Hikes in the Bay Area

Since the summer of 2015, I have been coming to Berkeley with Chris to work at Lawrence Berkeley Lab. At first, I inhabited a cubicle in the math group where we did quality math and nerd talk C++ programming without much distraction. But in summer2017, I met Ann, and decided to work with her, and later with her postdoc Johannes, at CCSE during the following summers.

The first hike of the summer in Anthony Chabot Regional Park. This is the birthplace of our new group tradition — hike selfies. From left, front: Jovana, Cathy, Chris. From left back: Jiayin, me.

The biggest draw of Berkeley summer is nature trips we take as a group during the weekends. Climbing up Mt. Tamalpais and getting pancakes at the West Point Inn is a fond group tradition. So is a trek in the much beloved Point Reyes national seashore. On other weekends, we take low key local hikes to get the legs moving, the blood pumping, the conversations flowing, and the stomach growling.

Everyone’s smiley because we just got pancakes and coffee (and because of the 6 miles of happy trails ahead of us of course). From left: Jovana, Jiayin, Chris, me, Maren, Robert.

At Stinson Beach, we got dinner at Park Side and went for a quick walk on the beach. The group had just finished a big hike in Point Reyes, but I had missed the hike earlier that day. Though I picked up the slack by summiting Mt. Tamalpais East Peak on my bike. From left: Chris, Marta, Jiayin, me, Cathy, Eliot, and Jovana.

This year, we started a new tradition — a group selfie at every outing. I can’t say I fully endorsed it at the very beginning, since I’m always quick to roll my eyes at any form of selfie-taking. I went along begrudgingly. But after several weeks, it became clear that they were striking documentations of what a good time we have had, by then I have grown fond of them.

Taking a break during a local hike in Tilden on 4th of July. From left: Chris, me, Jovana, and Jiayin.

On 4th of July, we took a short hike in Tilden park and joined a backyard BBQ at my summer mentor Johannes’s house in the Berkeley hills, where Chris showed off his club-founding, toddler-fascinating juggling skills on the lawn (captured on video for posterity.)

When you laugh so hard that you can’t stand up straight because your postdoc mentor is trash talking you during a lawn game from a tree stump.

There is one more week with Chris, Jovana, Jiayin, and Cathy in town, what other adventures would we have? We will have a selfie, whatever transpires, that’s for sure.

Advertisement