Upcoming dates:
October 2nd, 4th, 11th, 23rd, 24th, 30th.
The Meetup page and the Instagram page will have the latest news if there are any changes to the plans.
All weekend roams start at 1:30, lasting around three hours, and Friday ones at 3:00, generally taking two hours. All roams are loops unless otherwise stated; I also flag any longer or especially hilly routes.
We will resume our regular roaming schedule on October 2nd, with Strawberry and Grand View. I have had this route in mind for a while. If you are looking south from the Richmond, just west of Park Presidio, there are only really two hills you see: one is Strawberry Hill in the park, the other Grand View at the northern end of Golden Gate Heights.
We will tackle both hills (roughly numbers 10 and 20 in the list of San Francisco summits) on our way round; admire the tiled staircases; enjoy Blue Heron lake and the park; and explore a couple of alleys – which are very rare in the Sunset.
Naturally there will be some climbing on this roam! We meet at the Sunset branch of the library, on 18th Ave at Irving.
On Sunday 4th, we will be in the south west corner of the city, visiting Lake Merced and the dunes. This is a route we did about eighteen months ago, and I wanted to try it again. We start off from the Java Beach Cafe on Sloat and 45th, walk through the Lakeshore district, close to the zoo, pass across Lake Merced, and tackle the dunes between Fort Funston and Great Highway.
This roam is pretty flat, but we will have a fair amount of sand and dirt to traverse.
Sarah Koh at Alchemy has been wanting to collaborate on a roaming adventure for some time now, and we hit upon the idea of a day out at Angel Island, where we will combine roaming, some yoga, and a picnic. This will be on October 11th (a change from the originally posted date); you can find details and book a space here.
Presidio’s Tunnel Tops is no longer the new kid on the block, but it is still a magnificent space with world class views. This Friday roam on the 23rd will take us down from there to the waterfront, and along to the wave organ, another remarkable space to sit and enjoy the elements. We will return on an inland route, through the gardens and back ways of the Presidio.
This is almost completely flat, but we will probably walk along the sand for a part of the time. We meet beside the Visitors’ Center in the Presidio, on the side away from the bridge and closer to the bathrooms.
In January we had a wonderful sunny winter afternoon exploring Candlestick Point in the south east of the city; thanks to an initial suggestion from a regular, we have climbed Bayview Hill three times over the years now. As we were in the area on January, I pondered combining the two features, and that is what we will do on the 24th.
Meeting at the Visitacion Valley Library, we will explore the Greenway, climb the hill, enjoy the views, and then follow the water’s edge on the way around the Point. There is some gentle climbing to get us going and one steep climb to get up the hill, plus some dirt as we go around the park.
I originally intended this roam to be on the 31st, but I have been asked to officiate a wedding that day, so this will now be a Friday roam, with hopefully the same amount of Hallowe’en decorations on show.
I thought of reviving a route we have taken a couple of times to explore four parks around the panhandle, which will take us past perhaps the most famous decorated house in the city – one that has inspired some of its neighbours to step up their game as well.
We will meet at the McKinley monument across from the DMV on Baker between Oak and Fell, and tackle a few climbs and dirt paths on the way around.
As currently pencilled out, November will be all about hills, and December will be all about the water. I also have a few new one-way routes I will add in over the winter months.
Bring water, snacks, and layers for whatever the weather is doing. Punctuality is always appreciated.
These roams are offered by donation. They are one way I am able to afford to live in San Francisco.
‘Shundo David Haye has probably walked through more parts of San Francisco than you have.’ I’ll take that endorsement – it came from this nice article in the SF Chronicle at the beginning of the pandemic
Camille, who I have known through Zen Center for more than twenty years, had a lovely piece on Roaming Zen published in the Bold Italic.
Corona Heights – the first picture I used to promote Roaming Zen in 2016.
Views to the Farallones from this little-known park.
If you need some prompts as to the benefits of roaming, here are a trio of articles from the Guardian:
Two-hour ‘dose’ of nature significantly boosts health – study
Woodland sounds help relaxation more than meditation apps – study
Blue spaces: why time spent near water is the secret of happiness
All of which is achievable without leaving the city limits!
And this from the New Yorker:
A small but growing collection of studies suggests that spending time in green spaces—gardens, parks, forests—can rejuvenate the mental resources that man-made environments deplete. Psychologists have learned that attention is a limited resource that continually drains throughout the day. A crowded intersection—rife with pedestrians, cars, and billboards—bats our attention around. In contrast, walking past a pond in a park allows our mind to drift casually from one sensory experience to another, from wrinkling water to rustling reeds.
Or, to put a name to it, Attention Restoration Theory.
The genesis for Roaming Zen was perhaps my shuso practice period at Tassajara in 2012, where I noticed that I derived as much energy from being on the trails or up the road, among the trees and by the creek, as I did from the hours in the zendo. It was also crystalised by a visit to Tassajara with a group from Young Urban Zen a year or two later: after the days of work, a group of us set off for a hike along the Horse Pasture trail, and at one stage, hearing all the talk of people’s pre-occupations and mundane affairs, someone in the group asked if we could all hike in silence for a while and properly take in the surroundings. Afterwards, the agreed verdict was that the silence had transformed the hike.
And so, having tried versions of it at City Center, Green Gulch and Tassajara, one of my favourite things to do these days is to gather a small group of people, and lead them around a chosen route, cultivating mindful presence through walking and sitting quietly in the midst of city life.
There are so many little corners of San Francisco that lend themselves to the activity, surrounded by beauty, views, and sometimes quiet. We have visited forests, hills and canyons, creeks and beaches, staircases and alleys, lakes and hidden parks; we have listened to birds and waves, watched butterflies, bees and coyotes, smelled flowers and ocean spray. We have looked over all sides of San Francisco and to the mountains beyond.
I like to give credit to OpenStreetMap, for featuring much more detail in paths and trails than I ever get from Apple Maps or Google Maps – I would not have found some of these routes without it – and FoundSF/OpenSF History for filling me in on what used to be in the places we visit.
