San Francisco 2009

The long road trip is (nearly) over as is the 3-Day in San Francisco. The event was, in a word, awesome!

While the starting, camp and ending sites were the same this year, some of the route changed for the better.

As always, starting at The Cow Palace means the first few miles are less than spectacular. But, once we leave South City the walk includes gorgeous beaches, cliffs, park trails and forrest settings. Yes, there are hills; it is, after all, San Francisco. But the beauty of the area is well, well worth it.

We camp in Crissy Field which is at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge on the San Francisco side.

Day 2 is equally amazing as we leave Crissy Field and walk across the Golden Gate Bridge, down the paths and through Saulsalito. Again,

views of the islands, the bridge and the harbors are amazing. We walk through Mill Valley and then loop back over the Bridge and return to camp. Another beautiful day seeing the best of the Bay Area.

Day 3 completes our tour of the west Bay by showing us much of the city itself. We take the walkers through residential neighborhoods, through Golden Gate Park, past the Japanese Tea Garden, down the Haight district (including my post of guarding the Haight/Ashbury intersection), through the government center and down into Little Italy, finally ending at the marina.

This year's walk was down in headcount from last year as many have been. We hope to see a return to the strong numbers we have seen in the past. Even with our smaller numbers and tough economic conditions, this fabulous group of walkers and crew raised nearly $4 million for breast cancer research and treatment!

It is time for the San Francisco teams to celebrate -- which some started a little before completing the walk.