Muir Woods

"This is the best tree-lovers monument that could possibly be found in all the forests of the world," - John Muir

Muir Woods is part of the National Park Service in Marin County, California, 12 miles north of San Francisco. It protects 554 acres of forested area populated by Coast Redwoods, and is one of the last remaining stands in the Bay Area along with one of my other favorites, the Big Basin Redwoods State Park where I enjoyed a great run on my last trip to CA.
Today's outing came after a long day which started with morning meetings on East Coast time and ended with many hours on the Exhibit floor at the JavaOne conference. I didn't have a hard time convincing fellow runner and co-worker Erik Kristiansen to join me. Together we ducked out of the conference with just enough time to bag another spectacular National Park.

This is the 3rd time Erik and I have gotten together for a run while traveling on business. We've covered some great trails in Edinburgh Scotland, the Red Rocks Canyon area in Nevada, and now Muir Woods. Erik was 3rd in his age group at Owl's Roost half marathon a couple weeks ago and he has run with the Trailheads a couple times. He'll be an official, named member soon!

I have to admit this was really more of a jog/walk than a run, but there's just so much to see here. Something new around every bend. There are times when it feels good to put your head down and zen out, and others when you really owe it to yourself to pay attention and "stop and smell the roses". This was definitely the later.