2027
The third California Walk. A return to the group form after a solo year. The shape that arrived on the drive home from 2026: five days, four nights, moving south. Day 0 is a San Francisco pickup. Tan Bark is the closing hike.
Moving south as the journey shape: through, past, beyond.
The shape
- Wed Apr 14 · Day 0 · gentleSan Francisco. Presidio walk, lunch in the park, drive south to Santa Cruz in the afternoon. Santa Cruz night.
- Thu Apr 15 · Day 1 · a full dayHenry Cowell. Redwoods, the river crossing, a full day on your feet. Santa Cruz night.
- Fri Apr 16 · Day 2 · gentleThe bay from Marina toward Monterey. Flat, open sand, hours of it. Santa Cruz night.
- Sat Apr 17 · Day 3 · a real climbGarland Ranch in Carmel Valley, then the drive south on Highway 1. Big Sur night.
- Sun Apr 18 · Day 4 · the pushTan Bark Trail as the closing hike: an hour and a half of switchbacks, then the coast from above. Drive home after, or stay an optional second Big Sur night and go home Monday.
Base camp model. Three nights in Santa Cruz, one in Big Sur. (Optional second Big Sur night Sunday for the longer drive home Monday morning.) Walk by day, eat together at night.
A design principle from last year: build for the too-busy person. Every day has a gentler alternative. Whatever you can carry.
Money
We split the lodging; you get yourself to San Francisco and home from Big Sur. Nobody makes money on this.
How we walk
A few understandings hold the group.
You're responsible for your own experience; nobody hosts you into it.
Silence counts as company. Twenty quiet minutes next to someone is part of the thing.
If someone reminds you of one of these, it's respect, not correction.
Want to come?
Leave your name and email and I'll follow up with the details.
This goes straight to me. No list, no marketing.