Another week in San Francisco, hard at work most of the time but this weekend I got to do a couple of hikes with Kieran and Denise. It was very enjoyable Saturday to drive north of the city into the hills (I guess they call them mountains?) and look around. Unfortunately there was some incredibly thick fog so while we were well above it our ocean view hike only gave us a view of an ocean of fog. It was still very pretty, and worth getting out. That made my third and fourth times driving across the Golden Gate bridge without actually seeing it, leaving me to believe it's perpetually lost in the fog.

Today, Sunday, we got up earlier and parked near the Golden Gate in time to watch the fog melt away in what's been typical sunny weather since I got here. It was our urban hiking day, we walked across the bridge and up the hill on the other side for some nice views. It was fun to do once, but with all the traffic I'd not make a regular event of it given that there are many other hiking trails yet to do in the area.

No set plans for when I'll be getting out of California and heading north again. Things are progressing slower than I'd expected with work, but we're making progress. Furthermore, the sale of my house was supposed to close Friday, but some last minute issues raised by the lender has delayed things until next week. I'm extending the contract a few days to get these issues resolved, mostly just annoyed that they chose to wait until the last minute to notice what seem like obvious things. Hopefully come Tuesday it will all be said and done, ending my attachments to Florida and opening up exciting new options.

The landscape we hiked through on Saturday, north of San Francisco.

Another view of the landscape, into the sun.

As we started heading back, the fog started clearing off a little. This is looking west into the ocean, though it is mostly white from miles and miles of seemingly endless fog.

Looking south the San Francisco skyline can be seen in the distance through the fog.

Sunday I finally got to actually see the bridge. It's about 9:30 in the morning, and the fog is just burning off making way for another beautiful sunny California day.

A cross section of one of the cables used to support the 4,200 foot span of the Golden Gate Bridge. Each cable is 7,650 feet long and 36 3/8 inches in diameter, comprised of 27,572 wires. There's 80,000 miles of wire used in all the cabling, for a total weight of 24,500 tons.

It's less than a mile across the bridge, and made for a pleasant walk.

Evidently jumping off the bridge is a common suicide route, happening a couple of times a month. All along the bridge they've installed phones allowing people to call for help and talk to someone rather than plunging into the bay below.

Kieran and Denise try and get out hiking every weekend and were kind enough to bring me along with them this weekend.

Looking west from the bridge, out at the Pacific ocean.

One last photo of the photogenic Golden Gate Bridge, looking toward San Francisco.