About us
There are many kinds of hikes available on Meetup; this is not a group where you have to tell your life story every time. We encourage quiet presence and paying attention to what is around us. We do stop to smell the roses. Roaming regulars are a wonderfully warm and welcoming community, and new attendees are always welcome.
Each Roaming Zen event consists of mindful hiking (at a pretty moderate pace), with some time for meditation at auspicious locations. My love of the city means that we explore many different neighbourhoods on our roams; while we have some firm favourites, I am always looking for new angles to explore as well. I like to share what I know about history, geography and geology, as circumstances allow, and I love when people on the roam offer their knowledge of places, or flora and fauna.
We don't shy away from any of the hills, though I will always flag roams with a lot of climbing, as well as any longer than usual routes, or if a roam is one-way as opposed to a loop back to the starting point (if the description doesn't specify, then it's a loop).
I also maintain a separate mailing list of more than 200 people, and have other regulars who usually show up each time. I find that groups larger than a dozen are much more stressful to manage, so keeping it small helps me, and keeps the group intimate.
As featured in the SF Chronicle and the Bold Italic.
These roams are offered by donation; they are one way I try to be able to afford to continue living in San Francisco as a zen priest!
I know Meetup is notorious for no-shows and late changes of rsvp. I am not as strict as other organisers (and we do talk to each other!), but I do pay attention to those who regularly drop off or no-show; it is disrespectful for people who are on the wait list who would like to come.
People with flaky records, will be removed from future roams they sign up for. A message that you can't make it last minute gets you some credit.
Also, it pains me to say that the Meetup Maps function has become quite unreliable; I always try to be as clear as possible with the exact start points, but please read the descriptions, don't just click on the button and assume we will be there.
Upcoming events
5
A Cross-Sunset Trail
Kezar Stadium, 670 Kezar Drive, San Francisco, CA, USA couple of years ago, taking a leaf out of the Crosstown Trail - which I completed once, but haven't felt that I wanted to repeat - I thought of roaming a Cross-Sunset Trail.
It remains the only roam that we had to postpone because it was too hot; we did it a couple of weeks later, in October 2024, and I have wanted to repeat it since then.
Starting at the gates of the Kezar Stadium, on the north side of Frederick at Arguello, we will head over Sunset Heights and Grandview Park, around the reservoir and down towards the Zoo, going from 1st (Arguello) to 48th, and from H (Hugo) to Y (Yorba).
This is a one-way roam. It is a little longer than most roams, and does include some climbing.
Bringing water, snacks, and layers for all the microclimates is the way to go.
These roams are offered by donation. They are one way I am able to pay my rent in San Francisco.
Punctuality is always appreciated. Please send a message on the app if you are running a little late - direct messages are best, rather than a comment on the event. I can usually respond to messages before we get underway, but then I put my phone away other than to take pictures.
I know Meetup is notorious for no-shows and late changes of rsvp. I am not as strict as other organisers (we do talk to each other!), but since generally up to half the people who sign up don't show up, my tolerance for repeated flakiness is limited. It is especially unfair to people on the wait list who would like to attend.
20 attendees
Past events
280
