Our mission is to hike at least 10 miles a week on Mt. Tam, the Headlands, or wherever there is dirt – 520 miles in 2011. Currently, John is leading the charge with around 220 miles, I have logged 175, Jo Ann is over 100, and Leslie, in violation of the bylaws, has yet to submit her mileage (and is accordingly on secret double probation). The VAHC has a few other local members (Robin is one of my steady hiking partners) and we also have some non-resident members – Steve is head of the Northwest chapter and Stephen is in charge of the Northeast chapter. Marnie has quit the VAHC and started a splinter group, claiming our rules and regulations are too strict for her.

John and Rob on a portion of the Ridge Trail above Stinson Beach.

We’ve been having a lot of fun with the VAHC, which is obviously more of a parody of a hiking club than the real thing. But at the end of next week, we are going mainstream – John and I will be representing the VA Hiking Club in the 15^thannual Ridge to Bridge fund-raising event on Saturday, April 30. We’ll be catching a 5:30 a.m. shuttle bus at the Golden Gate Bridge, which will take us up the mountain to where the Fairfax-Bolinas Road meets Ridgecrest Blvd. From there, we will hike back to the bridge via Pan Toll and Tennessee Valley. It promises to be a long day, with lots of elevation changes.

Trail marker.

We’re both in pretty good shape, but this will still be a tough challenge for a 65-year-old guy and a stage IV lung cancer patient. But in the immortal words of Monty Python, we’re ‘not dead yet’ – and intend to prove that to ourselves by finishing the 20-mile course (we passed on the 30-miler, which seemed a little too ambitious, and the 13-miler, which seemed too easy). I also hope to somehow inspire other people living with cancer to realize that they are capable of doing similar things – to keep living life to the fullest, to accept hard challenges, and keep pushing the limit. Okay, I’ll get off the soapbox now.

Bay Area Ridge Trail

To enter the Ridge to Bridge, John and I have each put up the required entry fee of $115. The idea is to make a little bit more on top of that for the non-profit Bay Ridge Trail, a projected 550-mile loop around the Bay. Some 330 miles are already completed, and funds are needed to keep adding more miles. It’s a good cause – preserving open space, particularly in our Bay Area backyard, seems like something we can all believe in.

If you like what you see, and are inclined to give a small amount – save your real donations for more serious causes like curing cancer! – please see my fund-raising page. We’re also hoping that the government will confuse the VA Hiking Club with something associated with the Veteran’s Administration and shower us with TARP money, or stimulus money, or whatever it is called.

Enough for now. All is well. Time to get outside for a hike.