09. Alexandra Kenin, Founder Urban Hiker SF

On episode 9, Melissa takes you with her to San Francisco, California where she goes for a hike inside the city with West Coast hiking guide and kindred spirit, Alexandra Kenin, founder of Urban Hiker SF, an urban hiking tour company and author of two incredible guidebooks, Urban Trails San Francisco and Urban Trails East Bay. Since 2012, Alexandra has been helping visitors and locals alike explore the stairways, hills and hiking trails of beautiful San Francisco.

Melissa caught up with Alexandra at a coffee shop in the Glen Park neighborhood of San Francisco and from there they went on a hike up Glen Canyon Park, over Twin Peaks and down to the Mission. You’ll hear them ooh and ahh over some iconic and inspiring views and when Melissa’s not gasping for air on the uphills, you’ll learn all about some San Francisco history, find out what led Alexandra to her love of hiking, what it takes to write a guide book, and what it’s like to be a tour guide. If you like learning about how others are pursuing their passions, if you’re a fan of San Fran or even if you’d like to just visit there one day, then you’ll love this episode.

Whether you live on the east coast, the west, or somewhere in between, hyper-local hiking is where it’s at right now! As travel restrictions remain in effect across many regions of the world due to the omnipresence of Coronavirus, take some tips from Alexandra and go for a hike right in your own city! But the next time you find yourself in San Francisco, I cannot recommend going on a hike with Alexandra and Urban Hiker SF enough! In the interim, I encourage you to live vicariously through her Instagram feed @urbanhikersf, which is full of cityscapes, secret stairway views, and beautiful California wildflowers. You can even plan those Bay Area hikes ahead of time, by picking up a copy of one or both her books, Urban Trails San Francisco and Urban Trails East Bay.
Useful links:

Urban Hiker SF website

Urban Hiker SF Instagram

Urban Trails San Francisco: Coastal Bluffs/ The Presidio/ Hilltop Parks & Stairways book by Alexandra Kenin

Urban Trails East Bay: Oakland/ Berkeley / Fremont / Richmond book by Alexandra Kenin

“A 17-Mile Hike to Unite San Francisco” by Nellie Bowles, The New York Times, November 18th, 2019 – article about the Crosstown Trail and Bob Siegel

Charles Sowers, artist “Solar Totems”