of some sort.


The Brown Family. One of the windiest spots to take a picture.
Our family photograph.

With this southward view, you can see the mouth of San Francisco Bay.


Despite this sign, we head up this steep incline and made it as far as the saddle before turning back. If the trail had not been too eroded going up the right hillside, we could have hit the Coastal Train before hooking unto the original trail after about 2.5 miles. I had done this trip probably 10 years ago and knew the trail would hook up again.

So we head back down...amazing view, yes?

Would you think we were unfit parents for having done something out of the ordinary like this?



Back on level ground once again, we let the kids free to run wild. Here they are growling and chasing after each other.

Kai is suddenly interested in horse poop, and after warning him about it, he picks up a turd and throws it. And when that wasn't enough- he kicked it too!!! I scramble for a wet wipe.

Kai and Sierra play in tall grass.
~
What a day. After 5 hours of fun, we went our separate ways. We stopped in Larkspur where we met up with an interested buyer from Craigslist who actually bought all of Greg's motorcycle gear. With Kai, we had to sell our motorcycles- now it's my turn to sell my gear also! (boo hoo)