Saturday's 16-mile training walk

Saturday's 16-mile route

Saturday's 16-mile walk had a wet and cold start, but it was still fantastic!

Linda finished writing her synopsis before I got around to writing my post. I'm a little tired, so I'm going to copy and paste her words here, and give her full credit. :)

Saturday's 16 mile training walk route is a keeper! We walked places I have never been even though I grew up in SF. When we started walking it was socked in drippy, wet fog and cccold at the Arguello Gate of the Presidio but it did not dampen our spirits at all! We started by heading out on Argullo on through GG Park, out to the Sunset via 9th and Irving. Then we walked up Stanyan Street and then around Sutro Tower on the Historic Trail which was magical (and muddy) enveloped in fog.

From there we pushed on to Portola Dr. and down through the hidden gem Glen Canyon Park (well, hidden to me until today.) After a bit of a hiccough in navigating the route, we walked back across town through Noe Valley, the Castro, Duboce Park, the Panhandle, the Conservatory of Flowers and then we headed, like cows to the barn, back up Arguello! Today's route will forever be nicknamed "The Grocery Route" because our breaks were at Andronico's, Mollie Stones/Tower Market and Whole Foods! We heart snacks.

That sums it up pretty well! It was a totally different route than the team has ever done before, and we explored some new (to us) trails that I didn't know existed in the middle of San Francisco. Very cool.

Sometime during the walk, once the sun had come out and we were warm and hungry, someone mentioned ice cream. Then, someone mentioned the Ice Cream Bar in Cole Valley (where Buffie had taken me and Catriona last month). We couldn't resist. A small group of us headed out to the Ice Cream Bar for ice cream after we finished our walk. It turns out, not only do they make homemade ice cream, they also make their own marshmallow topping, caramel sauce, and even their own bread for sandwiches! I had a scoop of mint-chip ice cream, topped with marshmallow topping (which they torch to brown!). I also split the most amazing grilled cheese sandwich (with homemade bread!) with Linda. It was a GREAT way to treat ourselves after our big walk! :)

Here are some photos that I took:


making our way through the Historic Trail




at one point, there was a fork in the road with 4-5 options! We weren't sure which way to go!


The Glen Canyon Park Trail




a neat side-yard display that we saw at a house in Glen Park


and now the really important stuff: here's my scoop of mint-chip ice cream with marshmallow topping!


Hotties enjoying a well-deserved treat after our long walk!


today's stats


today's elevation graph