About The California Walk

We're bringing together a small group to walk for a week, engaging in casual side-by-side conversations throughout the day. Each walk will be in a different scenic California setting. Each evening, the group gathers for a rewarding dinner.

Why Join The California Walk

Here’s what we know:

Timing

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Friday April 18, 2025 through Thursday April 24, 2025

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• On Friday April 18, 2025, we'll gather in San Francisco and walk the San Franscisco Bay as an urban hike to start our trip.
  • On Saturday, April 19th, 2025, we’ll make our way to Santa Cruz, and hike our way from the Redwoods to the beach, and along the beach for approximately 8 -10 miles.
    • On each day onwards, we will tackle another amazing scenic Northern California locale.
• We end back in San Francisco on Thursday April 24, 2025.

Here’s what to expect:

• Hikes

  • We set out each morning, at a reasonable 9am or so, as a group.
  • Each hike is organized around a geographic or geologic or local theme.
  • The hikes are moderate; the intent is a long, mostly leisurely walk. Hiking shoes are needed; poles, or advanced equipment is not. Most days will be 6-10 miles of slow walking.

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  “The goal is to have a deep, one-to-one conversation, extended over hours, with every person present.”

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  • There is no agenda or ‘right or wrong’ way to hike. Generally, pace and chats are set by the group.

• People

  • A group of people that are curious, open to chats and eager to explore.
  • We will send out the full list of confirmed attendees prior to the hike (but please don’t ask if David Whyte is going, he isn’t. Or is he?)

• Meals

  • Breakfast and lunch are on your own, but we will be prioritizing travel and getting the group fed relatively quickly some days, so we may ask to coordinate a lunch order on certain mornings. More to come there.
  • In the ideal version of the The California Walk, dinners are shared, at a pre-determined restaurant. We would prioritize a long table where we can all see and hear each other.
  • In this April 2025 iteration of The California Walk, we’ll figure this out as we go.

• Accomodations

  • We’re balancing expense and ease for hiking/travel and logistics with the hotel choices.
  • For the sake of the group, we’re asking for all hikers to stay in the preferred hotel for each destination.
  • We will be prioritizing single room availability for all, but there may be some destinations where we ask all of us to share an accomodation.
  • This feels like the most tight-ropey part of the planning. We are balancing cost versus comfort.
    • In some locations, the best option for us to remain in budget will be a CLEAN, but relatively spare, two-star hotel.
    • We will do our best to communicate all planned accomodations prior to asking for full payment.

• The California Walk Fee

  • This isn't easy to estimate, as it’s our first endeavor of this size.

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  We anticipate fees to be about $1,500 to $1,800 per person

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  • The Fee includes 6 night accommodation (Friday evening through Thursday morning check out), any fees from transporting bags and hikers, and nightly meals.
  • THIS IS NOT A COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISE. The organizers pay the same fee as everyone else. There is no overhead. All dollars in go to accommodations, dinner meals, bag drops. To the extent that there is surplus, it will be refunded pro-rata to the group.

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Interested? Let us know here!

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