Over the years, while hiking, I’ve passed many signs letting me know I was following the route of the Bay Area Ridge Trail. I’ve always been fascinated by the concept of long distance trails like this one, but the thought of attempting circumnavigation through section hiking only recently occurred to me. I suppose I was waiting for the trail to be finished and for me to have time to dedicate to a through hike. Fortunately, I was able to convince myself that neither of these two reasons should stop me.
Perhaps one day the trail will be complete, perhaps not. But there is already so much of it to explore that there is not reason to wait for the few remaining gaps to be filled. And, as far as time, with a section hike I can take all the time I need. If it takes years to complete, so be it. There is not rush, the trails will be there longer than I will.
I imagine logistics will be one of the bigger challenges of this endeavor. For obvious reasons, I generally try to end hikes at the same place where they begin. Out and back hikes for each section would double the mileage, and I’m not planning to do this circumnavigation twice. But, on the positive side, I’m sure I will improve my skill of overcomplicated hike planning but the time this route is complete.
As I complete sections, I will add them to the map below with a link from each. I don’t plan to complete this in any particular order, so the posts may jump around from east bay to north bay and back with no reason other than what made sense at the time.
45 miles completed. 364.7 miles to go
Circumnavigating the Trail
You can find information about the Bay Area Ridge Trail at https://ridgetrail.org. It is currently an incomplete circuit following the ridge line of mountains and hills that encircle the San Francisco Bay. Over 400 miles of trail have been dedicated with a planned eventual length of 550 miles. So, while there are large gaps in the trail, the majority is open. The Ridge Trail Council officially recognizes circumnavigation as having completed all sections that are currently available. So that is the plan, to hike all 400 existing miles along the ridge line as permitted by time, weather, logistics and any other factors not thought of. Wish me luck!