City vs. Nature in San Francisco

San Francisco is a city of bay windows and bumper to bumper street parking. Above all it is an urban setting with all of the associated characteristics: a plethora of public transit options, unidentifiable smells, too much traffic, food for any possible mood you could be in, and dozens of high end thrift stores. It also comes with a sense of anonymity in some settings and, if you’re a female, anxiety and fear as you walk the streets alone. While I was there, I explored the city mostly by myself because my friend had to work (as responsible adults do). Most days I wore all black with my combat boots and that hard, don’t-talk-to-me look on my face to deter the men who thought it was okay to cat-call, walk too close and laugh, or lunge at me just for funsies. It was not ideal, but I guess it’s all just part of how life is right now. 

The shock of the big-city definitely made me that much more grateful for any nature that I found. I was pleasantly surprised by how many parks there were in a city of only six square miles. I felt at ease strolling around Golden Gate Park along with young couples and families. I spent a lot of time exploring the wonders housed in the Academy of Science—like the indoor coral reef and three story rainforest—and meandered through the deYoung art museum specifically for the Monet exhibit filled with dozens of beautiful pond and water lily paintings. I also was able to take the time to update my travel journal in the sunshine and quiet before braving the downtown area once more. 

Towards the end of the trip, Jaelynn and I rented a zipcar to get out of the jam-packed hills of San Francisco. We headed across the iconic Golden Gate Bridge, red metal beams flashing past our faces, towards Muir Woods. It was the start of my favorite day there. We ended up hiking for hours among giant redwood trees and crossing rushing streams with careful footsteps. It was exactly the breath of fresh air that I needed. On our way out, we weren’t quite ready to leave our forested oasis and took our chances on the Panoramic Highway (the name was promising if nothing else). It ended up being one of the best impulse decisions we made that trip. It brought us next to gorgeous blue waters and rough cliff faces. There was a hidden path lined with tiny, yellow daisies that we skipped along as we headed towards a beautiful lookout. It was a fence-enclosed cliff-top that jutted out into the crashing Pacific waves. Breathing in the salty breeze and watching Jaelynn’s hair fly skyward made me grateful for every event that led us to that moment.