Urban Yoga Hike

Ready, set, downward-facing dog! San Francisco's Hiking Yoga has mastered mixing the art of yoga with the adventure of urban hiking in a butt-kicking cardio-building trek through the city. Your powerhouse instructors Eric Kipp and Megan Gathers kick things off at the Ferry Building. From there it's on to a 90-minute adventure: Hike up hidden staircases, around lush gardens and through nooks and crannies most people never see. At the route's high points you'll break for 10-minute yoga sessions: Soak in city scenes from Coit Tower to the Bay while doing your side bends, forward folds, and shoulder openers. The cooldown is a casual stroll on the east slope of Telegraph Hill. Finish the 3.5-mile roundtrip along the Embarcadero, ending at the Ferry Building. Who's hungry?

Hiking Yoga (415-261-3641) meets at the Ferry Building five days a week. For times and more information, visit their Web site. Each hike is $15.

The French Connection

Every weekend the Sierra Club is channeling their founder, John Muir. The San Francisco Bay Chapter offers dozens of outings each month; Weekend Sherpa recently joined them on a hike in the East Bay's Redwood Regional Park. Club volunteers know all the sweet spots. Their secret? Consider it the French connection. They'll lead trekkers along the West Ridge Trail, which brings early vistas of the eastern redwood groves below Mount Diablo. In a bit you'll venture off the main trail and onto singletrack; Salut!—you're on the French Trail. Descend through gnarled oak trees and along a canyon floor filled with coast redwoods. Take a breather and enjoy the foliage and evergreen-scented air before emerging from the canyon up to the east ridge where on clear days you can see as far as the Sierra foothills. Tres magnifique!

The Sierra Club's next Redwood Regional Park hike is Saturday, Oct. 17. They'll meet at the Canyon Meadow staging area at 10:00 a.m. For more information on this hike or the dozens of other Sierra Club outings this fall, visit their calendar of activities.

Ghosts of Grizzlies Past

The Midpeninsula Open Space District knows networking. This greenbelt bastion has 26 preserves, many of which are connected. One of the best ways to explore this wild playground? A free docent-led outing; there are 76 this fall. This weekend: a grizzly bear ghost hike (sort of). Grizzly Adams, a real person fictionalized in a 1970s television series, used to roam the Bay Area in search of the grizzlies that lived here. Join volunteer docents Ed Lange and Benita Rashall on a 6-mile Grizzly Adams-themed hike on Long Ridge Open Space Preserve. Starting from Grizzly Flat you'll climb through open meadows and dense woodlands to one of the best snack spots in the Santa Cruz Mountains—Stegner bench, where views of gold and green hills roll all the way to the Pacific. Along the way, hear stories of old grizzlies like "Samson," "Lady Washington," and the rest of the bear gang.

TIP: For a list of free docent-led hikes, bikes, and dog-friendly outings check out the Midpeninsula Open Space District's calendar of activities.

The next Grizzly Adams hike is Saturday, Oct. 10. The group will meet at 10:00 a.m. at the Grizzly Flat trailhead in Long Ridge Open Space Preserve. Expect to hike until 1:30 p.m. Visit their Web site for more information.

Double Team