Walk around San Francisco bay: cool idea?

San Francisco bay is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful places in the world. I'm fortunate to have flown from SFO airport several times. On a clear day, the scenery that unfolds as the plane takes off or lands is breathtaking. If aerial views of the bay from the window seat seen through the dirty windows can be so beautiful, you can only imagine how cool it'd be see it without any obstruction, from above and even on ground.

When I hiked the trails in Baylands Park, Palo Alto, I got a glimpse of the view from ground level. Sure, not as breathtaking as it is from the air; still, the air was crisp, the breeze cool and the walk refreshing. This walk got me researching more about SF Bay Trail. 

We are lucky to have more than 330 miles of completed trail by the San Francisco and San Pablo Bays. And when it is fully completed, this will be a contiguous 500 miles walking/biking trail around the bay. The more I researched bay trail, the more I was convinced that I should pursue this and not pass on this opportunity.

The timing couldn't be more perfect. It is spring. The weather pleasant and nice. I just quit my job with Informatica a 3rd time. The previous time I did that, I took to the roads and did a 48 state road trip with Apollo. This time, it will be a walkabout SF bay - some 200 miles in about 8 days!

A full map of the intended 8 day hike is here. You can zoom in for details on each day (color coded). Since the bay trail is not fully done and contiguous, portions of the walk will have to be city streets. Walking across Oakland-SF Bay bridge is not an option, I will be taking BART/ferry across to Sausalito and continue the walk from there. In the east bay, from Newark - Milpitas, the trail is not done; I'll probably hitch a ride to Milpitas to complete the walk. I do intend to blog daily, so all these details and plenty of photos should be available for those interested in following the hike.

Feel free to join this blog site, post comments and thoughts. It was great to hear from my friends when I was on my road trip; this time should be no different!

I should be hitting the road in the next couple of days.... for my 8x8x8 adventure... 8 marathons in about 8 hours each in 8 consecutive days!

Update 2015-04-23:
I had to take a break after reaching Oakland. The blisters were painful - I realized couple of days rest and few more aids will make this easier. So, this is not a walk in 8 consecutive days. I also revised the route to eliminate repeating segments as much as possible. With those revisions, I've been able to get this down to a 7 day hike. With 3 days completed, I intend to get the remaining done this month. I've updated the map to reflect this. 

#SFBayTrail #BayTrail