About

Trailhiker (Sue Kelso, or more formally Susan Kelso)

I have been living on the Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1981.  A few years ago I re-discovered how much I enjoy getting outdoors for day-hiking and exploration.  Ever since, I’ve been on an ongoing discovery of trails in the Bay Area, the Lake Tahoe area, and other places to which I have the opportunity to travel.

We are very fortunate to have so many ways to enjoy the outdoors in this area, as well as great hiking weather for much of the year.  I hike for personal enjoyment – to discover what’s around the next curve or at the top of the next rise in the trail – and to maintain and improve my fitness.

Because I’m goal-oriented, I tend to identify projects or themes that tie together various activities.  For example, in the summer of 2008 I decided, just for the heck of it, to see how many segments of the Tahoe Rim Trail I could hike as day hikes.  All but one of my hikes turned out to be solo out-and-back hikes.  In October 2010 I completed hiking the last segment of this 165-mile trail system, a journey of a little over 400 miles and nearly 60,000 feet of vertical gain and 1,000,000 steps.  (Yes, I’m data-oriented as well.)

Shortly thereafter I decided to tackle the Bay Area Ridge Trail, a trail system which currently has about 330 miles of designated trails with more than 150 additional miles planned to fill in the many gaps.  I hiked my first Bay Area Ridge Trail segment in January 2011.  Once again my hikes are day hikes, primarily out-and-backs.  At the encouragement of a friend, I decided to try blogging about my hiking experiences.  This blog is modeled after the movie Julia and Julia: I plan to publish a post about each segment that I hike.

I truly enjoy hiking trails that are new to me, and there are nearly endless trails to explore.  This blog is a way to share my enthusiasm and enjoyment with others.  Occasionally I’ll share trail tips and other things I’ve learned that relate to the safe enjoyment of the trails.

I have a related interest in walking for fitness, or power walking.  I walk 4 or 5 days most weeks.  I enjoy preparing for and looking forward to organized events ranging from 10k to Bay to Breakers to half and even full marathons.  While I actively incorporate hikes into my training plans, the hikes stand out as unique and enjoyable experiences.

Contact information:
trailhiker2011 (at) gmail (dot) com   [formatted to reduce spam]
http://www.linkedin.com/in/susansuekelso