Compare to a professional hiker, I'm still way far, I've hiked a few places in bay area, such as Henry W. coe state park, mission peak, Las Trampas national park, and san Antonio rancho. The place I usually hike is San Antonio Rancho trail. One of the reason is it pretty close to where I live, and the other reason is a lot of people hike in here, there is no safty issues. I like to walk through the trail with a lot of people coming and going, surrounded by trees, grasses, and especially the fresh dancing air. I enjoy about 2 to 4 miles usually. The farthest hiking i had so far is about 12 miles. Grand Canyon will be my next challenge @^@. When you are out there, you definitely can feel so many people are enjoying their lives and keep in tight. I feel much better after walk compare to watch a good movie in my little "cage". There are numberous parks for hiking in the other places in bay area as well, so if you are interested in, try them out!