You may have noticed that Bruce Highland likes his biking. But he likes hiking too. Hilltop 88 is a central theme. Hilltop 88, otherwise known as Nike Missile Radar Site #88 is located in Marin County, California just north of the Golden Gate Bridge. It is visible in the background on The Gatekeeper’s cover. Two of the structures at the site comprise the cover for Gauthier’s List. In the books, Bruce quite often hikes the hill from Rodeo Beach, considered to be the only surfable beach in Marin County, to the top. Note the blog graphic - that was a track of a recent hike I did to the top of Hilltop 88. It is a trek I made many times. That particular time was however very special to me.

I’ve been doing a lot of hiking lately, including some fairly intensive climbs in the Sierra Nevada mountains and North Lake Tahoe. Decent equipment helps. I’ve learned that good boots don’t come cheap, but they are worth it. That is the approach I have always taken with bikes.