May 23, 2004
Welcome
When I was younger, my mom always told me I should be outside on nice days. I protested then, but somehow her advice stuck with me.
I live in San Francisco. The weather here is usually nice enough to be outside. Since I learned the joy of going on walks from Stephanie, I've slowly become an avid walker — an urban hiker, as the moniker goes.
When I first moved here, I got to know the city in the evenings by driving to a new neighborhood and walking until I found somewhere to eat and then walking some more. It's a great way to get to know a city.
Now, three years later, I spend my weekends and sometimes weekday evenings taking urban hikes. I sometimes feel like I could eat the city up because it is so amazing and ever-changing. I'm convinced there are other people who express their feelings for their city this way.
Adah Bakalinsky does. Her book, Stairway Walks in San Francisco, opened my eyes to the endless surprises San Francisco offers. Her descriptions of walks, her historical notes, sketches, hand-drawn maps, and acute attention to every detail of a walk astound me.
I'm psyched to start this site and post all the fun stuff that happens on my urban hikes, and to hear about the urban hikes that other people take. Maybe I'll come up with some ways to get geeky about it.
I'm Blake Engel, and I'm the urban hiker. Thanks for reading!
Posted by bengel at 11:27 PM | Comments (4)